No, they didn't walk into a bar (that I know of, anyway). So it's pretty likely you haven't heard "the one about" them. Whoever they are.
This was the burden of an email I woke up to this morning:
Two Kossacks have collaborated to bring you this subscription. Enjoy!
So here I am, grateful and utterly gobsmacked that not one, but two members of this community thought me deserving of their time and treasure. After having a look at The List earlier today (it keeps on rockin'!), I failed to find my username among either subscription candidates or among recipients. That didn't surprise me in the least; I hadn't asked to be included, and I'm not what any sane person would describe as "high-profile" around here. And I'm fine with that — so fine that I hadn't given more than a fleeting thought to the hard fact that I couldn't afford to part with a hundred bucks, after which I let it go. All I know is that however it came about, two people thought of me.
I really don't want to go on about me, though. I'm only writing this in order to publicly thank the two generous anonymouses, whoever they are, and (by logical extension) to thank the larger community, from Markos on down, for stirring up this nice punchbowl of holiday cheer for so many of us.
And I have a question. (I haven't read most of the subscription-related posts, so an answer may already be out there.) Thinking of how two fine Kossacks pooled together on my behalf, I wonder if there are others like me who can't afford to pay it forward on their own, but would willingly pool resources with others to offer someone else a lifetime of Kos-y goodness. A century note is beyond my ability, but I could scrape up ten or even twenty dollars. Any words of advice?