# If you die an untimely death, are we (The Dope) ever gonna know? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479 "2013-02-06T12:49:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/121 "2013-02-11T03:32:27Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > There’s something about the non-physical space here that makes it difficult to spot an absence. It’s not like you log in and notice that somebody’s desk is empty. I know. I’ve done it, too. I just felt like being petulant. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/122 "2013-02-11T05:02:42Z")
Leaving instructions for this kind of thing is something I’ve had in the back of my mind for quite some time, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/123 "2013-02-11T05:59:28Z")
No, probably not. I have spells of inactivity due just to being busy, so I don’t expect that an extra long absence would draw any attention (and as noted upthread, absence is hard to notice on a forum anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/124 "2013-02-11T07:44:32Z")
I still think **chowder** is dead. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/125 "2013-02-11T11:47:33Z")
My wife only knows this as my “message board” so I doubt she would find it. Maybe if she thinks about going through my browser history. A couple of my friends know that I like to post here, but I don’t know if they would think about it. Humm. Maybe I should leave instructions to let you guys know. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/126 "2013-02-11T12:56:53Z")
I will just fade away. Given the quality and quantity of my posts, I doubt anyone here would notice. Well, Cecil would know. He knows _everything._ ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/127 "2013-02-11T13:29:21Z")
Given that \*\*Cicero \*\*started a thread for me when I was hospitalised last year (thanks btw!), I suspect he’d let the SDMB know. Assuming he realised from the lack of activity and bad jokes on my FB that something was up, that is! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/128 "2013-02-11T16:28:24Z")
I doubt that it would even cross my wife’s mind. In her defense, she would be preoccupied removing her prints from the weapon, arranging the crime scene, and constructing an alibi. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/129 "2013-02-11T17:37:09Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I still think **chowder** is dead. Sadly, I think you’re right about that. Good guy. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/130 "2013-02-11T18:24:48Z")
My wife has long known about my Dope addiction (chez Firefly has even seen a few Dopefests, back in the day), and she’d probably get around to posting something here once past the initial wave of grief and shock. She knows my password, so she wouldn’t even have to create her own account. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/131 "2013-02-11T19:50:53Z")
Haven’t decided if I want to ask my girlfriend to post “Hershele Ostropoler is dead” from my account or if I want her to pretend to be me, posting from beyond the grave. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/132 "2013-02-12T04:57:26Z")
I voted that I would fade away but I learned from reading the thread that I’d be at least partially responsible for another doper, so I assume the same courtesy would be extended. That, and my brother posts from time to time. I’d rather not die, though, untimely or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/133 "2013-02-12T09:33:20Z")
Seeing as my brother and a couple co-workers are Dopers, I think folks would know. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/134 "2013-02-12T13:05:58Z")
Hell, I’d be shocked enough that anyone noticed I was gone…but no, only a few of the people I know IRL—not a large number to begin with—even know I’m on the SDMB, and it probably wouldn’t even occur to them to try and tell anyone online of my passing. On the plus side, I use basically the same screenname multiple places online. So if Ranchoth ever “disappears” and anyone here decides to look for me, that at least increases the chances of finding out if something happened to me if _another_ board somehow had. Which isn’t terribly likely. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/135 "2013-02-13T18:03:17Z")
As I think about it, while my wife wouldn’t bother to tell y’all, my baby sister might. She’s a lurker who obstinately refuses to answer chemistry or math questions when she and I both know she could contribute; and since she alerted me when I got pitted once and suggested a hypothetical I might post another time, she clearly reads multiple forums. So I can imagine her taking a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/136 "2013-02-13T23:44:35Z")
Nobody. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479/137 "2013-02-14T00:04:47Z")
Nope. Even if someone did tell you, the reaction would be “Who?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-die-an-untimely-death-are-we-the-dope-ever-gonna-know/649479.md?page=6)