# Ever meet a doper in real life by complete accident? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184 "2003-03-21T19:21:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/21 "2003-03-22T15:55:25Z")
It was around the time that I “discovered” the SD. I was going through the archives, but had not gone to the message board. Several of us would go to a bar for some drinks Friday nights and the SD came up somehow. **Road Rash** mentioned the message board, but I kept forgetting until about it until the third or so time he mentioned it in conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/22 "2003-03-22T16:12:27Z")
I was in a store in Belleville, Ontario. They were doing some survey about something, and I can’t remember the first two choices, but the last was “Hi Opal!” I asked the guy working who had made the list, but he wasn’t sure. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/23 "2003-03-22T17:04:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LifeOnWry \* > \*\*I’m actually surprised that I haven’t run into any Dopers IRL. I know of at least two who live in the same city as I do. I met one at a ChiDope, and discovered she lives nearly within walking distance (well, a short ride in the car, anyway) and I’m betting we shop at the same grocery store, since it’s pretty much the ONLY grocery store that would be convenient to us both. So far, no unplanned encounters, though. > > I’m rapidly becoming fairly well-known in this immediate area (involved in local issues that are getting some press) so if you’re a Doper and you recognize me, say howdy, OK? \*\* I will. 🙂 I usually only hit the grocery store in the mornings or Saturday afternoons, but I’ll keep an eye out. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/24 "2003-03-22T17:53:21Z")
Does this count? The thread where **Mozman** realizes that we [met before either of us joined the boards](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1241314#post1241314). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/25 "2003-03-22T17:58:43Z")
Not exactly a doper meeting, more like a moment. I took care of a patient recently named Jack Batty. I was amused all day but couldn’t really explain why I found the whole thing so funny. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/26 "2003-03-22T18:53:02Z")
I recently found out that one of my best friend’s used to be a Doper back on the old AOL boards. That was an interesting revelation. ---
**Author:** ![Melandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Melandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melandry)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/27 "2003-03-22T19:20:04Z")
**CalMeacham** once came and gave a talk at my school about his book, a talk which I attended. I was just a lurker (and only in the Pit) at that point, but I eventually expanded my horizons and joined up, then one day **Cal** posted a link to his book’s website. And that’s how I inadvertently met a Doper. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/28 "2003-03-22T19:25:59Z")
I’ve run into **Inertia** a couple times, always at restaurants. Twice it was at the food court in Northbrook Court and once I was walking home on Howard street and as I walked through the Popeyes parking lot, out he comes with his girlfriend! ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/29 "2003-03-22T22:47:51Z")
Hi, **hedra**! Good times, good times… 😉 Turns out **Encinitas** and I work across the parking lot from each other. 🙂 Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/30 "2003-03-26T18:59:46Z")
I found out second period today that I was sitting next to **hobbes730**. How about that? LC ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/31 "2003-03-26T20:24:46Z")
Not from the SDMB, no, but I used to post on a board sponsored by Petsmart. One of the frequent posters there started a thread, saying that she was very nervous because she’d taken her dog, _Cady_, in for a spay that morning. In the middle of my “Good Luck, I’m sure she’ll be fine” post, it hit me: that very morning I, too, had gone to the vet, to drop off a sample of my puppy’s poop. While I was there, I was greeted by a very friendly dog who crawled under my dress and rolled over on her back. The woman at the other end of the leash kept calling (per _my_ assumption/interpretation), "_Katie_, come back . . . no, Katie . . . " and apologizing to me as I joked that now “Katie” knew my secret: that my legs were horribly in need of a razor. So, on a whim, I posted the story of “Katie-beneath-my-dress” in the thread, and asked the woman if she happened to live in my city and go to my vet. Turned out that yep, it was her! If I hung out at the library eating baked goods a little more often, I might have met **Baker** , but as it is, we met here first, when I mentioned something about living in Topeka, KS. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/32 "2003-03-26T21:32:18Z")
After last year’s Minneapolis Dopefest, I ran into **Ivar** at a White Stripes show. And I think I saw **rubes** at the Taste of Minnesota, but he was far away, so I wasn’t sure. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/33 "2003-03-26T23:50:24Z")
KKBattousai threw up on me in the drunk tank in King County jail a week before I met him “for real” at the Seattle film festival. Boy, if you think _he_ was embarrassed, at least he wasn’t doing what _I_ was doing. 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Meros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Meros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meros)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/34 "2003-03-27T06:23:40Z")
Don’t know if it counts but I MAY have run into a doper without realizing it…it seems on a thread I started a while back that we both frequented the same coffee shop for a while…can’r remmber their name now and i’m too tired o search for the thread ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/35 "2003-03-27T12:08:31Z")
> [@](#): > > CalMeacham once came and gave a talk at my school about his book, a talk which I attended. I was just a lurker (and only in the Pit) at that point, but I eventually expanded my horizons and joined up, then one day Cal posted a link to his book’s website. And that’s how I inadvertently met a Doper. I was gonna post about this. The truth is that I don’t know which one of the people who showed up was **melandry** , since I didn’t even find out that I’d met a Doper until afterwords, when melandry mentioned it here on the Board. I’ve been two to Boston-area Dopefests, but I don’t think melandry was at either one. ---
**Author:** ![welby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@welby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/welby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/36 "2003-03-27T13:04:26Z")
Not any active types, but several lurkers. I’m a SDMB prophet. When people ask me what sites I visit, this is always first on the list. I’ve probably had 6 or 7 people say “Hey, I go there too!” I don’t ask for usernames though, and no one’s ever volunteered one, so I assume they lurk in the darkness with the hamsters. Waiting… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/37 "2003-03-27T14:46:02Z")
Oh, I forgot! After ChiDope last year, **quixotic78** , **Jessica2** and I stopped for gas in BFE, Indiana. Where we ran into **thinksnow** and **Superdude** , who were, of course, also returning from ChiDope. Kinda neat. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/38 "2003-03-27T16:10:56Z")
I met a doper long before SDMB even existed. When I was on the USS Ranger in '83 we had a pretty severe fire and helicopters from other ships had to bring us additional supplies. After telling a few sea stories here we discovered **CheifScott** was in one of those helos, very likely handing 5 gallon cans of firefighting foam to me on the flight deck. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/39 "2003-03-28T14:01:41Z")
I met **iampunha,** as he notes upthread. I also ran into **gobear** on the Metro one afternoon; we discussed Harry Turtledove’s latest novel. And I saw **Geobabe** a few times at the Fairfax City library before she decamped for more salubrious climes. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184/40 "2003-03-28T17:51:34Z")
**MikeG** , if you frequent Evanston bars at all, I’m sure we’ve seen each other at some point. I’ll just wear my “Mooch” nametag from now on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-doper-in-real-life-by-complete-accident/163184.md?page=1)