# How did I become a Member? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 27, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009 "2012-10-27T04:28:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/1 "2012-10-27T04:28:16Z")
I believe this is something that somebody had to pay for, right? If so, thank you to whoever paid for my membership!!! If not, how did I become a member? ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/2 "2012-10-27T04:37:56Z")
Don’t you believe in miracles? It is that season again. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/3 "2012-10-27T05:22:46Z")
You don’t remember do you? I was afraid you wouldn’t remember much ever since… the _accident._ ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/4 "2012-10-27T05:30:42Z")
And the rest of us sure won’t be forgetting that night any time soon, hoo boy! ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/5 "2012-10-27T05:34:14Z")
By the way, you can take back your goat and rubber gloves :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/6 "2012-10-27T05:51:35Z")
Look, I know the goat was very, interested, in me, but I swear it doesn’t belong to me! ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/7 "2012-10-27T06:39:59Z")
Ah. Well, We’ll ship it off as a gift to **drewtwo99** , then! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/8 "2012-10-27T13:55:45Z")
Maybe you are a lucky winner of **Quasimodem** ’s [Gift Subscription Contest](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=648187) without even knowing it! Or maybe you got banned and re-instated without knowing it? It was noted in a recent thread here that users who get banned and re-instated automatically become members! (Apparently a quirk in the vBulletin software?) It was suggested that this may explain why so many members seem to be trying so hard to get themselves banned around here. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/9 "2012-10-27T15:47:01Z")
drewtwo99, someone purchased a subscription for you, not sure who. Senegoid, there is no such “quirk” in the vB system that I am aware of. That’s just not true. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/10 "2012-10-27T17:58:06Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > drewtwo99, someone purchased a subscription for you, not sure who. > > Senegoid, there is no such “quirk” in the vB system that I am aware of. That’s just not true. Thank you for the answer TubaDiva! And… thank you to the anonymous Member-maker! Whoever you are 🙂 So… now that I’m a member, do I have more cachet, more clout, more influence… more absolute power? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/11 "2012-10-27T18:44:14Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > So… now that I’m a member, do I have more cachet, more clout, more influence… more absolute power? Gee, you want to be a mod now? 😃 Well, there is that thing you have to do with the squid … ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/12 "2012-10-27T20:07:43Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Gee, you want to be a mod now? > > 😃 > > Well, there is that thing you have to do with the squid … Sorry, I made that post after having watched Genesis of the Daleks, I guess I let it go to my head a little bit :D. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/13 "2012-10-27T21:56:39Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > drewtwo99, someone purchased a subscription for you, not sure who. > > Senegoid, there is no such “quirk” in the vB system that I am aware of. That’s just not true. **Marley23** said so, in the thread about **tapu** who seems to have become a member simply by getting banned and unbanned. See [post #24](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15241489#post15241489) and [post #32](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15581788#post15581788). The SDMB never forgets! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/14 "2012-10-27T23:08:04Z")
I went from Member to guest, and now back to Member without paying. I sense a conspiracy! ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/15 "2012-10-27T23:20:59Z")
It’s another Festivus miracle! ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/16 "2012-10-28T00:19:31Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > **Marley23** said so, in the thread about **tapu** who seems to have become a member simply by getting banned and unbanned. > > See [post #24](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15241489#post15241489) and [post #32](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15581788#post15581788). > > The SDMB never forgets! Marley may speculate but that does not make it so. We can put people in the Member usergroup but without a corresponding payment behind it the registration gets swept out of that group and into the Guest usergroup when the subscription script runs, which it does every night. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/17 "2012-10-29T19:59:40Z")
Will I ever learn who my mysterious benefactor is? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/18 "2012-10-29T20:08:46Z")
Congrats drewtwo99! That was awesome for some anonymous gift giver to do! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/19 "2012-10-29T20:26:01Z")
Somebody decided to [make drew really feel like an official member](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15279796&postcount=4). ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009/20 "2012-10-29T21:10:07Z")
How is it that nobody’s made a “male member” joke yet? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-become-a-member/639009.md?page=2)