# @Chronos - My comment in the American Fr.ontier thread **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 28, 2025, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204 "2025-11-28T11:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/1 "2025-11-28T11:53:01Z")
@Chronos, you said that my comment did not belong in that thread. I very much disagree. You see, I did live on a frontier. Sure a modern one, but very much like folks from 100s of years ago. And I treated strangers with the same caution as you would 100s of years ago. I had only myself to rely on. A big reason we moved to a more urban area was there was no help where we lived, and we are getting older, retiring. Police closed at night, no officers on patrol, ambulance might make it to that house in the winter in about 1/2 hour, maybe. Same with the fire department. So very much related to the topic at hand. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/2 "2025-11-28T12:48:06Z")
Indeed. Dinsdale actually asked about how modern day travelers would be treated today … > [@How did folk "on the American frontier" view travelers/home security?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/1): > > that certainly differs from my perception of how travelers would be treated these days. If my perception of how Americans today view unfamiliar passers-by is incorrect, I am happy to be corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/3 "2025-11-28T15:02:08Z")
IMO, that thread was extremely light on any references to the past - which clearly was the main thrust of my OP, with only a couple of references to any historic citations. Instead, the vast majority was current anecdotes. My impression is that such anecdata is generally not considered appropriate in GQ - at least until the factual question had been developed to some extent. **pjd** , my OP was 4 paragraphs long. I suggest that in an FQ OP, 2 sentences at the end of the 2d of 4 paragraphs does not accurately reflect the overall intention of an OP. I think the current anecdata focussed on certain trees over a clearly outlined forest. But I am not a mod, and folk may differ. I tried to restate my OP’s intention, yet it was largely ignored. In the past, I have experienced my OPs being taken in directions other than what I intended, and have largely learned that is just something that happens. But I thought FQ a little different. So I asked the mods, and **Chronos** posted a reminder. Yet people continued to report their current experiences/impressions - without relating them to the “frontier.” Sorry you felt dissed, **enipla.** You know I greatly appreciate your input. But here, your responses were way more in the territory of IMHO than GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/4 "2025-11-28T15:20:41Z")
The OP was poorly written then > [@How did folk "on the American frontier" view travelers/home security?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/1): > > If you are such a person and you see someone coming on horseback. “are” is present tense and would invite the views of enipla and all other modern frontierpersons. If you only wanted the hypothetical of “imagine you are that person on the frontier in olden times” then you need to use the conditional form If you _were_ such a person and you see someone coming on horseback. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/5 "2025-11-28T15:38:38Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > If you _were_ such a person and you see someone coming on horseback. Based on my experience of American Westerns, I would look to see if they had a white or black hat! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/6 "2025-11-28T15:50:45Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > You know I greatly appreciate your input. But here, your responses were way more in the territory of IMHO than GQ. Thank you Dinsdale, and I really don’t feel ‘dissed’. Just that I have factual observations from now that would even relate to the past. Real life experience. I know what it’s like to be approached by a stranger when you live in a remote place. I doubt the human feeling has changed in the course of a few hundred years. Depending on your make up, and previous experiences. The response is two heaping spoonful’s of caution. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/7 "2025-11-29T07:07:24Z")
You focus on the “are” and not the “on horseback” part that clearly tells us this is _not_ modern BigTruckia. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/8 "2025-11-29T15:08:42Z")
I’m on team, “that OP was begging for IMHO”, for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/9 "2025-11-29T15:51:06Z")
^exactly what you say^ ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/10 "2025-11-29T16:03:02Z")
@Beckdawrek You probably understand what I say. You live a bit remote, do you not. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/11 "2025-11-29T20:38:22Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’m on team, “that OP was begging for IMHO”, for what it’s worth. How does that work? Aren’t there plenty of FQ threads asking what xyz was like, or how people behaved, in some historical period? Do all such threads invite respondents to discuss their weekend plans? I was expecting persons ( **needscoffee** has me questioning my use of the word “folk”) to provide examples of journals or history books they had read, describing personal interactions on the “frontier.” While “frontier” is open to definition, the one that came most readily to my mind, and for which I expected there to be the most sources of material, to be the American West, in the 2d half of the 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/12 "2025-11-29T21:11:39Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > How does that work? Your OP was full of your own opinion and speculation, so you poisoned your thread from the start. Let’s say I wanted a thread asking what wireless carrier has the best speeds in most of rural Alaska. And I post in FQ hoping for a factual answer, with studies, statistics, charts showing coverage, etc. Yet I fill up my initial post with my opinions about various carriers and stories about what I’ve experienced in the past. What kind of responses would you expect? If I’m essentially hijacking my own thread with IMHO content in my first post, I should not expect to get FQ answers. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/13 "2025-11-29T21:16:10Z")
Yes, what Atamasama said. I was really surprised you had posted it in FQ, based on the text of the OP. And once i realized that, i stayed out of the thread, because i didn’t trust myself to stick to FQ answers. (My early-ish post to the thread was responding to the OP, not to the forum. And after i posted it i felt it had been inappropriate for the forum. But honestly had no idea what would be appropriate.) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/14 "2025-11-29T21:55:50Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Your OP was full of your own opinion and speculation, so you poisoned your thread from the start. I thought I expressed few “opinions” other than my suspicion of a certain meme. What you characterize as speculation, I thought were simply discussion provoking questions. Continually reveals a gap in my understanding that I so consistently misunderstand how the forums around here are supposed to work. I keep trying - but also keep getting it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/15 "2025-11-29T22:08:39Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Continually reveals a gap in my understanding that I so consistently misunderstand how the forums around here are supposed to work. I keep trying - but also keep getting it wrong. We all make mistakes trying to figure out how to properly draft an OP. I certainly do. And a number of the conventions we have are not intuitive. FQ in particular can be tricky. I don’t blame you in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/16 "2025-11-30T13:43:09Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And once i realized that, i stayed out of the thread, because i didn’t trust myself to stick to FQ answers. If only more did the same. I checked a random thread: > [@How long can a bottle of milk last without spoiling?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-bottle-of-milk-last-without-spoiling/1024672/10): > > There seems to be some confusion amongst the replies about whether the OP meant milk still in the factory sealed container, or milk after the container’s been opened and the milk partly used. IMO / IME there’s a big difference in shelf (fridge shelf that is) life between those two scenarios. IME open milk is a week to 10 days before it starts getting iffy and another 3-4 sliding from iffy towards yucky. Sealed milk seems to be good for about 3 weeks pre-opening before it starts to go. But go… and it’s filled with personal anecdotes and posts about what kind of milk posters like to drink. Given how much economic activity is tied up in the dairy industry, it should come as no surprise that there’s a robust body of literature on dairy shelf life. I haven’t waded through the muck of that thread far enough to tell if anyone knowledgeable about this research contributed or if anyone capable of rubbing together the few brain cells needed for a Google search was able to muster one. We can certainly treat FQ as story time but it seems we already have other parts of the board for that. Inconsistent moderation (or mods actively contributing to story time) is going to invite more of these responses, and then complaints when someone occasionally does bother to try to stop them. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/17 "2025-11-30T13:53:16Z")
I think that question had been answered factually, before the chit chat took over. I’m sure there is tons of hard data on shelf life of various types of milk when held under commercial storage conditions, but that’s not how people generally interact with milk. And home storage varies a _lot_. The time i cared most about the shelf life of milk was when i was without a fridge during a Princeton summer. In particular, this post > [@How long can a bottle of milk last without spoiling?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-bottle-of-milk-last-without-spoiling/1024672/9): > > Actually, the [National Dairy Council](https://www.usdairy.com/news-articles/uht-milk-what-is-ultra-high-temperature-milk) draws a distinction between pasteurized milk, ultra-pasteurized milk, and ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk. With refrigeration, ultra-pasteurized milk lasts about as long as regular pasteurized milk after it is opened. Is the factual answer to the OP, i believe. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chronos-my-comment-in-the-american-fr-ontier-thread/1025204/18 "2025-12-01T17:58:11Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Given how much economic activity is tied up in the dairy industry, it should come as no surprise that there’s a robust body of literature on dairy shelf life. I The Milk thread was not A Factual Question so much as a discussion topic. What even _is_ milk? What is proper storage? Where is the point of safe vs spoilage or decay? That happens a lot here. A long time ago, an older (I assume) amateur radio operator (we such a fellow [assume, again] an Elmer) wrote something on a message board that I really like and use all the time to illustrate the futility of It Depends questions: > Asking how far an antenna can receive or transmit is like asking how far you can see out a window.