The Guild Of Perfectly Sane Individuals, or the Guild Of Pole Sliding Individuals. Gopsi was formed accidentally as the result of a freak electrical current warping a number of peoples' brains. The survivors of this tragic event are doing their best to recover, but sadly may never be the same again. If you wish to help, money should be sent to Ian Jackson, C/O Gnome Bank of Zurich account 69-69-69-69-69.
Gopsi can be seen as a group of insanely mad people. That is, it can be believed, what quite a lot of people observe it as. However, as we all know, this is a totally stupid assumption. It is made, I suspect, because people are unused to things which are not in their eyes normal. People are afraid of change, and of things out of the ordinary. Where they fail is in that the normal way may be changed, and shall be, whether through its natural doing or through deliberate procedures designed to assist the change. This is, I believe, where Gopsi comes in. It is an association, designed, whether or not to the intentions of the members, to undertake activities which portray the capacity for change in today's society. To quote examples I need only mention of postboxes, corrosion and indeed the famous and wonderful, peculiar and previously unknown, exciting and exhilarating, traditional but modern, wise and sensible, black but not sinful, polish but not from Poland (or for shoes), slidy and yet still not slippery activity, recreation, entertainment, distraction, leisure pursuit, pastime, sport of pole sliding.
It can be said, with reasonable accuracy, I think, that pole sliding forms as much a basis of Gopsi s anything does. This is debatable, I hasten to add, and I must say that this is the view of at least one member of Gopsi at least some of the time. After all, Gopsi at its roots way back in the past, around the time of the iron age (in the third year anyway), started with the original Gopsians gathering by the black pole and learning to slide down it. This prompted spesbp (spwesdbp), and we of course also must remember that the 'PS' of Gopsi also stands for 'pole sliding' in the second meaning of the word. Therefore, pole sliding can well be considered as a particularly Gopsiish activity. It in itself symbolises the ability to overcome the hold of society and show what can be done.
Since the beginning of Gopsi, the sometimes varying members have attempted to work as a group and as individuals, just as the name suggests. This has in many ways succeeded, due to the changing alliances, associations and agreements between members. It is certainly fair to say that Gopsi has its fair share of arguments, over a wide variety of subjects, many irrelevant and most unnecessary to discuss in the first place. This contributes to the making of all Gopsi members and pole dwellers their own individuals. Of course, this is not to say that Gopsians act as individuals continuously whilst participating in Gopsi activities or just gathering at the pole. In fact, the guild is made of individuals all together. Without this structure, Gopsi could not survive as it does at present, has done in the past or will do in the future. It is this which makes Gopsi what it is and how it is.
It is indeed that Gopsi is part of our lives, so significant that forgetting is virtually impossible. Gopsi survives through all events large or small, continuing the conventions produced by perfect sanity, and a willingness to battle against the ordinary and fight for the right to change society for the group and for the individual. Long remain Gopsi as part of our lives. Let us prosper in its glory and carry its burden of true existence to the end of our lives. With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, row, to the members of Gopsi.