# I pit OpalCat - but my heart's not really in it. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 12, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872 "2011-12-12T03:17:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber_in_Treasury)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/261 "2011-12-16T06:44:35Z")
From the just-locked thread: [QUOTE=Clockwork Jackal] And buy your son more than a $30 necklace for Christmas, for fucks sake! [/QUOTE] There certainly are some things about Opal, or at least her behaviour, that are fair to criticise (drama, attention-seeking etc) but this is NOT one of them. It’s ridiculous in fact. Show them your love by buying them the most expensive-ass gift possible - yeah right. What do you know about Opal’s financial situation anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_Jackal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clockwork\_Jackal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_Jackal)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/262 "2011-12-16T07:27:01Z")
> [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](#): > > From the just-locked thread: > > There certainly are some things about Opal, or at least her behaviour, that are fair to criticise (drama, attention-seeking etc) but this is NOT one of them. It’s ridiculous in fact. Show them your love by buying them the most expensive-ass gift possible - yeah right. What do you know about Opal’s financial situation anyway? I know I’m a mom. And I know I would work two jobs, sell my own crap, hell, I’d sell my own fucking HAIR to buy my kid a nice Christmas gift. I would go without just to get him one. That is what I know. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/263 "2011-12-16T07:44:01Z")
I think the takeaway here is if anyone lays their entire life bare on the intertubes, they’re liable to reap the bitchy whirlwind. Opal, you’ve shared too much of yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_Jackal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clockwork\_Jackal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_Jackal)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/264 "2011-12-16T08:02:27Z")
Look, Opal, I don’t hate you or anything, just please please PLEASE try to get some help for yourself. Do it for your family. It sounds like sometimes you verge on neglect of your son. You gotta at least know your behavior aint normal. This is the LAST time I post about this. Giving you attention just seems to make things worse with you. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/265 "2011-12-16T10:28:56Z")
It’s a festivus miracle! ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/266 "2011-12-16T12:10:17Z")
Serenity now! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/267 "2011-12-16T12:15:05Z")
> [@yams](#): > > Fuck you! > yams!! I know it was against the rules and all but this may be the best thing I have ever read on the SDMB. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/268 "2011-12-16T12:23:09Z")
> [@Cabbage](#): > > Serenity now! [Here ya go.](http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Serenity/70035994?strkid=639102079_0_0&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strackid=33962ed824ddd487_0_srl&trkid=222336) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/269 "2011-12-16T12:35:10Z")
> [@yams](#): > > Why on earth would you post this? Would you say this in real life, knowing the person whose looks you are trashing was standing right there and could hear every word? She posted porn on _her publicly accessible website_. Whether it’s fap-worthy is pretty much the only relevant point, unless you actually believe it was an accident. Which it obviously was’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/270 "2011-12-16T13:05:00Z")
The Internet is 49% anonymous idiocy and 49% anonymous cruelty and maybe 2% of it is worth any normal person’s time. Finding that part is getting harder, not easier. The idea that if I say reveal a dumb or embarrassing thing about myself, that there are 500 people on maybe 3 message boards who will devote massive amounts of time to reproducing it, reveling in it, and carrying it into every thread I’m in for the next 10 years makes me want to be here even less than I am, not more. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/271 "2011-12-16T13:22:05Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > The idea that if I say reveal a dumb or embarrassing thing about myself, that there are 500 people on maybe 3 message boards who will devote massive amounts of time to reproducing it, reveling in it, and carrying it into every thread I’m in for the next 10 years makes me want to be here even less than I am, not more. It’d have to be some pretty spectacular kind of thing for a single event to cause that. I think the issue here is that it’s a long-term pattern of behavior. **OpalCat** , please listen to **Clockwork Jackal** a few posts up. Please stop self-medicating (if you haven’t already), please stop talking in a way that’s easily connected to your RL identity about doing it, please let a medical professional know what’s going on in your life and what you have or haven’t been taking. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/272 "2011-12-16T13:33:08Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I think the takeaway here is if anyone lays their entire life bare on the intertubes, they’re liable to reap the bitchy whirlwind. Opal, you’ve shared too much of yourself. And the thing is, this happens over and over and over and over again with her. She posts obscenely private stuff about herself, her family, her bodily functions and when it comes back and bites her on the ass, she says “Hey, it’s how I _roll_. You’re not real enough to handle me.” It’s not blaming the “victim”, it’s saying that you can’t bitch about your lack of privacy if you choose to expose every detail of your life on the internet. If she wants people to stop PALTR at her, all she has to do is stop posting her gross, over-personal drivel. I really don’t want to know the color or frequency of her poops. (She’s done, at minimum, two threads that I’ve seen on that topic alone). This response of hers from one of the many times her um…“openness” bit her on the ass really sums it up\*: > [@Opalcat](#): > > The truth is that I’ve never had that regulator in my head that determines what is and what is not “normal” to divulge. I’ve had to learn things that other people know instinctively. For example, I wouldn’t tell a stranger at a bus stop that I have diarrhea. Anymore. But I had to learn that. As I’ve grown up, I’ve accepted that being extremely open is just part of “who I am” and not something that I can or want to change. I’ve learned, for the most part, to not be completely inappropriate in a public setting. > > I enjoy keeping an online journal. I enjoy sharing my life. As for whether anyone else gives a rat’s ass, that’s up to each person and their own rat ass. However, it is an important part of who I am and how I interact with the world. [From here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=132755) So, really Opal…you made your bed and shit in it (and discussed the color and texture of it), so don’t bitch that you smell like crap. \*Yes, it’s an old thread, but it’s the best summation of a point she’s made frequently since then. ---
**Author:** ![Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber_in_Treasury)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/273 "2011-12-16T13:45:09Z")
> [@Clockwork\_Jackal](#): > > I know I’m a mom. And I know I would work two jobs, sell my own crap, hell, I’d sell my own fucking HAIR to buy my kid a nice Christmas gift. I would go without just to get him one. > > That is what I know. Well that’s…strange. Not that you want to give your kid a nice gift, of course, but that you apparently think nice gifts must be expensive. Also, for more and more people, 30 buck(eye)s is a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/274 "2011-12-16T13:48:42Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > > [@yams](#): > > > > Fuck you! > > yams!! > > I know it was against the rules and all but this may be the best thing I have ever read on the SDMB. I had read that post before I read the user name; so the signature looked like an interjection I’d never seen before, and now am going to start using: “Yams!!” Clearly it’s twice the exclamation that “Fuck you!” is. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/275 "2011-12-16T16:26:11Z")
> [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](#): > > Well that’s…strange. Not that you want to give your kid a nice gift, of course, but that you apparently think nice gifts must be expensive. Also, for more and more people, 30 buck(eye)s is a lot of money. Hey, we only spent about that much on each of our kids and they are going to LOVE their gifts. And we are fairly well-off (no debt, some savings, etc.). We don’t want to spoil our kids and they are going to get plenty of gifts. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/276 "2011-12-16T16:28:06Z")
NO! YOU MUST SELL YOUR HAIR IF THE ALTERNATIVE IS GIVING YOUR CHILDREN ONLY THIRTY DOLLARS’ WORTH OF CHRISTMAS PRESENTS! YOUR HAIR! SELL IT! SELL IT NOW! (Is hair-selling a big thing these days? I don’t even know where one would go in order to sell off one’s hair.) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/277 "2011-12-16T16:29:09Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > NO! YOU MUST SELL YOUR HAIR IF THE ALTERNATIVE IS GIVING YOUR CHILDREN ONLY THIRTY DOLLARS’ WORTH OF CHRISTMAS PRESENTS! YOUR HAIR! SELL IT! SELL IT NOW! > > (Is hair-selling a big thing these days? I don’t even know where one would go in order to sell off one’s hair.) You only sell your hair if your husband sells his watch chain. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/278 "2011-12-16T16:51:51Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You only sell your hair if your husband sells his watch chain. I thought he sold the watch to buy her an ornament for her hair and she sold her hair to buy him a watch chain… These things are difficult to arrange. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/279 "2011-12-16T16:52:39Z")
I should think that the kerfluffle about **Opal** ’s “explanatory” post about off-board stuff, with the resulting disappearance, ATMB thread, reappearance, etc., should put to rest any questions of whether or not she’s a raving attention whore. Whether or not she’s mentally ill is still in question for me. In addition, the fact that at least two pages of this Pit thread contain posts that clearly parody the attention whore style she uses is a clear indication that people other than the OP have noticed what she does. Also, everything \*\*Fenris \*\*said. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872/280 "2011-12-16T16:58:10Z")
> [@vd](#): > > I had read that post before I read the user name; so the signature looked like an interjection I’d never seen before, and now am going to start using: “Yams!!” > > Clearly it’s twice the exclamation that “Fuck you!” is. Fuck you! Yams!! = band name Sorry that Opal has opened herself to this kind of abuse again. However, I think that when people open themselves to abuse, some responsibility does lie with the ones who choose to attack or bully. Those who feel that this is appropriate retribution for something she did 10 years ago: I’m simply astonished by this attitude, this from a group of the most intelligent people I know online, people who are aware that she was struggling with her demons at the time. Even though she writes that she’s changed, she may not have improved as much as she thinks. I hope her health improves soon and that she can start 2012 with serenity. Perhaps keeping some things about her life private might be wise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-opalcat-but-my-hearts-not-really-in-it/605872.md?page=15)