# Dear Zoe--you're an idiot, not a detective. Now shut the hell up. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 30, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259 "2009-03-30T04:23:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/21 "2009-03-30T13:08:41Z")
What I think is extra hilarious is that Zoe thinks I’d lie about being a middle aged female 7th English teacher. I mean, I could see PRR lying about having a glamorous and high profile job as a college professor, or Rand Rover claiming to be covered in glory as a tax attorney, or Phlospher pretending to be a fantastically wealthy jet setting philosophy professor, but public school teacher? Yeah, it’s tantamount to being Angelina Jolie. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/22 "2009-03-30T13:10:55Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I do hope you’ve taken an oath to use your superpowers only for good. I have… but it’s hard, man. It’s hard. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/23 "2009-03-30T13:21:53Z")
On the other hand, \*everyone’s \*doing the Intarweb Pschic job on **Rand Rover**. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/24 "2009-03-30T13:26:36Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > This is just to affirm that I am aware of the Pit thread and that I will be reading whatever you wish to post. So nice of you to come - we expect you’ll be taking your usual notes? Also ran gender genie on my prior post, #4. Yep, it thinks I’m a guy. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/25 "2009-03-30T13:28:54Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > On the other hand, \*everyone’s \*doing the Intarweb Pschic job on **Rand Rover**. Not everyone. I (and others) have only made comments about RR the poster, not RR the person. I have not met him and he may be a nice guy. RR the poster is an asshole and seems proud of it. Which is one piece of evidence to support the theory that he is in fact a lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/26 "2009-03-30T13:40:04Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > So nice of you to come - we expect you’ll be taking your usual notes? Yeah, I assume I’m on THE LIST now and she’s frantically searching through my old posts to prove…I dunno..that I’m not me or something. I loathe her McCarthy-esque tactics. When I went looking for those cites in my OP, I found a couple of posts of her saying she has sooper-seecrit information about posters that she’s not prepared to share but completely undermine their arguments. I have no hope of this thread changing her. She doesn’t seem bright enough or self-aware enough to change–or even realize there’s a problem. Look at her response to this thread. What I _do_ hope is that the mods look at the cites in the OP and create a unique rule for her and her only-“NO STALKING–If she sees that she’s got super-secret info about about a poster, she is NOT allowed to post it on the board, just send it to the mods.” ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/27 "2009-03-30T13:44:06Z")
You know, I’m sure there have been a couple of times when I read something by a poster that directly conflicted with something they’d written quite recently, and thought “Huh”. I think there was even a time I called them on it. But I’m completely baffled by Zoe’s devotion to her cause. I barely have time to keep straight what my real friends are doing with their real lives. No offense, y’all, but I just don’t care enough about you to closely track your activities, let alone keep a spreadsheet-o-crazy to check for inconsistencies. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/28 "2009-03-30T13:55:28Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > This is just to affirm that I am aware of the Pit thread and that I will be reading whatever you wish to post. Regardless of whether accusations are true or false, I have no intentions of defending myself. Your powers of observation are… How can I put this delicately? Underwhelming. But it would be amusing for you to prove that Sampiro isn’t a gay white librarian from Alabama. Would you mind? ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/29 "2009-03-30T13:57:39Z")
At the end of the day, unless the poster is claiming that because of their background, they understand the issue better, and are making claims without a cite, who really cares? Unless Rand Rover is posting in threads about tax law, and is making unsupported claims, I don’t really care if he is or isn’t a tax lawyer. ---
**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 30, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/30 "2009-03-30T14:04:54Z")
Well, he does make unsupported claims in threads about tax law, but he’s been right so far. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/31 "2009-03-30T14:06:04Z")
I think I’m going to start posting conflicting information about myself in a desperate bid to get somebody to NOTICE ME, DAMMIT! _sob_ ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/32 "2009-03-30T14:07:02Z")
> [@The\_Weird\_One](#): > > I think I’m going to start posting conflicting information about myself in a desperate bid to get somebody to NOTICE ME, DAMMIT! _sob_ That’s it: you’re on ZOE’S LIST! ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/33 "2009-03-30T14:10:33Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Female Score: 1031 > Male Score: 473 > > The Gender Genie thinks **Fenris** is a girl. > > That is all. Heh–I was all set to argue, but I tried it…you’re right. It does!! Apparently I’m the hairiest damned woman outside of a circus tent. (It counts the word “and” as a girl-word, and I love me my compound sentences, so if that makes me a woman, so be it. 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/34 "2009-03-30T14:11:55Z")
> [@The\_Weird\_One](#): > > I think I’m going to start posting conflicting information about myself in a desperate bid to get somebody to NOTICE ME, DAMMIT! _sob_ That would just be … weird. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/35 "2009-03-30T14:21:45Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I barely have time to keep straight what my real friends are doing with their real lives. No offense, y’all, but I just don’t care enough about you to closely track your activities, let alone keep a spreadsheet-o-crazy to check for inconsistencies. I agree. I have enough trouble remembering the basics on prominent posters let alone details on everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/36 "2009-03-30T14:59:18Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Will you stop doing it? Because apparently more people are bothered by it than just the people you do it to. It’s creepy and you’re just wrong. Reconsider your tactics. Maybe trying arguing the points and don’t resort to the irrelevant ad hominem? You like to say that PRR and I don’t act like you think teachers should. Well, neither do you. I disagree. I think she is acting like a teacher–a bitter, disillusioned teacher who hates all those damn kids who ain’t got no respect. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/37 "2009-03-30T14:59:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Shit. I expected at least an attempt before the slink. You can’t have it both ways. If you want to wade into the Pit and throw accusations around you better be willing to defend yourself. I prefer trolls like Rand Rover to people like that. Either participate in the Pit or don’t. If you’re talking to me then you’ve totally lost me,if you’re not then you’ve still lost me. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/38 "2009-03-30T15:02:19Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I agree. I have enough trouble remembering the basics on prominent posters let alone details on everyone else. Same here, I have to hear something about/from a certain poster repeatedly before it sinks in. For example, after hearing it so often I think I’ve finally grasped that Sampiro is a gay, white, Libertarian from Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/39 "2009-03-30T15:07:40Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Same here, I have to hear something about/from a certain poster repeatedly before it sinks in. For example, after hearing it so often I think I’ve finally grasped that Sampiro is a gay, white, Libertarian from Alabama. Um, I’m pretty sure he’s a gay, white Liberian. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259/40 "2009-03-30T15:11:16Z")
Isn’t “gay libertine” redundant? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-zoe-youre-an-idiot-not-a-detective-now-shut-the-hell-up/491259.md?page=3)