# Explain the Pit to me, I don't get it. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 21, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664 "2006-08-21T22:44:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/41 "2006-08-22T16:22:20Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] Think how much better this board would be if, before clicking the submit button, every poster read over the random characters in the reply box and asked themselves the simple question, “Would anybody, anywhere in the world, REALLY want to read what I just wrote?” [/quote] No shit, huh? No one in the world really wants to read meaningless characters. When I type a reply, I format the characters into recognizable words and sentences. They’re not random. Maybe you should try it. [QUOTE=Lemur866] If you look over those words and realize that there is no possible way they could bring a scintilla of happiness to any sentient being anywhere in the universe, then perhaps you should hit the “Back” button instead of “Submit Reply”. [/QUOTE] Aw, what a sweet thought, Mr. Van Driesen. ---
**Author:** ![jay-c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@jay-c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jay-c)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/42 "2006-08-22T16:24:33Z")
[QUOTE=Bippy the Beardless] No your pit thread was just fine. Unfortunately for you, it was destined to cause flaming in your own direction. All that was said was that if you don’t want to take your licks for being a bit prissy about other people’s smells then a Blog would be better. If you are ready to get called a poncy fancy pants then the pit is the place to rant about such things. ie. **Harmonica Dick Sword** said “let him just rant” and the voice of the pit replied "if he just wants to rant, use a blog: If you want to risk all in open discussion then this is the place. aka if you can’t stand the heat don’t use a habanero suppository. [/QUOTE] I’m quite fine with “taking my licks”, thanks. If I didn’t expect dissenting opinions, I wouldn’t have posted in the Pit to begin with. I welcome discussion on my post, no matter which way it turns. I figured that I would flush out some posters who were equally as neurotic about their bathroom habits as I, and that some would tell me to just deal with it - and that’s exactly what happened. I’m not sure why people felt compelled to defend my rant, as I never posted that I was upset or distressed by the responses to it. If anything confused me, it was being taken to task for posting in the Pit and not writing a blog about it. Who knew that poo was such a polarizing topic? By the way, I’m a _she_ ;). ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/43 "2006-08-22T16:43:52Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] Preach it, Brother AskNott! Think how much better this board would be if, before clicking the submit button, every poster read over the random characters in the reply box and asked themselves the simple question, “Would anybody, anywhere in the world, REALLY want to read what I just wrote?” If you look over those words and realize that there is no possible way they could bring a scintilla of happiness to any sentient being anywhere in the universe, then perhaps you should hit the “Back” button instead of “Submit Reply”. [/QUOTE] Ah, but then we wouldn’t have such gems as: “Did I black out at my PC with my pants down?” And really one of the biggest appeals of the 'Dope is the intelligent inanity. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/44 "2006-08-22T17:04:22Z")
[QUOTE=jay-c] I’m quite fine with “taking my licks”, thanks. If I didn’t expect dissenting opinions, I wouldn’t have posted in the Pit to begin with. I welcome discussion on my post, no matter which way it turns. I figured that I would flush out some posters who were equally as neurotic about their bathroom habits as I, and that some would tell me to just deal with it - and that’s exactly what happened. I’m not sure why people felt compelled to defend my rant, as I never posted that I was upset or distressed by the responses to it. If anything confused me, it was being taken to task for posting in the Pit and not writing a blog about it. Who knew that poo was such a polarizing topic? By the way, I’m a _she_ ;). [/QUOTE] See, I would have been with you all the way on being a neurotic pooper. I do very similar things when I’m pooping at work. The difference is I don’t blame others if they don’t cooperate. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/45 "2006-08-22T20:11:38Z")
[QUOTE=jay-c] Who knew that poo was such a polarizing topic? By the way, I’m a _she_ ;). [/QUOTE] Poo is the most important topic in the SDMB. (well most of us talk shit here most of the time anyay 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/46 "2006-08-22T23:52:24Z")
[QUOTE=jay-c] I’m not sure why people felt compelled to defend my rant, as I never posted that I was upset or distressed by the responses to it. If anything confused me, it was being taken to task for posting in the Pit and not writing a blog about it. Who knew that poo was such a polarizing topic? [/QUOTE] You weren’t taken to task for that. **Harmonious Discord** was taken to task (if you can call it that) for defending your rant based on the faulty premise that the Pit exists to provide an echo chamber for any rants. Personally, I think rants like yours should get a forum called Mundane Pointless Spleen I Must Vent. I like reading good rants about all that little crap that pisses you off. But tossing anything with a good bit of invective in the same place as several hundred posts of an incredibly hostile, heated discussion of, oh, say, crime statistics seems a bit of a wide range. Of course, I have no say in the matter, thank Og. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/47 "2006-08-23T14:18:56Z")
I’ve had two threads in the Pit since I came back, and wasn’t that sure if I was pitting properly. Withdrawal from the shit thread was because I wasn’t sure, that I wasn’t over the line. Since I apparently wasn’t, I will be dishing out punishment in the pit on occasions. I didn’t retreat because of the replies. I retreated to make sure I wasn’t grossly over doing it. My defense of jay-c wasn’t the reason for the post, just a bonus. I’m certain that I have a more clear understanding on how far I can go in the Pit, and don’t expect to show mercy in the future. I do close pages before hitting enter. I look at it and decide that it may do more harm than good, and close it. I don’t have to make somebody’s happy thread into all gloom and doom. Gloomy Doom - A character in the Reteif stories. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/48 "2006-08-23T14:36:39Z")
I wouldn’t call it being taken to task either. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/49 "2006-08-23T16:40:10Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] I do close pages before hitting enter. I look at it and decide that it may do more harm than good, and close it. I don’t have to make somebody’s happy thread into all gloom and doom. [/QUOTE] See, those are the posts you should be putting in the pit. We’re all about gloom and doom here. It’s simple. “My bunny died.”-MPSIMS “You’re too dumb to have a bunny”-The Pit “Something funny I saw on the bus”-MPSIMS “The idiots who ride my buss”-The Pit “Harmonious Discord, you’re my favorite poster.”-MPSIMS “Harmonious Discord, you post like a dyslexic blind toddler on crack”-The Pit ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/50 "2006-08-23T18:30:45Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] I have no idea of the purpose of the pit. Please explain it and give examples. [/QUOTE] Examples? Oh, if only there were some sort of web page out there that had a listing of all current working Pit threads…perhaps it could even be organized into some sort of chronological order… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/51 "2006-08-23T20:17:50Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] Examples? Oh, if only there were some sort of web page out there that had a listing of all current working Pit threads…perhaps it could even be organized into some sort of chronological order… [/QUOTE] Excellent ideas, those. Though what I’d like is one divided into posts that I agree with, postings that I disagree with, and posting that I really don’t care about – so that I could read the first when in a bad mood, read the second when in a bad mood, and just ignore the third. Is there a computer program that will do that for me? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/52 "2006-08-24T01:00:04Z")
Did I ever mention that I find dark humor stimulating and can’t get enough of it. I’m rolling on the floor in laughing spasims and fits, when others are cringing. Coming to the Pit is the equivalent of others going to the Comedy Club. I could end up as bad off in the Pit as some people that can’t leave porn sites alone. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664/53 "2006-08-24T01:08:59Z")
To me, the Pit has always been about free-form debate. If you’ve got chops, you can hold your own in the Pit because you come with cites and skills and a good measure of Dozens. If you’re just here to abuse people, you get flushed fairly quickly. Hakuna Pitata. :x [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-pit-to-me-i-dont-get-it/369664.md?page=2)