# A prodigal son has returned **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 11, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332 "2023-06-11T19:00:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/21 "2023-06-11T23:21:42Z")
Career is in flux at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/22 "2023-06-11T23:24:11Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > They say you can never go back home. Yo, @B.Serum, Yeah, you can come home. I’ve only been here almost five years, but I welcome you back. It’s not like I own the joint or anything, but I’m glad you returned. You gotta be careful out there among them English, y’know. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/23 "2023-06-11T23:25:53Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Derogatory remarks toward the less-franchised are far more frowned-upon than in the elder days. Particularly women and non-cis-gendered. Works for me. I think derogatory remarks should be reserved for jerks and a-holes. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/24 "2023-06-11T23:27:32Z")
If this is a Rumspringa reference, I am 100% on board. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/25 "2023-06-11T23:31:45Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Well, your old room is now filled up with things we should have got rid of, stuff mom got at garage sales, spare dishes, and kraft supplies. I guess we can put up you up on the couch for a night or two. Did you throw out all my old comic books??? ---
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/26 "2023-06-11T23:39:30Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > If this is a Rumspringa reference, I am 100% on board. Welcome aboard! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/27 "2023-06-11T23:53:46Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Maybe, need to be in an institution.☺ I would never say/type that … out loud. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/28 "2023-06-11T23:54:51Z")
I remember your AMA! Our design studio was just starting to use Macs but still did “comps” with markers and pencils. Your remarks were so helpful (even prescient, as we ended up dealing with a lot of the same RGB vs CMYK issues). And parts left me nostalgia for Aldus Freehand and Macromedia Painter and Syquest cartridges and Charles S. Anderson being a part of the Duffy Design Group… Hey, I just found it! It’s just as reminiscent and motivational as it was twenty years ago. > [@Ask the Graphic Designer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-graphic-designer/150737): > > This is assuming anybody has ever had a question for a graphic designer, but you know, everybody’s doin’ it… My qualifications: been in the biz for 10 years, worked on projects ranging from print, (a little) interactive, sign systems, brand identity, advertising blah-blah-blah. The best recognition I’ve gotten is that my work has been in Graphis, which is, for my money, among the best publications you can get in. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/29 "2023-06-11T23:56:37Z")
Welcome back. I’ve been here way long. 2001. I remember the first thread I looked at. Don’t know how I found it. The question was “Was math invented, or has it always existed” Intriguing question. So I found it on the dope and I. Read. The. Entire. Message board. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/30 "2023-06-12T00:01:46Z")
Ha! Thanks for linking to the thread! That was back when my username was “Hey, you!” Thanks for sharing — that warms the cockles of my heart 🙂. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/31 "2023-06-12T00:06:34Z")
Aha. You’re the one who recommended this board on Reddit Alternatives. What do you think of our new coat of paint? ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/32 "2023-06-12T16:12:13Z")
I am. As for the new coat of paint, I don’t have a strong enough memory of what the old place looked like. Also my memory has been cluttered with all manner of social media feed interfaces and they all kinda blend together. I’m largely accessing this thru the DiscorseHub app which is basic but functional. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/33 "2023-06-12T16:21:23Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > That was back when my username was “Hey, you!” OK, _now_ I remember you. Seeing your posts always triggered a Pink Floyd earworm for me then, and still does at this moment. Welcome back. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/34 "2023-06-12T16:44:51Z")
Also a longtime user from forever ago, sort of sucked into Reddit but still stayed here awhile and eventually drifting away. Same deal, too, Reddit drama the last couple of weeks and wondering when the mass exodus will be. Way back when, Digg was big, too, and just evaporated seemingly overnight. I’ve logged in a few times and lurked over the last few years. Glad to see so many still here, and sad about some others. This “community” always really did _feel_ like one. Like, I’m absolutely astounded that over all these years, all my stuff is still here! I also remember your “Hey, you!” username. Like QtM I’d always read it with the song in mind 😃 ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/35 "2023-06-12T17:06:01Z")
No, it was actually intended to be a meta reference to what people call you when they don’t know (or remember) your name. Then, as I was reading about how the anonymizing aspect of the Internet has a negative impact on manners and decorum, I thought I’d try to hold myself to a higher standard and use my actual name. The admin was (rightly) dubious but fulfilled my request. Not long thereafter the inevitable privacy concerns bubbled up and I _again_ asked the admin to edit it to reference my name without being _too_ searchable. _Clearly, I was a high maintenance user and it’s amazing they were so unreasonably accommodating to me._ Now I just use a Danish electrical socket that looks like a happy face as a visual reminder to myself to be friendly at best and civil at worst. (Or maybe _playfully sarcastic_ at worst.) ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/36 "2023-06-12T17:11:25Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > as a visual reminder to myself to be friendly at best and civil at worst. (Or maybe _playfully sarcastic_ at worst.) Shoot, that’s what virtually all of us strive for. Civil-playfully sarcast away! ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/37 "2023-06-12T17:23:28Z")
I remember you! Portland dopers tend to stick in my mind. Welcome back. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/38 "2023-06-12T17:43:21Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Shoot, that’s what virtually all of us strive for. Civil-playfully sarcast away! I disagree, we have our proud pedants, our inveterate "well, actually"s, our beck, a huge number of the aforementioned playfully sarcastic (agreed, probably the majority!), the just plain weird, the poor suffering mods, the “I’ve been nothing if not civil” sea-lions, and a menagerie of others that quite frequently outnumbers the actual posters! Because we pick our responses on a per day if not per post preference. As for the mods, I sometimes wonder if they feel like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clsGitE2Ci8) at times… > “Well, he’s very popular… The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, dickheads — they all adore him. They think he’s a righteous dude.” We’re all here. Perhaps we’ve always, always been here. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/39 "2023-06-12T17:51:07Z")
Okay all you r/refugees - please step over to the side, against the wall, in a line. No pushing or shoving. Please step forward one at a time and provide your response to these questions, so we can better evaluate your fitness for these here boards… 1. Toilet paper - over or under? 2. Hot dogs - mustard or ketchup? 3. Corn on the cob - across or around? And, Welcome (back)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332/40 "2023-06-12T18:03:02Z")
For sure. My impression of the Doper community is one that regards knowledge as status, and that can be expressed in both positive and negative ways. That said, I’m of the mind that every public/media entity fosters and curates its own enthusiast culture in a largely organic and incidental way — attracting dispositions that are drawn to the key qualities exemplified by said entity. As Cecil’s bailiwick is all about curiosity and knowledge, my impression is that Dopers tend to try to exude these qualities as well, even if we’re subject to our all-too-human shortcomings at times. By contrast, Reddit culture runs the gamut, from Doper-esque subs like r/changemyview and r/neutralnews to antisocial communities that have since been banned and those that yet remain. Yet there is so much cross-pollination that you’re liable to rub up against the sweetest angels and the vilest demons at any given moment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prodigal-son-has-returned/985332.md?page=3)