# New Cafe Society Policy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712 "2003-05-22T02:05:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712/21 "2003-05-29T05:20:44Z")
Am I the only one who thinks a “policy” against spoilers is worse than moronic? It’s not like we have people gleefully posting tons of threads with plot points of “The Matrix: Reloaded” in the title bar. So people learn something ahead of time. Big fucking deal. The Republic will survive. Maybe I’m overreacting, but I’m just so tired of the wave of geekdom invading every forum. In the Pit we have only recently finished (yet not resolved) a drawn-out squabble about using “fat” as an epithet. Many people, myself included, were pretty tired of several posters showing up like clockwork to label “ignorant” anyone who used the word thusly in a rant, as if Pit rants were supposed to be _tasteful_. This crap about spoilers seems to be Cafe Society’s version of the same stupid bullshit, i.e., something only someone who spends _way_ too much fucking time here could possibly take seriously. If we think about the ramifications of this “policy” outside the pocket-Universe of the SDMB, it’s foolishness becomes apparent. Does anyone go around telling fellow employees/family members/friends stuff like “Spoilers will not be tolerated!”? Of course not. Do any of us get mad at total strangers who we overhear talking about a movie we have not yet seen? Obviously not. Given that the thread linked to in the OP _very clearly_ said “ **spoiler** ” in the title line, this “policy” strikes me as a bit of overreach by the Mod in question. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712/22 "2003-05-29T07:17:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lizard \* > \*\*Given that the thread linked to in the OP _very clearly_ said “ **spoiler** ” in the title line, this “policy” strikes me as a bit of overreach by the Mod in question. \*\* Excuse me. The thread linked to in the op says “spoiler” in the title because I had to change it to remove the spoiler after having received too much irate e-mail about it. But thanks for playing. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712/23 "2003-05-29T21:24:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sjc \* > \*\*Has anyone noticed the happy-smiley-goes-to-pained-smiley effect before? > > It’s odd, because, for the first time, when I hilighted a happy smiley I noticed it looked sad and then right after that there were several posts commenting upon it. I’m kind of surprised I never noticed it before. \*\* It depends severely on what Web Brwoser you’re using. Internet Explorer dithers all selected (highlighted) images with the highlight color, which is what causes the “pained” smiley look. Netscape 7.0, on the other hand, does a bitwise-AND with selected images. A selected smiley doesn’t get that pained look, it just gets darker. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712/24 "2003-05-30T02:05:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eutychus \* > \*\*Excuse me. > > The thread linked to in the op says “spoiler” in the title because I had to change it to remove the spoiler after having received too much irate e-mail about it. But thanks for playing. \*\* Sooooo. . . you link to a thread as an example of what you _don’t_ want after removing the thing you found so offensive about it. Who, exactly, is playing games? Or are you just nuts? I can’t believe people e-mailed a Mod because a thread spoiled “American Idol.” Jesus H. Christ. I’m beginning to believe there is no hope for mankind. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712/25 "2003-05-30T02:12:40Z")
And the Spoilers to end all spoilers: _Titanic_ sinks\*, Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father, Rhett leaves Scarlett, the butler did it. Happy? Yeah, **Euty** , you need to make this a Sticky. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712/26 "2003-05-30T03:47:17Z")
So, what exactly is your deal, **Lizard**? If something doesn’t piss you off personally, then no one else should ever get pissed about it? Yeah, you don’t care about American Idol. Yay you. I mean, we’re all very impressed with the way you showed off your intellectual superiority by not watching a TV show, but apparently a lot of people do watch it, and finding out the end beforehand spoils a lot of the fun. Is that an excuse to get snotty and accuse everyone who disagrees with you a bunch of geeks with no life? Big words for a man with a two-thousand-plus post count. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712/27 "2003-05-30T06:52:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lizard \* > \*\*Sooooo. . . you link to a thread as an example of what you _don’t_ want after removing the thing you found so offensive about it. > > Who, exactly, is playing games? Or are you just nuts? > > I can’t believe people e-mailed a Mod because a thread spoiled “American Idol.” Jesus H. Christ. I’m beginning to believe there is no hope for mankind. \*\* :: sigh :: Did you even click on the link? I linked to a specific post which explained the new policy. I’m beginning to believe there’s no hope for Lizardkind. Anyway, I’m sure with your perfect knowledge of all that is good and right and decent you know that these kind of complaints belong in the pit, right? Therefore, if you want to discuss this any further, please take it there. This thread is closed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cafe-society-policy/176712.md?page=1)