Que?
Just call them The Tall Boards.
Tall Boards? Hey now. :dubious:
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
Speaking as someone whose lover died quite horrifically of AIDS over the course of years of incredible, soul-searing awfulness, I’d like to go on record as noting that I am offended by the ad in question. But, of course, that must only mean I don’t have a sense of humor, so go ahead and mock me for my slight reluctance to laugh about years that included such delights as washing and even carpet cleaning perhaps more than a hundred times after all those episodes of bloody diarrhea and bloody vomiting and bizarre dementia-based rants and heart-rending tears and desperate cries for his mother as he lay dying. Funny, no? Really, I should just get a life, as mocking posters here have had no compunction about informing me.
The thing is, if you could be infected with the HIV virus and contract AIDS by visiting a message board, the Giraffe Boards would be the Internet equivalent of Uganda populated entirely by people like Gaëtan Dugas. You can’t wear nearly enough condoms to risk visiting there.
Idiots deserve a place to revel in the full glory of their extreme idiocy, don’t they? And with a like-minded leader to applaud and mock them at random (not to mention a bit of poster-bashing back here out of old moderator’s nostalgia or force of habit, apparently), what’s not to like about that setup?
Well, maybe not “deserve” as such. But they’re legally entitled to do so, anyway. Although now that the Supreme Court has surrendered democracy and the Constitution to the highest bidder, Giraffe may wish to consider enforcing pay-to-post rules so that he can put in a decent bid on the title “Lord of the Intertubes” or similarly purchased faux-royal title…
ambushed, I’m sorry for your loss, but that does not give you license to start a board war.
If you have a problem with the Giraffe boards, please express it to the members of that board ON that board.
EVERYONE ELSE, please follow the same guidelines, neither attacking nor defending the other board.
Ne’m’mine 
4chan much?
(no not providing a link to 4chan, its infamy is well deserved without the help tyvm)
No. Just that you need to keep in mind that different people have lived different circumstances and have different sensibilities. Tell me one thing you find funny and I will find you someone who is rightfully offended by it.
ambushed, just a heads-up that I removed the AIDS-referencing ad the minute this thread was started. It wasn’t my intention to offend anyone, particularly anyone who has gone through anything even remotely like what you describe. I’m sorry for your loss.
I’m not sure why you think it’s a good idea to complain about being offended while simultaneously trying to offend people. Am I the only person who thinks it’s worse to hurl insults at people rather than say something that accidentally offends?
Oh, wait–I’m not. This board, which you apparently think so highly of, has rules against insulting people, yet has none against making joke that is in bad taste.
So, while I’m sorry for your loss, and hate that you were offended, I can’t get too worked up about it, considering the offensive content of your post.
So you decided to insult me yourself in the guise of condemning insults. I’d introduce you to the kettle, but perhaps you’ve already met?
I quoted two other posts – and I could have quoted more – that were as humorously and just as sharply critical of the other board as what I’d written. I mean, c’mon: Uganda & Dugas & not enough condoms? That, to you, sounded like I was writing that with no tongue at all – prehensile or otherwise – anywhere near my cheek?
I certainly accept Giraffe’s apology and understood all along that he wasn’t trying to offend me personally, for Bob’s sake! But “accidentally”? As if it were a typo? Yours and some other jabs offend me far more than anything Giraffe did with his somewhat too casual joke! Certainly he never claimed the ad was “accidental”, and good for him. You might consider learning something from him.
Thank you. You seem a stand-up guy.
But honestly, as I wrote to someone who kindly contacted me via PM, I really wasn’t worked up. But I faced a choice: Either note my objection publicly and possibly prevent someone else from being offended far more than I was, or just letting it go and be “cool” and laugh about it.
I still think I made the right decision, but as I said, I wasn’t worked up.
If it helps, you didn’t seem worked up to me, just a bit frustrated and annoyed with the levity surrounding a serious issue for you.
And I’m glad you spoke up. To me, there’s a big difference between worrying that an off-color joke may potentially offend someone else, and letting people know that you yourself didn’t appreciate it based on experience and perspective that the person making the joke doesn’t have. People in the former group can sometimes come across as taking stuff too seriously, and I think are the intended targets of the “it was just a joke!” detractors. People in the latter group, like yourself, provide a counterbalancing voice that I think is really valuable. I’d hate if you hadn’t spoken up, simply out of fear that you wouldn’t look “cool”.
(Besides, being the coolest person on an internet message board is like being the best-tasting turd in the bowl; a dubious honor, at best.)
Good insight, that. It took me a long time to recognize that same fact.
Yet no matter where you ranked in that competition, you are always better than those doing the judging.