# A serious question for Sam Stone on Factual Errors **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 11, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-question-for-sam-stone-on-factual-errors/955881 "2021-12-11T12:32:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 617
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-question-for-sam-stone-on-factual-errors/955881/617 "2023-02-22T17:23:39Z")
For starters, Sam, I apologize for the photo. It was rude, condescending, and beneath me and the standards of this Board (as I see them). @Banquet_Bear was right to call me out on it, and I deleted it from my Flickr account soon after I saw BB’s comment. To this: > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > My grandfather taught me a few things to look out for when evaluating the character of someone; > > 1. If they see someonr drop money, will they keep it or tell the person their money dropped? > 2. Do they return the shopping cart to the cage in the parking lot? > 3. Are they mean to people they consider ‘below them’ in stature, like clerks and waitresses and work underlings? > > If he were still alive, he would have added, > > 1. Do they act like complete jerks when they are anonymous or are certain that the target of their nastiness can’t retaliate in any way? > > We all know how the regular denizens of the pit fare on #4. I’m sure you all think you are fighting the good fight or something, but in fact you are just assholes looking to punch someone you don’t like without consequences. Like all bullying, it works better in a group where you can pat yourselves on the back for a ‘gotcha’ while not worrying at all about what you might be doing to the subject of your constant attacks. Hiding behind a keyboard gives you all kinds of courage. Your grandfather taught you how to judge other people. He had some rules by which he could feel superior based upon scant evidence, and that’s that. Hell, no complaint on the man, we all do it, but it seems he missed a piece in his rush to judge others. My grandparents, with their odd blend of Scottish-Calvinism (grandmother) and Italian-Catholic (grandfather), taught me how to judge _myself_ by the standards by which I judge _others_. If I’m going to accuse, I’d better not be guilty. Eye/Mote/Beam. To your point #4, I am quite [capable](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-blew-up-a-toastmasters-group-last-night/918672) of [being a jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-blew-up-a-toastmasters-group-last-night/918672/103) while [in person](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/127) or [otherwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/123). No need to call me a coward, Sam, not while I’m out there in the real world, fighting the good fight against people like you, in the same manner, in the same way, in which I do here at the SDMB. But more: Face to face. With people knowing my name. Because I _own_ my life, both on the internet and in the real world - it’s all the same to me. And I will hold you to the same standards I hold myself. You lie, and I despise lying. You accuse me of being anonymous when I am the least anonymous person on these Boards. So take your damned judgment, _you who anonymously attacks while using the nom-de-plume “Sam Stone”_, and apply it to yourself like a goddamned man should. Like _my_ grandfather taught me. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-question-for-sam-stone-on-factual-errors/955881)._