I’m Batman. Well, ok, not really.
In my many years of surfing the web, I never thought I would be part of a message board, chat room, anything. I assumed they were all full of people writing “asl” and “dude!!! You live in philly? My bros roommates live’s rite around the korner. Trippy lol,” or 50 year old men with screen names like 16hotvirgin. I scoffed at people who told me they had a second life online, and I thought relationships that started online were doomed to fail. I found I could not trust anything I read on any boards I found, and every time I tried to contribute I was ignored or told to get the f*ck out. So, I got up on my high horse and stayed there for quite a while, poo-pooing message boards.
I found the Dope about a year ago and read the columns for quite a while, found the boards, and promptly ignored them, thinking they were full of the mindless drivel I was accustomed to finding on the web. A threadspotting title brought me here, I lurked for quite a while, and finally posted. My first thread was titled incorrectly, placed in the wrong forum, and was worded so ambiguously that no one had any idea what I was asking. Within hours, it was moved, re-titled, and had I posted a nicely suggested clarification. All this was done politely, quickly, and with no “Go home newbie!!” posts. I have seen people asking for help, sharing personal stories, and being received and comforted by people they have never met in person. I never thought such a community could exist online. So, thanks for welcoming me, and thanks for the humor, insight, comfort, and most of all, thanks for proving that intelligence does exist online (for the most part).
Respectfully,
-tool
