# I'm sorry if I offended anyone. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2002, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842 "2002-07-08T00:59:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/1 "2002-07-08T00:59:57Z")
Hi. It’s me, the guy who started [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124266](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124266) I had just found out that a dear friend of mine had been in an abusive relationship. Yes, I was over the top. But I do advocate violence to the deserving. And, to the moderator who closed my thread, what don’t you like about my post? That I wish that more abusive people got killed or seriously injured? I’m curious about this. I’ve seen more violent fantasies here in the Pit. [crybaby] Wahh! It’s because I’m a newbie, isn’t it! And 'cause I’m not a member of the Cabal! [/crybaby] And I’ll try to refrain from doing it again, as soon as someone lets me know what “it” is. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/2 "2002-07-08T01:03:33Z")
That’s an apology? Okay… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/3 "2002-07-08T01:09:22Z")
Oh no…not another “The Mods are out to get me and they play favorites!!!” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/4 "2002-07-08T01:30:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > \*\*And, to the moderator who closed my thread, what don’t you like about my post? That I wish that more abusive people got killed or seriously injured? I’m curious about this. I’ve seen more violent fantasies here in the Pit. \*\* I wasn’t the one who closed your thread, but I will give you this little hint. There is a very real difference between fantasies and giving people specific instructions on how to do damage to another human being. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/5 "2002-07-08T01:35:53Z")
especially when you’re advocating increased violence (if some one hits you, cripple them…), and giving them hints about what you think might be the criminal charges you’d face (giving legal advice w/o sufficient information and/or training). sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/6 "2002-07-08T01:54:16Z")
**robert** , from what I’ve seen reading the boards, unadulterated rage doesn’t go over too well here, even in the Pit. If you had included something about your friend being in an abusive relationship, perhaps the reaction would have been different. ---
**Author:** ![Motate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Motate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motate)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/7 "2002-07-08T03:13:49Z")
It’s one thing to vent your frustrations as a way of blowing off steam,it’s is an entirely different thing to advocate violence. Have you ever seen it solve ANYTHING? ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/8 "2002-07-08T07:53:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > **[crybaby] > Wahh! It’s because I’m a newbie, isn’t it! And 'cause I’m not a member of the Cabal! > [/crybaby]** You wouldn’t be related to **Uekte** , would you? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/9 "2002-07-08T09:49:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eutychus \* > \*\* > > I wasn’t the one who closed your thread, but I will give you this little hint. There is a very real difference between fantasies and giving people specific instructions on how to do damage to another human being. \*\* Yep. And a very real difference between fantasizing about violence and urging others to commit violence. Lynn ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/10 "2002-07-08T14:50:13Z")
Ahh. It is clear now. And for the record, biting really does stop physical bullying. At least for me it did. Well, I’ll label my more bloodthirsty fantasies as such. ---
**Author:** ![airdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@airdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/airdisc)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/11 "2002-07-08T14:52:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Have you ever seen it solve ANYTHING? [devil’s advocate] Well, nothing besides British tyranny, slavery, and Nazism. [/devil’s advocate] ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/12 "2002-07-08T14:59:30Z")
I think the [crybaby] and [/crybaby] are intended to take the place of either winky or rolleyes smilies. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/13 "2002-07-08T17:31:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by airdisc \* > \*\* > > [devil’s advocate] > > Well, nothing besides British tyranny, slavery, and Nazism. > > [/devil’s advocate] \*\* Not to mention, for the Christians among us, making salvation and eternal life possible where it had not been before. ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/14 "2002-07-08T17:55:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Abe Babe \* > \*\*I think the [crybaby] and [/crybaby] are intended to take the place of either winky or rolleyes smilies. \*\* That’s the way I took it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/15 "2002-07-08T18:30:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Motate \* > \*\*It’s one thing to vent your frustrations as a way of blowing off steam,it’s is an entirely different thing to advocate violence. > > Have you ever seen it solve ANYTHING? \*\* Please tell me you were being sarcastic. Because that old saying,“Violence never solves anything” is probably the stupidest and most obviously false sayings that has ever made its way into common usage. But you were only joking, right?.. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/16 "2002-07-08T19:45:59Z")
'nuther devil’s advocate: While I agree that the post in question was poorly-conceived, I do remember the light that came on when I was about 12 and realized that fighting back _hard_ was a way out of constant bullying and harassment. (Yeah, I’m a small guy, and was even smaller in school – fancy that.) Schoolyard bullies respond well to aversion-therapy. Having had the opportunity to witness a few abusive adults up close, however, I wouldn’t recommend trying to use the same technique. Good way to end up dead, in a lot of cases. The law is an ass, but where would you be without your ass? Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Spanky\_The\_Dolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Spanky\_The\_Dolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spanky_The_Dolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/17 "2002-07-08T22:28:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > And for the record, biting really does stop physical bullying. At least for me it did. I hope you realise how horrible this piece of “advice” is. Biting is one of the worst things a kid could do in a fight with a bully. Only animals and little kids bite. And what if the bitten bully decides to REALLY beat the shit out of you after you bite them? (I’m referring to something like knocking you to the ground and stomping on your head, or bashing your face against the pavement or wall - to knock out the offending teeth.) Besides, then there’s the social effect that biting produces: everyone else thinks you’re either psychotic or a retarded freak. Kiss your social life goodbye 'til after high school (if that soon). Just run the hell away. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/18 "2002-07-10T12:04:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\*'nuther devil’s advocate: > > While I agree that the post in question was poorly-conceived, I do remember the light that came on when I was about 12 and realized that fighting back _hard_ was a way out of constant bullying and harassment. (Yeah, I’m a small guy, and was even smaller in school – fancy that.) > > Schoolyard bullies respond well to aversion-therapy. > \*\* Yyyyyeah…but it can get you an undeserved reputation. Kid A can call Kid B names and push hir around for a long time before anyone notices a pattern, but if Kid B finally bashes his lunchbox into Kid A’s mouth in retaliation, Kid A is the one who gets red-flagged. Logically, I would say that if a person is outnumbered or outweighed, using non-traditional styles of fighting, or arming oneself, is the best response. If a larger person is challenging a smaller person, they’re already not fighting fair, so why should the smaller person? But society doesn’t support that. **If you’re smaller, or otherwise disadvantaged, you just have to take it**. I hate, **hate** that it’s that way. But it is. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/19 "2002-07-10T12:06:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*I hate, **hate** that it’s that way. > > But it is. \*\* You make it so by your acceptance. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842/20 "2002-07-10T12:12:36Z")
Which, I might add, I find particularly ironic given your sig. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-if-i-offended-anyone/117842.md?page=2)