MPSIMS is like a good coffee shop, it seems, or a popular bar… Every MPSIMS thread I read-- which aren’t many-- are like an episode of Cheers. “Crunchy!” ; “What’s up everybody?” 
[note: not an endorsement of Crunchy Frog, just picked a name; do not taunt happy fun ball]
You hear a lot of “Oh, you know [blankety blank] about me…”
No, actually, I don’t. Who the hell are you? Wait!-- scratch that. Instead: what makes you an MPSIMS’er?
Sorry, baby.
MPSIMS is a WHOLE lot more than that. It is a place where we come to share our joys, our sorrows, our concerns and our life.
We come for advice, for comfort, for love and acceptance, for reassurance. We come because we care about each other. Some of us love each other, some of us feel safe enough to share our lives with each other. Some of us have plenty of other places to go for these things, some of us don’t. Some of us would rather share with the people here than they would with the people they deal with face-to-face. Some of us do both. I do both.
The people I have chosen to share my life with on this board mean just as much to me as the people who are actually present physically in my life. I love them just as much. I ache just as much for them, I would do just as much FOR them as I would do if they were here.
IMHO, there is NOTHING mundane or pointless about this forum. It is the heart and soul of this community.
It is also a place to have fun, just like you would have fun with your friends if they were in the same room with you.
That is MY Not-so-humble opinion.
Scotti
I just come here to line up victims for my fantasy football domninance.
[sub]Okay – I also sometimes find it a pleasant and diverting environment in which to trade carefree dialogue with witty and intelligent folks. Plus the Bricker challenges used to rock. I miss them.[/sub]
I actually think that this forum (with the occasional exception of the Pit) provides by far the most interesting and profound insights into Dopers’ lives and attitudes.
So how is this not like Cheers? (couldn’t resist)
NORM!
I always make absolutely sure that my posts are both mundane and pointless. Perhaps I’m taking this forum too seriously.
It’s probably mundane AND pointless, but where else can I:
talk about my boob & bra issues
or relate a funny nose story
or even nitpick a politician’s grammar
compose a thread no one cared about
and last, but not least, who else can I share my poo stories with?
Ah, MPSIMS, my favorite forum to post to. A room full of people with random funny stuff to share.
WEll…I concede that there is lots of mundane and pointless stuff posted in this forum. But fun, right? And what is mundane and pointless about fun?
And…isn’t that part of real life? Sheesh, I have been to parties where MUCH more mindless drivel is bandied about.
But, I concede. What I get from this forum may not be what you get from it. Who cares, really? As long as you get what you want/need?
And if you hang out here much, you will find that there are lots and lots of things discussed that are neither mundane OR pointless. Really.
I would love to be able to compose a five-paragraph essay on the virtues and merits of being an MPSIMSer. Unfortunately, Scotticher already claimed the prize. So I’ll go with something else.
This place is as much a part of my family as anyone else. I’ve met . . . around 50 of you (which is still a BIT shy of the size of my extended family), and have plans to meet more. I’ve sacrificed time, energy, money (hoo boy),and yes, even sanity for you all. We’ve gone to the upper limits of TMI (though there are some things even I won’t tell you here) in the name of fighting ignorance, making Euty, UncleBeer and Coldy vomit AND blush at the same time (quite a feat for a ClogBoy, from what I hear).
You have kept me happy, sad, curious, very UNcurious at times, in school (yay 2.0 gpa!), somewhat intelligent, wary of bringing beverages near my computer, smiling with my eyes, wondering what in the hell y’all are smoking, wondering what kind of google searches you do to find dolphin porn, and getting generally aroused by several threads (oops, TMI).
In return, I have tried to be amusing where I thought it fit, and serious when I couldn’t think of anything funny to say. On at least one occasion, I am told, I was both, to which I say: a thousand monkeys on a thousand computers will eventually find the SDMB. When I failed at humor and gravity (boycott gravity today!) I was boring. This explains all my boring posts.
We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve stared at posts and wondered what the hell I was smoking (dill seeds. Gotta love 'em). You have endured my mistakes (mostly:)) and from what I hear, some of you even like me despite myself.
I don’t understand this last bit, but I don’t understand much, so there you go.
I have shared with you some of my more inner feelings. I was out on this board before I was out to most of my family. You know about my high school years and my interesting family members. I don’t tell many people about them. I have opened myself up to your honest thoughts of me (most of them weren’t that bad). You have done the same.
I have gained the strength through you to see my weaknesses as such and not “Oh, whatever, I got hurt.” Through the pain I have felt through your and words and mine I understand that it is all for nothing if I (we) can’t gain anything from it. It’s like bondage; it hurts, but it feels so good at the end (and in the middle, if you get the leather whip!).
We are a strong group because we know how to rely on eachother. We know how to ask for help and how to give it. We are, each of us, important individuals. Our strength lies in knowing how to live. There is no other community like this one, and it’s sad that more people can’t experience it, but happy because things would get really crowded in here . . .
And that, my friends, is what makes us anything but mundane or pointless.
I come for the camaraderie,
but I stay for the abuse…
[sub]Spiritus Mondi, you shall have your comeuppance![/sub]
MPSIMS? What is this strange forum of which you speak? Why, I don’t recall being here before, I just heard someone mention my name. Interesting place, maybe I should post here more often instead of wasting all my time arguing in Great Debates or answering all those General Questions.
Hell, on a good day I’ll have it twice.
I’m getting old, though, the third time is too much like work.