# Giraffe/VCO3 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 23, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992 "2007-12-23T02:59:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/1 "2007-12-23T02:59:06Z")
I don’t normally pay any attention to VCO3, but not having a laptop and thinking about getting one I opened his laptop pit thread. Then I com across this [post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=448461) [QUOTE=Giraffe] OK, **VCO3**. Given your history of starting Pit threads and then never returning ([latest example](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=447031)), we’re going to have a special rule for you. No more dropping Pit threads like steaming turds and then never returning. If you don’t want to discuss a subject, don’t start the thread. If you start a thread and never come back (or make only fake, token responses to get past this new rule on a technicality), you’re going to start racking up warnings. Note to all: this rule applies only to **VCO3** and his adherence to it will be judged by the mods (rather than some arbitrary minimum quota of posts per thread). [/QUOTE] First off, I read through **Giraffe’s** latest example of a pit thread by **VCO3** , and although he never returned, never once was he called upon to. There was only one question and it was rhetorical . This warning of **Giraffe’s** leaves several questions for me. Is it proper form to make at least one more post in any thread you start when no one prompts you to re-engage? Quite often all you need to do is get the story off your chest. Can a moderator properly judge whether **VCO3** should repost or not given **Giraffe’s** latest example. Isn’t anyone else uncomfortable with a rule that applies to only one person? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/2 "2007-12-23T03:07:03Z")
Yes. Yes. No. There have been ample precedents. **Reeder** , for example. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/3 "2007-12-23T03:08:46Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] Isn’t anyone else uncomfortable with a rule that applies to only one person? [/QUOTE] precedent w/ **Reeder** & Bush threads. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/4 "2007-12-23T03:10:02Z")
::_shakes fist at **silenus** _:: ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/5 "2007-12-23T03:22:58Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] Isn’t anyone else uncomfortable with a rule that applies to only one person? [/QUOTE] I like it. Capricious modding keeps people on their toes. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/6 "2007-12-23T04:43:02Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] Isn’t anyone else uncomfortable with a rule that applies to only one person? [/QUOTE] No. Right now, only one poster is in the habit of dropping Pit threads like steaming turds and then never returning. So it works just fine for me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/7 "2007-12-23T05:19:15Z")
I’m very not uncomfortable. This is the mink-lined slippers of concerns. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/8 "2007-12-23T05:22:21Z")
If I had a child who habitually shit on the carpet, I’m not sure my “solution” would involve requiring him to return periodically and play with it. Admittedly, I am no expert in child-rearing. (It’s just something I dabble in occasionally.) ---
**Author:** ![lobstermobster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobstermobster/32/10033_2.png) [@lobstermobster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobstermobster)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/9 "2007-12-23T05:51:13Z")
Why does anyone have to return to a thread? I don’t like new rules being made especially for just one person. It’s a bad precedent. It makes me nervous as an unliked member of this board. It’s for the better when VCO3 doesnt return. He’s reading from afar with a smug grin as everyone falls all over themselves proving him right. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/10 "2007-12-23T05:58:02Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] Is it proper form to make at least one more post in any thread you start when no one prompts you to re-engage? Quite often all you need to do is get the story off your chest. [/quote] Who decides what proper form is? Proper form at my grandmothers house is two forks, a knife, and two spoons arranged in a cult like fashion at dinner. The rule emposed on **VCO3** would be like a mod stating that this is the only way to eat dinner, it’s not cool. > [@](#): > > Can a moderator properly judge whether **VCO3** should repost or not given **Giraffe’s** latest example. No. > [@](#): > > Isn’t anyone else uncomfortable with a rule that applies to only one person? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/11 "2007-12-23T05:59:31Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s for the better when VCO3 doesnt return. He’s reading from afar with a smug grin as everyone falls all over themselves proving him right. But not on his laptop, apparently. And perhaps from jail. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/12 "2007-12-23T06:12:45Z")
[QUOTE=lobstermobster] Why does anyone have to return to a thread? I don’t like new rules being made especially for just one person. It’s a bad precedent. It makes me nervous as an unliked member of this board. It’s for the better when VCO3 doesnt return. He’s reading from afar with a smug grin as everyone falls all over themselves proving him right. [/QUOTE] I like you, **lobs**! Then again, you post unpopular opinions. You don’t post in an intentionally incendiary fashion, and you tend to reason out your posts. I think VCO3’s restrictions make sense, particularly after he’d been warned many times, suspended, and then allowed to return under what should be a watchful mod eye. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/13 "2007-12-23T06:29:40Z")
It’s in the middle for me; I think the only-for-him WARNING should apply, but should have been directed at VCO3 over private messenger, vs. in the public forum. Bad form. Still, I’m not comfortable with the one person rule thing. When one applies to me, CL/SDMB/whoever, no longer gets my money. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/14 "2007-12-23T06:36:11Z")
[QUOTE=buttonjockey308] It’s in the middle for me; I think the only-for-him WARNING should apply, but should have been directed at VCO3 over private messenger, vs. in the public forum. [/QUOTE] The warning isn’t just to him but to anyone contemplating emulating him. And if secret actions and warnings started happening, the mods would be criticized for that, too. And what is “CL”? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/15 "2007-12-23T06:38:57Z")
Creative Loafing, the new owners of the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/16 "2007-12-23T06:42:45Z")
[QUOTE=lobstermobster] Why does anyone have to return to a thread? I don’t like new rules being made especially for just one person. It’s a bad precedent. It makes me nervous as an unliked member of this board. It’s for the better when VCO3 doesnt return. He’s reading from afar with a smug grin as everyone falls all over themselves proving him right. [/QUOTE] Why _shouldn’t_ someone return to their thread? Do you typically start a conversation and then walk away while the other person is talking? This is a message board. We are having conversations. Type written and time delayed, yes - but still a conversation. If you just want an answer to a question without having an exchange, use Google. If you want to rant and walk away, get a blog. Besides, this isn’t really a new thing around here. It has always been considered bad form to start a thread and never return, no matter what the forum. You’re right in that it was never a “rule” before just something no one really appreciates. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/17 "2007-12-23T07:27:39Z")
[QUOTE=lobstermobster] … It makes me nervous as an unliked member of this board. … [/QUOTE] Cite? I’ve seen a couple of threads where you’ve claimed this. What is it based on? I’ve been Pitted 3 times, and attacked in other threads, and I don’t feel there is some large-scale built up dam of resentment against me. I’ve had people attack my post in one thread, and and the same people support me in another. Even VC03, I don’t think, is “disliked” by the board. Opinion seems divided between disgust and amusement. Or some dislike the behavior – making outrageous claims, and then whining about how hurtful the responses are. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/18 "2007-12-23T08:21:47Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Cite? I’ve seen a couple of threads where you’ve claimed this. What is it based on? [/QUOTE] Maybe all the [hate in GQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=3072329) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/19 "2007-12-23T08:29:56Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory] Maybe all the [hate in GQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=3072329) [/QUOTE] Wow two of them even contemplate murder. ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992/20 "2007-12-23T09:10:48Z")
> [@The Flying Dutchman](#): > > Is it proper form to make at least one more post in any thread you start when no one prompts you to re-engage? Quite often all you need to do is get the story off your chest. It sort of depends on the rant. If I came in to tell a long and glorious story of how I stubbed my big toe after tripping over the fucking dog, stepping on the stupid cat, knocking over the ugly lamp while I was holding my mothers favorite crystal ball then perhaps no. I don’t think a return to the thread is required other than to say thanks for the Bravos. There is no reason to return to defend my big toe but perhaps to explain the crystal ball. But… If I rant about about some shitty service I got at Walmart and I make statements how I called the sales girl a cunt, then I think you might have to return and explain yourself. > [@The Flying Dutchman](#): > > Can a moderator properly judge whether VCO3 should repost or not given Giraffe’s latest example. IMO if he wanted to call VC3O out he should have removed his mod hat and done so as a poster. “Is this another rant were you never return to explain yourself further?” > [@The Flying Dutchman](#): > > Isn’t anyone else uncomfortable with a rule that applies to only one person? I am uncomfortable with it and just because it has happened in the past does not make it right. A lot of things have happened in the past does that mean they should be repeated? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giraffe-vco3/430992.md?page=2)