# Excuse me Surreal? I need to fight your ignorance personally. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917 "2009-02-15T05:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/21 "2009-02-17T05:16:57Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > [Do Thai Women Frequently Chop Off Their Unfaithful Husbands’ Penises?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=250716) That thread was before my time on the Boards, but I have gone into it here that while “frequently” is probably a bit much, it does seem to be somewhat of a problem. Thailand as a result has become a world center for microsurgery penis reattachment. I’ve posted an interview with one of the main doctors in the field here before. But fortunately, it’s not all _that_ frequent. Some of the more creative disposal methods after cutting it off have included feeding it to the ducks out in the yard and tying it to a helium balloon that is then let loose. Those are not Urban Legends, but rather documented instances. I haven’t the time to look them up again at the moment, though, as I must sign off in a moment. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/22 "2009-02-17T05:19:07Z")
I get what you’re saying-just that it’s a pattern with **Surreal** -he tends to have an obsession with “Why do X people do Y?” After awhile, it gets annoying. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/23 "2009-02-17T05:19:28Z")
Getting your penis cut off is bad enough. Having the doctor tell you that you need “microsurgery” to re-attach it makes it that much worse. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/24 "2009-02-17T05:25:20Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I get what you’re saying-just that it’s a pattern with **Surreal** -he tends to have an obsession with “Why do X people do Y?” After awhile, it gets annoying. Oh yes, I understand. But so many people are amazed to learn it really does happen here that I had to pop it in (no pun intended; well, okay, maybe it was :D). > [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Getting your penis cut off is bad enough. Having the doctor tell you that you need “microsurgery” to re-attach it makes it that much worse. Adding insult to injury that is. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/25 "2009-02-17T05:45:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > That thread was before my time on the Boards, but I have gone into it here that while “frequently” is probably a bit much, it does seem to be somewhat of a problem. Thailand as a result has become a world center for microsurgery penis reattachment. I’ve posted an interview with one of the main doctors in the field here before. But fortunately, it’s not all _that_ frequent. > > Some of the more creative disposal methods after cutting it off have included feeding it to the ducks out in the yard and tying it to a helium balloon that is then let loose. Those are not Urban Legends, but rather documented instances. I haven’t the time to look them up again at the moment, though, as I must sign off in a moment. Thanks. This is precisely the type of response I’m hoping for when I post a question to GQ. If I hear/read something questionable or seemingly outlandish, I make a mental note of it and Google it when I get the opportunity to do so. Sometimes that resolves the issue, but if Google doesn’t offer anything definitive, I ask here. On several occasions I’ve gotten a definitive reply from someone with first-hand knowledge of the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/26 "2009-02-17T07:03:09Z")
The thread in the OP seems mostly to be asking how the Appalachian rednecks ended up as the Appalachian rednecks. Having a branch of my ancestry come via Appalachia (my great grandpa was a moonshine brewer in Kentucky), I personally find the question interesting. ---
**Author:** ![butwhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3bc359/32.png) [@butwhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butwhat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/27 "2009-02-17T10:39:13Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > You’re right. None of the OP’s suggested threads even alluded to genitalia or unusual sexual practices. And that is a damn shame ---
**Author:** ![butwhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3bc359/32.png) [@butwhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butwhat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/28 "2009-02-17T10:43:44Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Getting your penis cut off is bad enough. Having the doctor tell you that you need “microsurgery” to re-attach it makes it that much worse. And you know this How? ---
**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:** [February 17, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/29 "2009-02-17T12:55:01Z")
While I agree **Surreal** ’s tone or word choice may understandably rub some people the wrong way, I think the actual threads are often very informative and sometimes quite funny or gross. They tend to inspire discussion, and seem to me to be certainly well within this board’s mission of fighting ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/30 "2009-02-17T13:03:55Z")
Judging from these hilarious thread titles, Surreal is obviously doing some leg pulling. His questions have just that one little grain of intrigue to them that draws out the serious answers. I for one don’t know why Asians have heavy eyelids. It may be a stereotypical characteristic, but that doesn’t mean it’s an undeserving question. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/31 "2009-02-18T02:12:06Z")
In fact, there was a case in the news just in the past few years that pushed the envelope for the time frame within which you need to reattach the penis successfully. This guy’s wife cut it off but refused to tell authorities what she did with it. Whatever the time frame was, _x_ number of hours, had passed. The wife finally admitted to chucking it into the cesspool out back. It was retrieved, and doctors tried to reattach it anyway and were successful. The time frame is still not all that long, but this told them they had a few hours more than they thought. What some guys have to go through in the name of science. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/32 "2009-02-18T03:02:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > While I agree **Surreal** ’s tone or word choice may understandably rub some people the wrong way, I think the actual threads are often very informative and sometimes quite funny or gross. They tend to inspire discussion, and seem to me to be certainly well within this board’s mission of fighting ignorance. Exactly. I love **Surreal** ’s threads, because the titles sound so trollish, but they always (or almost always) lead to some really damn interesting discussions. I always learn something from them - usually the exact opposite of what I thought ends up to be true. And, oddly, they generally have a minimum of panty twisted whining in them. I guess if you make the title really out there, the offenderati tend to avoid it in disgust and the grown-ups can have an actual discussion. I think I’ve learned more from \*\*Surreal \*\*threads than any other poster’s. So I think the only trouble with the thread linked in the OP was that the title wasn’t quite offensive _enough_, and a few whiners leaked through **Surreal** ’s clever filter. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/33 "2009-02-18T04:40:40Z")
And besides, the thread linked above by Guin of **Do Some African Men Have Penises So Long That They Tie Them In Knots To Walk?** produced possibly the best euphemism ever for masturbation. [“Hey, could you turn that down?! I’m lengthening my horizons and beating back my ignorance here!”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5244467&postcount=6) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/34 "2009-02-18T15:53:26Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The thread in the OP seems mostly to be asking how the Appalachian rednecks ended up as the Appalachian rednecks. > > Having a branch of my ancestry come via Appalachia (my great grandpa was a moonshine brewer in Kentucky), I personally find the question interesting. If you can catch it on a rerun, the History Channel had a surprisingly good show on the subject titled “Hillbilly: the Real Story,” narrated by Billy Ray Cyrus, no less. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/35 "2009-02-18T15:59:27Z")
For what it’s worth, I wasn’t offended. The meth and the heavy drinking puts me in a pretty good mood. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/36 "2009-02-18T16:04:36Z")
Dude’s a dumbass. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/37 "2009-02-18T16:09:14Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > Dude’s a dumbass. > > Seriously. Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/38 "2009-02-18T22:20:42Z")
I never said the threads themselves weren’t interesting. But that **Surreal** tends to be a little…off. At least, that’s the impression I get. And THAT’S annoying. His obsession with race and “why do x racial group do or don’t do such and such.” **El Cid Viscoso** , I’d say you AND **Missy2U** are right. He’s a dumbass and he’s interesting. The two are not mutually exclusive. Look at **Wildest Bill**. (No, **Surreal** is not NEARLY, NEARLY the asshat the WB was!) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917/39 "2009-02-18T23:50:25Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Adding insult to injury that is. Yikes, I’d prefer that to “rubbing salt into the wound” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-surreal-i-need-to-fight-your-ignorance-personally/485917.md?page=1)