The intro struck a cord with me. I'm kind of a fringe SF/geek who has many hardcore, card-carrying friends. Something I've seen come up often are people who have read a few too many SF and are trying to live their lives as though they were one of those heroes. They buy fantasy weapons they can't use and believe that your life should be lived to uphold a single ideal. The most popular and comprehensive ideal seems to be *HONOR*, and that with enough *HONOR* or the right kind of *HONOR* life, love, and happiness will be yours. *HONOR* comes from slaying dragons, righting wrongs, saving the damsel/planet, or beating the unbeatable odds. That's what the Hero does. Unfortunately there isn't much in fiction (that I've seen) that highlights the heroism, dedication, and honorability of doing a good day's work, paying your bills on time, putting your kid through college, and saving for retirement. That's what "Farmer #6082" does, and although he never gets a sword of power to pass on to his son, he won't get caught changing a diaper while wearing a broadsword and loincloth.
The story was good, and "limpware" was a great line, but since we have the author here I thought I'd ask:
Mr. Resnic, have you updated this story since you wrote it 17 years ago?
17 years ago my family didn't have a PC, and I'm not entirely sure I'd ever heard of E-mail. How did you come up with putting the bards in a box?