# askeptic is a psycho **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 28, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848 "2004-03-28T02:55:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/61 "2004-03-29T05:38:41Z")
Thanks for staying on point Furt, but then that is to be expected, I guess…Appreciate the Bump anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/62 "2004-03-29T05:54:46Z")
**askeptic** , would you kill a man for him? ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/63 "2004-03-29T06:03:43Z")
> [@Necro Romancer](#): > > **askeptic** , would you kill a man for him? Not sure I know what you are talking about, but if he had been in my unit, and killing was needed doing, I would have done it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/64 "2004-03-29T08:56:02Z")
Just tell us whom you used to be. There’ll be no hard feelings. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/65 "2004-03-29T09:03:54Z")
> [@Jimmy Chitwood](#): > > I like **askeptic.** He’s _always_ honest, and he always owns up and apologizes if he fucks up somehow. It seems like alot of what he says is light-hearted or sarcastic, but he doesn’t realize that stuff doesn’t translate well online. If he was trying to troll, or if he was a returning troll\*, why would he spend half of his posts apologizing? He posts without thinking sometimes, it appears, but who among us never did that, particularly in our early days on the boards? > > From what I’ve seen, **askeptic** trainwrecks go like this: > > - **askeptic** makes an effort to make a point, or attacks what he perceives to be ignorance. > > -Somebody (or lots of somebodies) tell **askeptic** he’s wrong, he’s being a dick, etc. > > - **askeptic** defends himself in a frenzy, and calls a lot of people a lot of names. > > -Ugliness. > > -Usually, **askeptic** apologizes. > > -Rinse, repeat. > > He’s been in more ugly situations than most, no doubt, but at least he’s genuine and has good intentions. I’ll take that over the everyday troll or boredom. We need some fire around here. He probably just needs to eat a few of his posts before they get out into the open. > > \*Incidentally, if you think somebody’s a returning troll, you’re supposed to report it and shut up, aren’t you? And if you _don’t_ think he is, you shut up anyway, right? S/He gets to fly off the handle and initiate personal attacks against a poster for openly answering controversial positions, but askeptic expects sympathy for his/her views not being stated clearly?!? Please. Do a basic search and you’ll see where I’ve been an asshat in posts because I spouted off without understanding the nuances, history and styles of writing from others. (Hell, look up my mini-war with DtC and Luci over some stuff) If askeptic wants to open a Pit thread to nail someone he doesn’t agree with, then get slammed, then whine he can’t get reasonable discourse on the subject, then reiterate how the latest post he’s bitching about shouldn’t be discussed (all while being slammed for trying to PREVENT ideas he doesn’t agree with), the pitting is more than warranted. * * * _duffer_ worthy of most pits he’s been through ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/66 "2004-03-29T09:17:27Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Not sure I know what you are talking about, but if he had been in my unit, and killing was needed doing, I would have done it. Oh, I was testing the original poster’s claim. Which Army did you serve in? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/67 "2004-03-29T13:19:46Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > S/He gets to fly off the handle and initiate personal attacks against a poster for openly answering controversial positions, but askeptic expects sympathy for his/her views not being stated clearly?!? > > Please. Do a basic search and you’ll see where I’ve been an asshat in posts because I spouted off without understanding the nuances, history and styles of writing from others. (Hell, look up my mini-war with DtC and Luci over some stuff) > > If askeptic wants to open a Pit thread to nail someone he doesn’t agree with, then get slammed, then whine he can’t get reasonable discourse on the subject, then reiterate how the latest post he’s bitching about shouldn’t be discussed (all while being slammed for trying to PREVENT ideas he doesn’t agree with), the pitting is more than warranted. I’m not really sure why you’ve quoted me to say this, nor do I see what it has to do with you- all I was saying was that I think **askeptic** is honest, and I don’t think he’s trolling. You want to Pit somebody, Pit somebody. I don’t have a problem with that, nor did I say this Pitting was unwarranted. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/68 "2004-03-29T14:48:15Z")
I wouldn’t say “psycho”, but I did recommend to him in another thread that he needs to slow down. He’s been going at breakneck speed for under a month, and hastily posts to the point that he probably regrets more than 1/2 of his posts. I’ve never seen anyone have to apologize so much for flying off the handle as often as he does. However, his consistency at apologizing suggests that his mistakes are honest, and he just needs to learn to filter. Probably the best thing he could do is take a 2 week vacation away from the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/69 "2004-03-29T15:10:02Z")
> [@WaryEri](#): > > I’m a little envious. He may be a train wreck half the time, but he leapt out of newbism into being a real “member” a hell of alot faster than I could ever hope to. You don’t want to leap out the way he did. Besides, over a year is far from newbness. By the way, **Lib** is a pretty obvious shortening, not necessarily an indication of some cosmic soul bond. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/70 "2004-03-29T15:28:25Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I wouldn’t say “psycho”, but I did recommend to him in another thread that he needs to slow down. He’s been going at breakneck speed for under a month, and hastily posts to the point that he probably regrets more than 1/2 of his posts. I’ve never seen anyone have to apologize so much for flying off the handle as often as he does. > > However, his consistency at apologizing suggests that his mistakes are honest, and he just needs to learn to filter. Probably the best thing he could do is take a 2 week vacation away from the Pit. Well, Munch I did take a two day vacation. But If you read what I wrote before, this is my only communication with the outside world. I am not a member of any other forums (other than Opal cats, but that still is pretty slow) and you folks are pretty much the only avenue of human contact left open to me. Lib:I used to be a responsible and reasonable and sober Sgt. askeptic in the US Army. I saw combat in Desert Storm and also in Los Angeles. After I got out I was called back to active duty to command an Infantry unit during the Rodney King Riots. Surreal does not begin to describe walking down a street in the US carrying a machine gun with a Bradly APC behind me while fires are roaring on either side of me. Something happened to me, I am not sure what, after the loss of my fourth friend in combat. He was killed in Iraq in Febuary. I do not know how many other people have had four friends die by violence, and I thank Whoever that I survived unscathed, but I am beginning to think that though physically unscathed, my brain has been somewhat affected. Never the less, I pay my taxes, I have never collected wellfare, or unemployment, I own my own home in a nice neighborhood in the foothills of the Sierras and ask for nothing from anyone. I have never posted to this forum by any other name. And if I get Banned I will not try to sneek back in under another name. I promise, I swear, I assure you, I have never posted to this forum under any other name. Necro: I was a Sgt. in the US ARMY, I served in the 82nd Airborne. I deployed to Desert Shield, which became Desert Storm, with the 101st MI LRSD (Airborne). And I deployed to LA with [C.Co](http://C.Co), 2/159th CANG ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/71 "2004-03-29T15:47:34Z")
Not a psycho, an [idiot.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247048) ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/72 "2004-03-29T16:04:18Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Not a psycho, an [idiot.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247048) Did you even bother to read my previous posts in this thread, or my subsequent posts in the thread to wich you refer? I dout it. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/73 "2004-03-29T16:48:55Z")
For what it’s worth, I think **askeptic** is not some returning well-hosed under-bridge-dweller. For one thing, he doesn’t (yet) know that when you use another Doper’s line for a sig, you ask permission first, and then credit that Doper in the sig line. (Yes, of course you can, **askeptic** ; after all, I did suggest it to begin with. ;)) Given the personal history he’s shared here, I can readily believe the posting pattern we’ve seen is for real, not for shit-stirring. I’d say, give the guy a break, cut him a little slack (but not enough for him to hang himself), and see how he develops. I for one would prefer not to revisit some of my earliest posting on this board. By the way, **askeptic** : In Opal’s realm, by any chance are you a witch-hunting wandering prince from a North Sea kingdom? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/74 "2004-03-29T17:17:26Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > I saw combat in Desert Storm and also in Los Angeles. Was that amusing way to say you’ve done riot control intentional? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/75 "2004-03-29T17:31:43Z")
My name is Inigo Montoya. (not really, just a member name) You sniped my [first post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246833) (so what if it deserved it) prepare to die. (not wishing death, mind you. Wouldn’t wanna do that) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/76 "2004-03-29T17:41:39Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Sorry folks, > I did not mean to miss my very own pitting. I took the valuable advice of LYNN BODONI and took a break. I would like to thank everyone that, while they may not agree with anything I have posted, still recognized that I was not a reincarnation of somebody else. > > Lib, it does not take a genius to recognize the nature of your ideology. Besides, if you will recall, I did ask if I could call you Lib, before I ever actually did. Also I thought we agreed to be worthy adversaries, not enemies. That does mean that I do not dislike you, just that I do not agree with your ideas. Sorry if that is a difficult concept for you. > > Ilsa, you are too vulgar to address. Gluteus is too … to address. > TO EVERYONE ELSE: > > I took 2 months off work 7 months ago to remodel my house, I have spent three times the money I planned on spending, and pretty much lost my mind. I have had basically no interaction with another human being other than contractors trying to screw me for half a year. I started participating on this forum because I felt I was begining to forget how to speak English. I promise that all thoughts, stupid as they may have been, were mine, and mine alone. I apologize to any I may have offended. I will not disappear until forced to. Just wanted you to know I was not ignoring your comments, I was just trying to lower my daily average post count. Dear **askeptic** , You’ve apparently read enough of the messages on these boards to realize that whatever your personal feelings for a particular member, it’s a courteous convention to address them herein with their **full username in boldface**. It’s actually quite easy to do this, and can be less of an effort than actually typing their username or some shortened, less respectful version of your own making. All you have to do is highlight their username from one of their previous postings, hit ‘Control C’, click on that **B** , and hit ‘Control V’, and, _voila!_, you’ve addressed your fellow member or guest poster in the traditional manner. Try it. We’ll like it. You may or may not have noticed the motto of the SDMB. It’s up there at the top of the page in yellow on red. Part of that involves the proper use of the English language, for the benefit of members and readers whose first language is not English. So, I’d like to remind you that: ‘to’ can be a preposition that indicates movement in the direction of , or toward (Go to Hell); it can also be used to describe a limit (bored to tears); plus various other prepositional usages; as well as a necessary part of an infinitive verb (to lurk or not to post). ‘too’ happens to be {infinitive verb} an adverb which is used to indicate the meaning of ‘also’ (You, too, Brutus?) or demonstrates the superfluous (Are you too lazy to bother {infinitive verb} to address {infinitive verb} other members by their full username, yet industrious enough to post {infinitive verb} nearly 500 times in less than a month?), and also to mean {infinitive verb} to a regrettable extent {preposition}, as in (You don’t like being criticized {gerund}? Too bad! I guess you’re just too sensitive for the Pit.) An ellipsis is… traditionally formed with three (3) periods, not four (4). If I’m too … to address, then why did you need to say it in [two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247685) [separate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247877) threads? If you really wanted to lower your daily average post-count, you’d stop posting for about five months. One more thing… You came to the Pit looking for _human interaction_? :rolleyes: Come on! You big, tough, soldier guy, you! Sticks and stones, and… {ellipsis}, you know the rest, right? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/77 "2004-03-29T18:14:59Z")
The three-mark ellipsis is a convention, not a rule. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/78 "2004-03-29T18:20:37Z")
Tch! I _said_, “tradtionally”! ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/79 "2004-03-29T18:22:02Z")
Tch! I _said_, “traditionally”! Tch! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848/80 "2004-03-29T18:58:37Z")
gluteus maximus, quoting an entire post just to point out grammatical and spelling errors is Pretentious, to say the least. And bolding user names is hardly convention - some people do it, some people don’t. > [@](#): > > You may or may not have noticed the motto of the SDMB. It’s up there at the top of the page in yellow on red. Part of that involves the proper use of the English language, for the benefit of members and readers whose first language is not English. So, I’d like to remind you that: > > [blah, blah, blah] Shit on a shingle, get off your high horse. Proper English is certainly a wonderful thing to aspire to, but I’d work on relaxing that colon of yours if I were you. > [@](#): > > You came to the Pit looking for human interaction? And you came to the Pit looking for a venue to display your superior grammar skills? Bully for you. Empty your large intestine of sticks and other detrius. Try it, we’ll like it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/askeptic-is-a-psycho/236848.md?page=5)