It has occasionally been mentioned that if a Doper should die, no one would ever know.
Granted, there is not much we could do about it, but it would be important to know - especially if if was someone we have read and respected over the years. If nothing else, but to share memories and honor them.
Perhaps the SDMB could add a field…sort of “who to call in an emergency”.
Give an email address of someone you know so, if after - I donno, maybe 3 months, if you haven’t posted, someone could ask a moderater to check in to see if you won the lottery and are travelling the world, or if something worse has happened.
About 6 years ago I asked my mom to notify my friends on-line if anything happened to me. So she might start a thread here if I kick the bucket. While I’m sure she’d hit my e-mail friends she may forget to open IE which would bring her here to post the grim news.
Well that was my plan anyway. It just seemed a common curtesy.
I keep a file on the desktop that has the laptop password and those online places/friends that should be notified should anything happen. I also informed the 2 siblings most likely to access the computer should anything happen to me.
It’s just something I was thinking about and figured I should go ahead and do. It’s sort of my will - I don’t have any real assets, but there are people that I’d want to know if something happened to me.
As a fun exercise in morbidity, I like to imagine this sort of scenario every once in a while. I suppose I could go tell a person in my family or leave a file for them or something that if I ever die, go register and post on the boards. (The buddy approach was also mentioned a few months back.)
On the other hand, I do tend to blend into the scenery here quite well. Anyone like my green leaves?
TMWTGG: Doper suicide notes? I don’t recall seeing anyone post a suicide note here and then killing themselves, and I’m sure that wouldn’t be encouraged…
There was a Doper who posted links to photos of him/herself with their wrists slashed. I don’t remember the details, other than it was a pretty ugly business that happened shortly after I joined the boards.
If I die, I plan to continue posting once I have risen from the grave as a hideous flesh-eating ghoul, prowling the earth eating the living and surfing the Internet in my spare time.
How would a doper die?
We are the most informed people in the world.
I mean, we know how to kill roaches if ever they besiege our house by the millions and try to take over.
We know that there are killer rabbits that attacked Jimmy Carter and we should watch out for these aquatic vermin.
The only way we could die is if some ignorrant idiot became jealous and murdered us.
With 35K registered members, I’d bet money that more than the three Dopers I know about have expired. WallyM7, poopah chalupah and Dr. Watson all died in accidents, and all had extraboard communication with other posters.
I’m assuming that if I died, everyone would find out about it when they hold the state funeral, and issue a stamp with my picture on it – part of the “Very Average Persons” series. Uncle Cecil himself will give the eulogy, of course. Just try to keep him from throwing himself on the funeral pyre.
