# nonpolar, front and center **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 1, 2004, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553 "2004-09-01T08:10:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/81 "2004-09-01T21:38:33Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > Oh, and **SteveG1** , I was right there with you until you got to the part about the earwig. > > Why would anyone want to have a pet earwig? > > Why would anyone want to be in the same universe with an earwig, if they could possibly avoid it? > > Earwigs are horrid, horrid little creatures that make me want to climb onto a chair and scream “ahhh, earwig, earwig!!!” until someone comes and rescues me, and have to be killed a minimum of three times before they will stay dead. I’ve heard people say pretty much the same thing about cats, or rats, or rabbits; it’s all down to perspective. I’ll have to admit though, I’ve never actually heard of anyone doting on a pet earwig, but it’s a big, strange world. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/82 "2004-09-01T21:57:07Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ll have to admit though, I’ve never actually heard of anyone doting on a pet earwig… [sigh] …welcome to _my_ world… ☹ ---
**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:** [September 1, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/83 "2004-09-01T21:57:58Z")
**Stone** s-in-his-head has become a running gag. Gotta love this board! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/84 "2004-09-01T22:05:57Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > **Stone** s-in-his-head has become a running gag. Gotta love this board! 😃 How can you say that when there are still people in West Texas with [gasp] dial up modems!? (Oh the horror!) Seems to me like you needs a little perspective, ya cheese eating surrender monkey lover! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/85 "2004-09-01T22:19:08Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve heard people say pretty much the same thing about cats, or rats, or rabbits; it’s all down to perspective. I’ll have to admit though, I’ve never actually heard of anyone doting on a pet earwig, but it’s a big, strange world. All of the creatures you mentioned usually stay dead after the administration of blunt force trauma with an object much, much larger than they are. But when you’ve whaled on an earwig with your shoe, and five minutes later it gets up and starts crawling menacingly toward you, pincer-thingies waving… Ahhhhh!!! Earwig! Earwig! OK, stop frightening me, already. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/86 "2004-09-01T23:07:56Z")
I had a pet spider when I was in high school - a [crab-like spiny orb weaver](http://troyb.com/photo/gallery/00007922.htm). (The females tend to be less than half an inch wide; the males are so tiny that they’re rarely noticed.) I named her Daria, and she lived outside under one of the eaves. Mom was so concerned about this that she called an exterminator; he assured her that the spider was harmless (she could still bite though). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/87 "2004-09-01T23:14:38Z")
Why are you people posting to a BBQ Pit when there are people in the world who don’t even have fire?! PERSPECTIVE! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/88 "2004-09-01T23:16:05Z")
> [@Jeep's Phoenix](#): > > I had a pet spider when I was in high school - a [crab-like spiny orb weaver](http://troyb.com/photo/gallery/00007922.htm). (The females tend to be less than half an inch wide; the males are so tiny that they’re rarely noticed.) I named her Daria, and she lived outside under one of the eaves. Mom was so concerned about this that she called an exterminator; he assured her that the spider was harmless (she could still bite though). Y’know, that memory where she laid an egg, and then a hundred baby spiders came out and ate her isn’t actually yours, right? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/89 "2004-09-01T23:19:10Z")
Skin job. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/90 "2004-09-01T23:42:29Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > All of the creatures you mentioned usually stay dead after the administration of blunt force trauma with an object much, much larger than they are. > > But when you’ve whaled on an earwig with your shoe, and five minutes later it gets up and starts crawling menacingly toward you, pincer-thingies waving… I’d say it’s a safe bet that _someone_, somewhere out there in the big weird world, finds earwigs especially endearing for exactly the reasons you’ve just stated. ---
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/91 "2004-09-01T23:55:02Z")
> [@Sisyphus' Stone](#): > > Pathetic, really. > > Three thousand, five hundred people die of starvation around the world **every day - twenty-four hours**. Most of these three thousand, five hundred people are children, mostly from undeveloped, third-world countries and mostly between the ages of one to three. And you have compassion for someone whose horse dies? > > I don’t know anything about your value system and what you hold dear, but I’ll reserve my compassion for the people dying of starvation. Yes, I mourn for the starving of the world and not for the pampered horse. Weird, I guess in a world where a greedy country invades Iraq for oil while undeveloped country’s people starve. > > Perspective, I guess. Dude! If you truly believe what you typed here, then you must starve to death. Let me say that again. You must starve to death. If you eat, at any time, between the time of this post and the time you die of starvation…you are a hypocrite. For then you will have shown compassion for your hunger despite thousands of children dying of starvation every day. If you enact the “well I have to eat to survive; and **ETF** doesn’t have to mourn the death of his horse to survive” doctrine (aka the “my compassion is more critical than his” doctrine) then please inform me/us where to draw the line. Cannot I buy gas for my vehicle because my compassion for not running out of gas will be misplaced, in light of starving children? In short: I don’t have to feel bad because I feel bad because I stubbed my toe and the suffering of starving children is exponentially larger than my stubbed toe pain. Now if I’m stealing food from the starving children…well that’s a brand new story…and thread. P.S. I am not urging and/or recommending you starve yourself to death. In fact, I urge you NOT to starve yourself to death. I urge you to eat, survive, and then do all you can, with all of your desires and capabilities, to help starving children. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/92 "2004-09-02T00:35:14Z")
Anyway, I expect this is something we’ll all laugh about when **nonpolar** becomes a moderator. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/93 "2004-09-02T00:49:47Z")
Odds that **Sisyphus’ Stone** will ever be able to post again without someone replying with “PERSPECTIVE!!”: Zero. [sub]I’m still a little saddened that “Reported!!” and “PINWORMS!!” never caught on…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/94 "2004-09-02T02:03:38Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’d say it’s a safe bet that _someone_, somewhere out there in the big weird world, finds earwigs especially endearing for exactly the reasons you’ve just stated. Earwigs are only endearing when they are dropped into the ears of your enemies. [khan] Bring a message to Ahdmeeral Kirk for me, Chekhov… [/khan] ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/95 "2004-09-02T02:41:53Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Odds that **Sisyphus’ Stone** will ever be able to post again without someone replying with “PERSPECTIVE!!”: Zero. Yeah, it’s gonna be fun, ain’t it? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/96 "2004-09-02T03:15:33Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > How can you say that when there are still people in West Texas with [gasp] dial up modems!? (Oh the horror!) > > Seems to me like you needs a little perspective, ya cheese eating surrender monkey lover! Perspective, huh? And what about YOU? How can you sit there on your indolent, pampered posterior and say things like that when there are monkeys out there in the jungle who HAVE NO CHEESE TO EAT? :eek: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/97 "2004-09-02T03:24:04Z")
I know that this has already been said, in several different ways, but… You’re pitting nonpolar? Ummmmm, that’s kinda like writing a complaint letter to the mud that gets tracked into your house. The boy is harmless and a bit, well, perhaps “tetched”? Gross? yeah, nonsensical? definitely, but c’mon!!! You’ve GOTTA know that going into a thread with his name on it. He’s kinda like the jokes in Reader’s Digest (except not clean :D), silly fluff with no substance, but mildly intriguing when one is too sleepy to put thought into a deep thread that requires a bit of grey matter. OOoor, he could actually be smart, and is just playing dumb. Which is mildly interesting all by itself, in that “I can’t think right now, so THIS might be slightly entertaining” way. I have to join in with those saying pitting him is silly. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/98 "2004-09-02T03:28:28Z")
Stike my first post, the linked thread had not yet opened up (@W#ER@ Dialup GRRR). ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/99 "2004-09-02T03:29:42Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’d say it’s a safe bet that _someone_, somewhere out there in the big weird world, finds earwigs especially endearing for exactly the reasons you’ve just stated. Not an _earwig_, but… I was watching some show on Discovery or Animal Planet a few years ago about parasites. Some guy was travelling and had a blow fly get under his skin (on his belly). He left the thing there, named it (Eddie or Freddy or something), and sort of got attached (ha!) to it. He finally had to get it taken it out because it was becoming a nuisance (who’d a thunk?). You knew someone was going to come up with some real-life example of this, didn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553/100 "2004-09-02T03:36:21Z")
> [@C3](#): > > He left the thing there, named it (Eddie or Freddy or something) Um, Teddy, perhaps? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonpolar-front-and-center/262553.md?page=6)