# Idle Thoughts **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 1, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512 "2015-04-01T16:36:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/181 "2015-04-02T03:34:47Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Even this year, I did a callback to that old prank now, [by changing my FB photo to one of me in drag](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206463046078668&set=a.1609493920970.80151.1344879340&type=1&theater) (yes, that’s really me). Oooh, you so pretty! 😃 This thread reminds me of that scene in _What About Bob_: Bob Wiley: “There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don’t.” Some will find your prank funny, and some will not. And for the record, I find it funny and I am most certainly not a testosterone poisoned locker room fraternity guy. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/182 "2015-04-02T03:46:19Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > I don’t see it as a joke, just odd. Please explain the funny part. explaining humour is generally useless. just forget about it and move on. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/183 "2015-04-02T04:12:01Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > explaining humour is generally useless. just forget about it and move on. Thanks for the Jr. Mod. My post was addressed to Idle Thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/184 "2015-04-02T04:12:37Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I would have wanted as many people to get one as I could, so I started with who was online at the time. > > The thing is, I quickly got to about 100-300 people, so I could only go with about that many. I really underestimated how many regular posters are on here. I was tired of ctrl-V-ing by the time I was done. Here I was terribly sad I didn’t get the message. 😛 Now I’m mostly curious why you were in drag in that one photo! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/185 "2015-04-02T04:22:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Moderators are supposed to warn and ban people that play unannounced jokes or lie. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/186 "2015-04-02T04:52:24Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > Please explain the funny part. It’s all about incongruity. Humor is perceived at the moment of realization of incongruity between a concept involved in a certain situation and the real objects thought to be in some relation to the concept. It frequently involves an unexpected shift in perspective from seriousness to play, which Idle Thoughts presumably meant to invoke with what he considered to be a ridiculous notion (that he is a woman). There are also theories which describe an audiences inability to identify exactly _why_ something is funny which I won’t go into. Freud actually declared people incapable of knowing exactly what it is they find amusing due to the complex nature of their conscious and subconscious minds, but he did specifically [acknowledge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freud%3a%20Gender-confusion-based%20Humor%20Considered%20Funny%20as%20Fuck) the validity of the type of humor demonstrated by Idle Thoughts here. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/187 "2015-04-02T05:06:52Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > Thanks for the Jr. Mod. My post was addressed to Idle Thoughts. I was talking about reality - not board rules, junior. That post was addressed to you. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/188 "2015-04-02T05:13:07Z")
Some pranks are really clever, and therefore funny, and deserve respect. Some pranks are kind of lame and make you feel like an idiot for “falling” for it. Nobody likes feeling like an idiot. I don’t like pranks at the best of times, most of them seem to be cruel or stupid. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/189 "2015-04-02T05:13:17Z")
If you fall for something this transparent, the only person to be mad at is yourself. This was on April Fools, and it was something patently absurd. Of course it was a joke. In fact, the bad thing about this joke was that it was so transparent that I assumed no one would fall for it. In fact, I would be okay with employing the “don’t be a jerk” rule for the people who are getting so upset. Deal with your own gullibility instead of lashing out at others. ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/190 "2015-04-02T05:15:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Moderators are supposed to warn and ban people that play unannounced jokes or lie. Oh really??? I was warned for calling a liar a liar. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/191 "2015-04-02T05:58:51Z")
> [@Brad\_the\_Impaler](#): > > I’m pretty sure I’ll never trust again, thereby ruining any future relationships I may have, which will lead me into a downward spiral of shallow, drug fueled relationships, and inevitably end up dead in a hourly rate hotel room. Thanks. Don’t get sad, Brad, get EVEN. I propose a class action lawsuit against **Idle Thoughts** for Emotional Distress + Pain & Suffering. Who’s in? ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/192 "2015-04-02T08:05:12Z")
I got one! I felt loved, and now it’s gone.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/193 "2015-04-02T09:43:45Z")
Aw…QUITE annoyed. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/194 "2015-04-02T09:56:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s jerk moves like this that cause charitable folks like me to give up on humanity in general rather than specific humans specifically. Making trust into a vice takes work; quit working on it. I don’t want a formal apology, but this is exactly the reason I hate practical jokes: it takes people’s best qualities - trust, friendship, charity - and punishes them for exercising them. Which makes them less likely to do so in the future. In a tiny, tiny way it does make the world a shittier place, and all for a brief and not-particularly-funny joke. Ironically, I said in my reply to IT that “the world is full of jerks” and the appropriate reaction is to “scrape 'em off”. So I’m scraping this off. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/195 "2015-04-02T10:25:44Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Heh. I got fooled. In my defence, I’ll note that I received it late at night, and April Fools jokes are supposed to be done in the morning. Of course I forgot about time differentials. But I’m not mad at it or anything or anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/196 "2015-04-02T10:58:28Z")
- Hey, look you don’t know me, but I bought a dog, and I notice you’ve posted a lot about your own dog, so I thought I’d ask your advice about looking after it, because I’m really unsure about this whole dog ownership thing. - OK, sure, I guess, a new dog can be a handful, how can I help? - HA HA APRIL FOOL! I TRICKED YOU! I TOTALLY DON’T HAVE A DOG! I TOLD YOU I HAD A DOG AND YOU BELIEVED ME! HA HA HA HA! - Um, you don’t really get this prank thing, do you? - HA HA NO DOG OH I KILL ME! ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/197 "2015-04-02T11:04:37Z")
First I was bemused at getting a PM. Then I was like, thats not really funny but whatever. Now I’m happily chortling at the level of butthurt on display. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/198 "2015-04-02T11:33:27Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Chefguy](#): > > > > It’s jerk moves like this that cause charitable folks like me to give up on humanity in general rather than specific humans specifically. Making trust into a vice takes work; quit working on it. I just spotted that due to an editing error I misattributed the above quote - it was actually by **LSLGuy**. Mea culpa. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/199 "2015-04-02T11:40:44Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I took it sincerely and responded sincerely. Don’t contact me again, for any reason. I took it sincerely and answered sincerely, and have no regrets. Feel free to contact me any time, **Idle** \*nudge nudge, 😉 😉 \* ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512/200 "2015-04-02T11:54:00Z")
It’s patently absurd to think of **Idle Thoughts** as a female only if you actually remembered anything they have ever posted. Since I didn’t (IT is a mod? Go figure), no big deal. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idle-thoughts/716512.md?page=11)