Boxers anyone?

E-mail listservs are frequently abused - thats part of the fun of livin' on the information superhighway. Most of the time, the perpetrators are those with strong political views who cross the line of good taste by making extreme assertions and ridiculing those they disagree with. Sometimes, though, it's the socially inept who end up crossing the line of listserv etiquette. In those cases, hilarity ensues, and is often sustained by equally inappropriate responses. Such is the case for the e-mail below, sent by a student (a Harvard graduate) to 130+ of his classmates in grad school. At first I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't. While he acknowledges that the e-mail is "ridiculous," I doubt he fully realizes how ridiculous it is, or he would never have sent the following:

Okay, this is a ridiculous email, and you can make fun of me later. However, I somehow absentmindedly bought XL (40-42) boxers from Targetlast week, instead of my size, which is, ahem, substantially smaller. I'd like to give my own sanity the benefit of the doubt, and assume thatthey were mislabeled. In any case, I discovered this after I openedthem, and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to return them. I'm skepticalthat "clothing recycling" will even do something useful with boxers. Not wanting to see good cotton go to waste, I am willing to give themaway to someone who could use them.They've NEVER been worn -- well, except for about 3 seconds on one pairbefore I realized my mistake.

This e-mail raises so many questions: Who buys the wrong size boxers? Who accepts used boxers? If thrift stores won't accept them, why will your classmates? Did he wash the "three second" pair or not?? I don't want the boxers, but I would rest easier if I knew they were washed before being auctioned off. I just like the idea that all underwear for sale in the secondary market is properly laundered. Anyone who is forced to buy second-hand underwear needs every protection we can offer them.

Maybe I'm wrong and he got an outpouring of requests for the boxers, especially the "3-second"pair. But I'm guessing no one offered to take them off his hands. If you're interested, I'll talk to the guy and see if they're still available.