# Opinions...2nd try
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 19, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795 "2011-09-19T05:57:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/81 "2011-09-20T14:22:31Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#):
>
> This snippet that you are plucking out of context was said in reference to an obese guy with absolutely no muscle mass who was competing in a wheelchair bodybuilding competition. Again, while I may have been a bit harsh with my words, he had no business making a mockery of what I and others legitimately prepare and work hard for.
You have no business deciding whether he should be allowed to compete in a bodybuilding competition. The organizers of the event clearly felt differently.
And hey, you asked to be judged on your facebook page, and that’s what you’re being judged on. You’re a reasonably aesthetically pleasing, not very nice guy. The latter will always trump the former amongst decent, thinking people, but I don’t see that as being a problem for you.
---
### Author:  [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/82 "2011-09-20T14:33:28Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#):
>
> Oh please, that shit was nothing but character shots. Give me a break. The last thing you were doing was honestly assessing _anything_ I had posted. :rolleyes:
Really? Were these remarks about your facial expressions character shots too?
_I hope you do smile in person, because your pictures make you look unapproachable and roid-ish_
- I got a negative impression from the neutral facial expressions\*
_I prefer your smiling pics to the unsmiling ones_
You also had a toilet clearly visible in one of the photos. In another, clothes on the floor. That, along with the shirtlessness, gives off a very juvenile vibe. I’m not sure how old you are, but I do know that you are old enough to know better than to give off a distinct teenager up to frat boy age vibe.
If you are trying to give people a better impression of yourself, get a professional to take some headshots.
Like this
[http://jordanlhahn.com/photos.html](http://jordanlhahn.com/photos.html)
---
### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/83 "2011-09-20T14:50:29Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#):
>
> Under the bright lights on stage, the tanner/paint brings out all the detail to one’s muscles.
Why do you put it on your face, too?
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### Author:  [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/84 "2011-09-20T14:54:15Z")
Well, because if he didn’t, that would just look silly!
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### Author:  [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/85 "2011-09-20T15:23:17Z")
He would look like he had been tanning with his head in a bag.
Or like maybe his cute li’l white dog had sat on his head while he was asleep in the sun. That dog’s a prankster, I’m tellin’ you.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/86 "2011-09-20T15:47:04Z")
You kinda look like Michael Stipe.
_insert “Shiney Happy People” joke for the gilded pics_
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### Author:  [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/87 "2011-09-20T16:25:28Z")
You actually look a lot like a roommate I used to have a long time ago. You are objectively good looking for sure, but the non-smiling photos make you look…unfun.
Were I single and browsing your facebook page looking for guys to date (I realize it doesn’t really work like this, but whatever) I would probably stop and check out your pics but when I read the comments you made about the other ‘body builder’ in the photos with you I would immediately be turned off. Your comments were both mean and rude. It’s not enough that you beat him in the competition, you then have to slag him off as well? Grow up, seriously.
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### Author:  [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/88 "2011-09-20T16:53:05Z")
At least the overweight guy in that picture is trying to get into bodybuilding, presumably trying to get in shape and find a healthy persuit, instead of just sitting in a corner and giving up. He’s certainly got chutzpah for going up on stage with much more muscle-ey guys when there was no way he was going to win, and [stinkeye] some of whom were bound to be judgemental. [/stinkeye]
By that rationale people shouldn’t be allowed to walk marathons, since it makes a mockery of the training and conditioning of the top athletes who can run it in 3 hrs 30 min.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/89 "2011-09-20T18:10:10Z")
I hope that guy tones up really well, and then pwnz everyone in the next competition.
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### Author:  [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/90 "2011-09-20T20:35:39Z")
Those tyres make your arse look big.
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### Author:  [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/91 "2011-09-20T20:44:51Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#):
>
> Repeated attempts? 😕 Are you referring to the first time I tried posting this and it failed because I didn’t know what I was doing? Hmm, so a “normal” person would have just shrugged and said “oh well, forget trying to get it right, I’ll just quit.” ? Is that right? It doesn’t matter what the content would have been, if I had screwed up initially, I would have persisted regardless. I think most people probably wouldn’t have screwed up in the first place. I admit I am not technologically deft.
I think the repeated threads opened you to criticism - why didn’t you just post this link in the original “Stranger’s opinions” thread that you opened?
---
### Author:  [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/92 "2011-09-20T21:03:39Z")
Real, non-snarky answer:
Cute face, you are facially good-looking.
Apart from the age thing, I wouldn’t date you because a: you are relatively small for a man - I like taller and bigger men. Also b: the muscle shots are, for me, a turn-off. I’ve always been disattracted (hey it’s a word _now_) to men whose muscles were intentionally formed in a gym and not by day-to-day work or activities. My gut reaction to bodybuilder-types is to assume they’re self-centered.
The wheelchair would be immaterial, I think - my ex sometimes used a wheelchair (RA) and it simply wasn’t a factor.
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/93 "2011-09-20T22:40:56Z")
I like your t-shirt (3rd pic in the top row) and your dog is cute.
I’m really into nerds. You don’t seem very nerdy. Maybe if you were wearing a Chtulhu shirt or playing Dungeons and Dragons or something.
Looking at the picture in question, it could go either way. It’s hard to get a feel for your personality based on that one picture, and I’m really one of those people who cares a lot about personality over looks. While sometimes I am quite taken by a man’s appearance, many times a conventionally attractive man isn’t really an automatic ‘‘Win’’ for me (FWIW, you are conventionally attractive.) To be honest, the closest to ‘‘conventional’’ a guy’s personality is, the less interested I become!
The wheelchair is not a factor in determining attractiveness.
Neither are the muscles. I could take 'em or leave 'em.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/94 "2011-09-20T22:50:17Z")
> [@ugly ripe tomato](#):
>
> At least the overweight guy in that picture is trying to get into bodybuilding, presumably trying to get in shape and find a healthy persuit, instead of just sitting in a corner and giving up. He’s certainly got chutzpah for going up on stage with much more muscle-ey guys when there was no way he was going to win, and [stinkeye] some of whom were bound to be judgemental. [/stinkeye]
>
> By that rationale people shouldn’t be allowed to walk marathons, since it makes a mockery of the training and conditioning of the top athletes who can run it in 3 hrs 30 min.
That is not an apt comparison at all. First, at least those marathon walkers _achieved_ something; they completed a 26.2 mile race, which is pretty impressive no matter what your level of fitness is. On top of that, most (if not all) marathon competitors engage in at least _some_ sort of training regimen prior to the race.
This fellow achieved nothing and did nothing to prepare for this competition. He was simply in a wheelchair. That’s it. And he was willing to take his shirt off. He did not train, he did not diet and he did not achieve anything. He simply showed up. Those of us who dedicate months of blood, sweat and tears and sacrifice ALOT to bring the best possible package onstage take offense to such a display.
Now I am all for this young man to give everything he has to the sport. But he should start lifting weights and training _ **before** _ he decides he is a bodybuilder, not before.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/95 "2011-09-20T23:28:58Z")
> [@chiroptera](#):
>
> Real, non-snarky answer:
>
> Cute face, you are facially good-looking.
>
> Apart from the age thing, I wouldn’t date you because a: you are relatively small for a man - I like taller and bigger men. Also b: the muscle shots are, for me, a turn-off. I’ve always been disattracted (hey it’s a word _now_) to men whose muscles were intentionally formed in a gym and not by day-to-day work or activities. My gut reaction to bodybuilder-types is to assume they’re self-centered.
>
> The wheelchair would be immaterial, I think - my ex sometimes used a wheelchair (RA) and it simply wasn’t a factor.
Yeah, I think my heavy-duty physical labor work options are just a _bit_ limited.
And going to the gym isn’t a “day-to-day activity”?
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### Author:  [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/96 "2011-09-20T23:43:23Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#):
>
> Yeah, I think my heavy-duty physical labor work options are just a _bit_ limited.
> \*\*
> And going to the gym isn’t a “day-to-day activity\*\*”?
Sure, it can be, but that’s not what I meant. I never said anything about “heavy-duty physical labor work”, those were your words. Smacking kittens over the head with 2-x-4’s might be a day-to-day activity too but that doesn’t mean I’d find it attractive on that basis alone.
Like I said, you have a cute face. IRL, I mainly wouldn’t date you because you are a physically small (I think you said 120 lbs in an earlier post) man which is something I do not find attractive, personally. It’s a failing of mine, I admit. Men who weigh less than me (140 lbs size 6-8) = not dating material. No matter how cute I find the facial features.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/97 "2011-09-21T00:02:40Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#):
>
> I like your t-shirt (3rd pic in the top row) and your dog is cute.
>
> I’m really into nerds. You don’t seem very nerdy. Maybe if you were wearing a Chtulhu shirt or playing Dungeons and Dragons or something.
>
> Looking at the picture in question, it could go either way. It’s hard to get a feel for your personality based on that one picture, and I’m really one of those people who cares a lot about personality over looks. While sometimes I am quite taken by a man’s appearance, many times a conventionally attractive man isn’t really an automatic ‘‘Win’’ for me (FWIW, you are conventionally attractive.) To be honest, the closest to ‘‘conventional’’ a guy’s personality is, the less interested I become!
>
> The wheelchair is not a factor in determining attractiveness.
>
> Neither are the muscles. I could take 'em or leave 'em.
You know, honestly, the muscles are probably more a source of confidence and self-esteem for _myself_ than anything else. While I have always been an athlete, I never lifted weights until I got in a wheelchair. Prior to that, I had always been the rail-thin, speedy-Gonzalez, eat-whatever I wanted smallish guy who avoided weights like the plague.
But getting into my accident and becoming paralyzed changed things, obviously. Lifting weights actually started as part of my initial physical therapy once I got out of the rehab hospital. And it slowly took off and evolved from that point on. I loved learning about my new body and figuring out ways to do things which, on the surface, appeared out of my reach.
And it really served as a form of mental therapy, mental release, for me as well. My self-confidence as a paraplegic was grew as I became my knowlegeable about myself and stronger and better looking overall. I became more independent and extroverted. It also kept me on a healthy path, mentally and physically. After SCI, it is _ **so** _ easy to become trapped in some form of substance abuse (doctors liberally prescribe wide arrays of narcotics and other strong drugs if nudged, not to mention street drugs). If it wasn’t for bodybuilding and working out in general, my life would be in a much worse place, I know that much.
So I appreciate the posters who commented honestly and _respectfully_, even if your opinion wasn’t glowing. That is why I posted this stuff. If I didn’t work out and train like I do, I would be a _much_ less attractive person, this I know. And I don’t simply mean physically. I mean emotionally, spiritually and personally.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/98 "2011-09-21T00:07:35Z")
Question – so how was the guy’s attitude? Was he an ass, or was he genuinely enthusiastic about what he was doing?
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### Author:  [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/99 "2011-09-21T00:16:21Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#):
>
> I like your t-shirt (3rd pic in the top row) and your dog is cute.
>
> I’m really into nerds. You don’t seem very nerdy. Maybe if you were wearing a Chtulhu shirt or playing Dungeons and Dragons or something.
>
> Looking at the picture in question, it could go either way. It’s hard to get a feel for your personality based on that one picture, and I’m really one of those people who cares a lot about personality over looks. While sometimes I am quite taken by a man’s appearance, many times a conventionally attractive man isn’t really an automatic ‘‘Win’’ for me (FWIW, you are conventionally attractive.) To be honest, the closest to ‘‘conventional’’ a guy’s personality is, the less interested I become!
>
> The wheelchair is not a factor in determining attractiveness.
>
> Neither are the muscles. I could take 'em or leave 'em.
Staying at the top of the doper-crush list with a swoonworthy paean to nerds. 😃
---
### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-2nd-try/596795/100 "2011-09-21T00:17:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> Question – so how was the guy’s attitude? Was he an ass, or was he genuinely enthusiastic about what he was doing?
He was excited as hell! He couldn’t get that spray tan on fast enough! Or start posing for the pictures fast enough! He actually was a sweet little kid. Cute. But still had no business on a bodybuilding stage. He wanted all the vacation time without putting in the hours first.
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