Can we ban "Ask the..." threads?

The BBQ Pit
1

It could be that I got a terrible haircut a week and a half ago, it could be that I broke my nose a week ago or it could be that I have the mother of all colds, but whatever it is, I am really tired of the threads that begin with the phrase “Ask the…”

I have seen threads telling me to ask: a gay guy, a Muslim, a Christian, a born again Christian, a lefty, a Mormon, a hitchhiking Hindu, a Catholic, a gay Catholic, an imigrant, a bad speller, a Californian, a new New Yorker and on and on and on.

I know our primary focus here is to fight ignorance and by “sharing” who we are, in theory at least, it dispells ignorance. But really, are we doing that with these threads or are we merely ego-tripping, hoping for self-affirmation or trolling hoping for a fight about something we see as self defining?

My feelings are (and once again it could go back to those things mentioned in the first paragraph) if I have a question regarding gay, left-handed Catholic girls who used to be Mormon and just moved to New York City, I will start a thread asking that very question. And by your responding to that thread, I can be informed and you can be re-affirmed and not take up that much bandwitdh.

And I am not even asking that it be a permanent ban. I’d just like to see a month go by where I am not requested to ask someone something merely because he or she thinks he deserves to be asked because of his or her religion, race, sexual tastes, life affirming activity or whatever.

You are important out there. You really are. I really mean it. But wait for the question. It’s tacky if you beg for it.

TV

2

Jeez, I’m worse off than I thought I was, this was supposed to be in the Pit.

3

There’s also a thread there on the same topic - and the starter of that particular Pit thread started an “ask the” thread afterwards. In the previous one, I said I thought a few of the “ask the” thread that I’d read were rather stupid, but that number has gone up for me since I posted that.

4

I think banning is exteme, but it is getting out of hand. I counted 11 of them earlier. But, as I’m sure everybody will be pointing out, there’s nothing forcing you to read them.

5

Isn’t this issue a little six months ago? It wasn’t too long ago that there seemed to be two or three new threads like this everyday, but the volume seems to have gone way down since then. Kind of a shame, as I think some of the best threads I’ve read on the boards were “Ask the…” threads (The “Ask the Muslim Guy” thread and the “Ask the Gay Guy” quadrology stand out in particular)

And, as always, you could just not read them.

6

there’s cycles of everything (especially in GD). I mean there was this one time for like 2 solid months, there was nuthin’ but political debates goin’ on. You’d have thought there was a major election that had gotten contentious. I believe it was back in the fall/winter of 2000.

Seriously. there’s a bunch of them right now. a few weeks ago there was one. a week or so from now, I’ll be surprised if there’s anymore than one or two.

7

I have really enjoyed a good number of them. I think some of them are breathtakingly stupid and/or dull.

The same can be said for pretty much all threads in all forums on this board. I have no problem with you ranting about threads which you find stupid, but I strongly disagree with making a rule to forbid them.

8

I didn’t intend my thread to be a request that people ask, rather an opportunity to do so if you wished. I lurked around the boards and noticed some misconceptions that need correcting. I would do a disservice to my faith and my country if I didn’t do something to dispel misinformation.

This was my first thread, started in my first few days as a fledgeling Doper. Perhaps I should have waited to see if I might offend the sensitive.

As for asking for the question…I got one or two when I posted on other threads, and decided that a semi-controlled environment would be better than tangenting on someone elses topic.

Don’t you have anything better to do than kvetch about the options presented to you? Get a tv or something.

Peace,

Martin

9

Broken nose AND a cold!?

I’m feelin’ ya there friend. I had some rather extreme surgery to fix my sleep apnea this time last year. Tonsils, uvula, large chunks of my upper airway all gone. Soft palate retooled into a stiff arch. Nose broken and reset minus some cartilage. sinuses remolded into a more useful shape using rubber inserts.

Then I came down with a nasty cold.

I’ll give you a pass on any resultant crankiness

Martin

10

Well, if you ask ME…

Just kidding.

11

I was thinking of starting an “Ask No One In Freakin Particular” thread, but then I figured it had probably already been done, and it would suck, and it was just encouraging more of the same.

That said, it probably would be good if there was a lot more asking in every thread before there was any actual debating.

12

I agree with wring: they come and go in waves, and there probably won’t be any in a few weeks.

Besides, we have something even better than banning: natural selection. The “ask the…” threads that are interesting and informative will hang around the top (granted, inspiring others to start their own, perhaps less inspired, “ask the…” threads), while the ones that are just stupid will be on page 2 by the end of the day.

13

The ‘Ask…’ threads are for the most part informational. The ones that aren’t sink like a stone. Why not let natural selection take its course and ignore the ones that don’t die? Why must everyone be deprived of something you don’t like?
Frankly the whole argument that other posters create the threads for ego-stroking comes off as sour grapes. And asking for banning of the threads feels like tattling to me.

14

Gee, and my part IV just got bumped. Obviously no one’s interested in them anymore.

:rolleyes:

Esprix

15

Don’t you get it? Its a joke. People are jumping on the “Ask the…” band wagon as a direct rebuttal to the other pit thread on the issue. I can speak for myself at least when I say I started my “Ask the…” thread specifically to show support for that kind of thread, take a look now, hell we even have an “Ask the waitress” thread. Of coarse its out of hand, that’s the point, it will die down soon enough.

16

Ask the moderators.
[sub]tee-hee[/sub]

17

We need more…like say, an “Ask lieu’s anus” thread.

18

I just counted-- first page only, of IMHO.

Read them and weep:

Cite: Or I got your cite, buddy. Some of these may or may not be weak parody attempts. I was wrong. Nine of these fucking things.

  1. Ask the Libertarian

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151575

  1. Ask the right handed guy.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151559

  1. Ask the American ExPat™ who lives in Brazil

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151511

  1. Ask the Militia Guy!

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151573

  1. Ask The Guy From Montana

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151371

  1. Ask the chick from/living in Missouri!

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151554

  1. Ask Michael Ellis (Parte Dos)

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151514

  1. Ask the nomadic Mormon teenager

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151489

  1. Ask the 'bif

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...threadid=151530
ps. I reposted this from another post. Maybe I could do a “Ask the Reposter” :wink:

19

I don’t mind them, but I’d like to see them change it from ask the (fill in the whatever), to ask a (fill in the whatever).

When T first saw ask the gay guy, Thought he can’t be the only gay guy on a board with over 25,000 registered members. As cool as he is, he ain’t the gay guy.

20

T is my invisible friend. He and I both thought that guy couldn’t be the only gay guy.