# Anyone leave The Dope & come back? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 25, 2024, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176 "2024-08-25T03:11:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/41 "2024-08-29T03:32:14Z")
I would have to have brain damage to leave this place. And I did for a while. ---
**Author:** ![cieskokid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cieskokid/32/5374_2.png) [@cieskokid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cieskokid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/42 "2024-08-29T03:37:13Z")
It does fly, but it’s been a brain stimulating AND informationally fun time, so many cool af threads here in Cafe Society & the political forums, especially given the Kamala\*Tim energy flowing all over these days! ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/43 "2024-08-29T11:07:57Z")
also, a surprising number of the most “readworthy” members simply have died IRL (sorry, i am notoriously bad with names): - tubalady - colibri - hey opal come to my (colanderish) mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/44 "2024-08-29T13:52:36Z")
truth. And some fairly entertaining truculent members have been banned. It’s not as colorful (or quite as erudite and interesting) as it once was, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/45 "2024-08-29T16:36:29Z")
I guess I’m just not as entertained by train wrecks as others might be, especially the deliberate ones. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/46 "2024-08-29T18:25:38Z")
Well we didn’t spend many years having to clean them up. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/47 "2024-08-30T12:46:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I cannot fathom lurking. YMMV of course, but anything worth reading is worth responding to. I now find I’m utterly spoiled when reading newspapers, magazines, websites, etc., and there isn’t an opportunity to converse and rebut. It feels so empty and half-assed. Kinda like watching TV with the sound off: something essential is missing. I have quite a few reasons for lurking: 1. I don’t read all these threads frequently enough, which means one or more of the following: a. The comment I’m responding to is five days old and 30 people have commented since then and it feels like I’m resurrecting a zombie (though I’m doing that now, go figure). b. Someone else already said what I wanted to say (or close enough), and people here don’t seem to appreciate a “+1,” “QFT,” “me too,” or “same” sort of post. c. It strikes me as too much effort to read the whole thread and make sure that what I want to say hasn’t already been said, so I give up. 2. In some threads, I feel like there’s this sort of sense of community where people are uniting over common interests, and I’m different enough that it would feel weird posting. For example, I like country music and most music threads are more about classic rock artists; I’m a woman and prefer some women’s fiction or female-centric YouTubers, podcasts, etc., while most threads seem to be more male-centric in that regard; I’m not as liberal as most of this board. 3. I feel like I have to be much more careful posting here as opposed to in an in-person conversation. When you discuss a contentious topic in-person (at least among my friends), there seems to be a genuine attempt to have a discussion, see things from a different perspective, and learn new things. I feel like on this board there’s more of an attempt to “win a debate,” and particularly when I don’t have a majority viewpoint, I just don’t feel like dealing with that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/48 "2024-08-30T13:49:43Z")
When the page left AOL and disappeared into the internet I didn’t try and find it. They one day I wondered about the column and found it again. On AOL I was about 98% column and 2% board. So that was about a 5 year break. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/49 "2024-08-30T15:33:54Z")
I get everything you say there, you summed it up so well. I feel the same way sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/50 "2024-08-30T15:56:53Z")
I frequented the Straight Dope site starting around 2000, joined the forum quickly thereafter, drifted in and out over the years, left when the board turned pay-to-post and returned when that was lifted. I have mostly no idea about the dates of these events. ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/51 "2024-08-30T23:59:23Z")
Joined in 2000 and posted on and off until 2014. I don’t know why I drifted away, but I drifted back a few months ago and this is my first de-lurking post! My husband @Tride stayed with it and kept me up to date. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2024, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/52 "2024-08-31T00:02:57Z")
> [@Alpine](#): > > this is my first de-lurking post! My husband @Tride stayed with it and kept me up to date. So we have an @Alpine and an @enipla, but we have to keep of whether the alpine is coming or going? I’ll give it the college try. Welcome back by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/53 "2024-08-31T00:06:58Z")
Just to make it more confusing, @enipla and I work in the same relatively obscure tech field! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/54 "2024-08-31T11:23:53Z")
> [@Alpine](#): > > Just to make it more confusing, @enipla and I work in the same relatively obscure tech field! Ski lift business? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/55 "2024-08-31T14:48:56Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > So we have an @Alpine and an @enipla, but we have to keep of whether the alpine is coming or going? Well done. Hey @Alpine , are you still in the business? Are you still in Colorado? I’m gonna probably get out of altitude in a couple of years. Good run of 32 years, but it’s becoming a bit much. Oh, and I’m gonna retire. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/56 "2024-08-31T15:32:57Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > So we have an @Alpine and an @enipla, but we have to keep of whether the alpine is coming or going? As God is my witness, I never realized the meaning of @enipla 's handle until now. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/57 "2024-08-31T15:40:51Z")
Oof. I may need to turn off my computer for the day after that revelation. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/58 "2024-08-31T17:00:00Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As God is my witness, I never realized the meaning of @enipla 's handle until now. Yeah. I named my first dog Alpine. I live at 11,200 feet. So I just switched it around. Alpine becomes enipla. I swear, I’m not a chocolate Labrador retriever. ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/59 "2024-08-31T17:07:07Z")
Yes, still GIS Director for a small county in Colorado, though @Tride and I moved to Bozeman MT 6 years ago. Remote work seems to be going just fine. I heard you were retiring! Best wishes. I’ve got probably 10 years to go and I’ll keep working remotely as long as they let me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176/60 "2024-08-31T17:09:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As God is my witness, I never realized the meaning of @enipla 's handle until now. Like w/ **Der\_Trihs** ’, I simply assumed it was a word from a foreign language (in his case German, natch). Not exactly disappointed that they were simply backwards English words, but… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-leave-the-dope-come-back/1006176.md?page=4)