I went to a concert in August of 2000. It was Sting. It was fun. Never been on a road-trip. Though I hear they are great. I personally want to go on a road-trip to see Sting next month. Not gonna happen though. Which really depresses me, but hey, what can you do?
Thank you, folks, for a spam-free, mostly troll-less environment. Cuz otherwise we’d all be happy with[ul] []alt.culture.not-the-SDMB-general-questions[]alt.culture.not-the-SDMB-great-debates[]alt.culture.not-the-SDMB-IMHO[]alt.culture.not-the-SDMB-MPSIMS…etc…[/ul]When and if the transition takes place, I hope that we’ll be able to lurk without registering to see if the new incarnation does, in fact, “suck the meat.”
N4S, I will never, ever doubt you again if you can reconcile these two sentences for me.
and
The former implies that you’ve been to a concert, but someone else paid.
Quix
P.S. Ok, I couldn’t resist: having to take a semester off of school to make money isn’t the end of the world. I made it through my college years without having to do it, because I had a good job (where I made $8.25 an hour, FTR, and worked far less than 30 hrs/week – try 10 except over the summer. You could fill Lake Erie with all the plasma my body has made!). But my roommate took a semester off, and he’s still with us.
I was trying to get ready for bed, but I was too pissed about this thread to even brush my teeth.
You know what? Think what you want. Try to tell me how to live my life. Tell me exactly what I should spend to earn an extra $20 that I do not have.
Fact of the matter is, after this fiasco, I really could care less about this Board. I cannot recall ever being so disgusted with a group of people in life.
But it was certainly nice knowing some of you.
My Best Regards,
Sarah
Look here are my thoughts on this whole afford/can’t afford scenario.
While I agree that many can’t afford to play on the SDMB if it goes to a pay per…I also think that people need to keep in mind that many here have priorities.
Okay so you sacrifice something to get another thing…in this case people with limited financial means are choosing to state that they prefer to have a McDonalds or a cut of beef or maybe they even want to get out of the house for a movie. Whatever, it doesn’t matter, I think their thinking isn’t that far off from my own even though I have the means to afford it.
It’s priorities people, priorities.
I love the SDMB, I love the banter, the view points the silliness but for me, I choose not to afford it. For others on this board, a $20 bill in one week is a big fucking deal.
Could they forego something else if they really wanted it that much? I am sure 90% of those with limited financial means could figure out a way. The 10% that can’t simply can’t for whatever reason.
But I don’t like the idea that people are piling on others for their views of whether they can afford it or not. You don’t live in their situations. You don’t see life as they do and the more you pile on them the more frustrated everyone is going to get.
Leave em be, if they can’t afford it and feel they can’t for whatever reason they can’t. BTW, I do recall there is a fair share of people here that do access the SDMB via their school or library so please, stop judging.
Oh and yes, some would have to cut back on things. I think the judgements or assumptions of that is wrong and plain mean. So PLG drops her internet connection at home. She only then can access her internet at school? Quixxy hun, she wants the home connection, she barely has the means but can so she does. It helps her in more ways than just a simply convenience. She is able to spend more time with her husband. She can research late at night in her home if she needs to for a paper. She can do a lot more at home than she could at school. I look at it that she gains more by accessing the internet from home than she does if she dropped it all together. Adding the expense of a pay site is not in her means for whatever reason but that’s her issue, not yours hun.
Quix - one last post before I go to bed and quit this thread forever:
My cousin Jason and his wife Melissa have four small children who absolutely adore Britney Spears et al. They paid me babysitting money plus the cost of the ticket to take Isabelle, Sydney, Brianna, and Joshua to a BS concert, an *NSYNC concert, a Christina Aguilera concert, and a goddamn, motherfucking piece of shit O TOWN concert.
And you dare to doubt what I’d do for a little extra money?
Can the
“I can’t afford it”
“Can too”
“Can not”
“Can too”
BS please be taken to another thread? Some people genuinely want to discuss the Pay For Use proposal, which is why this thread was opened. This sniping is just distracting and goes no way towards solving the problem, discussing options or allaying fears.
I’m a moderator on this board, a researcher for the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board and the “author” of almost a hundred Straight Dope staff reports. It would never occur to me in a jillion years that the Chicago Reader owes ME anything for the kick I’ve gotten out of doing this. It’s a fucking blast and I don’t feel used at all. Apparently a few posters feel taken advantage of, that the Chicago Reader has some nerve asking people to pay for the “privilege of surrendering control over (their) intellectual property.” Call me a whore, but I’m happy to give it up. As some of you are wont to say, “your mileage may vary.”
Jill
I’m sure that most of the people who have scoffed at the Can’t-afforders do not scoff because they think ill of people who are that poor, my guess is that they scoff because they may assume that people are trotting out “can’t afford” stories as a means of trying to convince the Reader not to charge. In those cases, we can assume that “can’t afford” means “don’t wanna”.
And since we can’t tell the difference between people who can’t and people who won’t, perhaps it would be best to simply say nothing…or perhaps: “That sucks. We’ll miss you. Hope to see you back some day!”
stoid
Scotti deserves to be praised to the heavens. (Inside joke, sorry if ya don’t get it).
pepper, Nacho, etc – I’m sorry I’ve been an ass. I still think I have a valid point, but sometimes a point isn’t as important as adhering to the “Don’t be a jerk” rule.
So… would I still be a jerk if I said I’m sorry, but didn’t retract my point?
Quix
Wow.
This is the most fucked up thing I can remember reading hear.
Tranquilis you are one of my favorite posters, but Stoid’s point is rock solid. And, yes, you loose first
rights, but I haven’t seen a lot of book material here in a cohesive format.
And this money thing. Damn, how hard is it to see that this will put a hardship on some people. But others have offered to help - problem solved. But my guess would be that the ratio of people that can’t pay is small indeed.
I think some people hear need to climb down off of their high-horses. If you don’t want to pay fine. I support your desicion. I’ll miss you, but I support you. But this free internet BS is just that. The CR doesn’t owe anyone here anything.
Bottom line is: IMHO, In your stubborn blind pride, you are going to cut off your noses to spite your faces. This board is worth every bit of $20 a year! I’m in. And I’ll help those who need it.
Oh, Sarah… Sarah…
I’ve been hard-up for cash before. (Say, come to think of it, I’m hard-up now!) I’ve done things to earn quick cash. Terrible things. Mininum-wage things. But NSYNC? :shudder:
Anyway… This thread is gettin’ pretty ugly, and I’m going to duck out of for a while, it’s getting me down. But I absolutely couldn’t let this go by. (Lord knows I tried.)
“Mmmmmm… Caramel-covered crack…”
[sup]What, you were talking about cocaine? Nevermind.[/sup]
Well, Stoid that may be the case, and I only brought up the fact that I can’t afford it in case anybody cares to know if I would be one of the fortunate ones who would still be here in a few months. I doubt anybody did, but there was an offchance. I was prepared to never post again until Demo used some pretty broad brush strokes to paint people.
I have no intent to try to coerce the Chicago Reader into changing their minds re: the issue through pity. Really, it’s their board, their dime, I don’t care. I would gladly pay if I could, and who knows? Maybe this time next year it’ll be an option for me.
It just really makes me mad when people use generalizations that unfairly and inaccurately describe a great number of other people.
Been there. Done that.
Didn’t have to pay for it.
Sounds good to me. I don’t really want to fight or argue the point anymore.
Maybe you’d just be a half-jerk. 
I am not trying to convince the CR to not charge. In my “No I Will Not Pay” survey, I made it clear that I can afford $5.
You know what I say when I go out with my friends? “I got five dollars people, let’s find something cheap to do.” Same goes here.
If they charge more than that, I leave, and that’s it.
Settle down. This is the most bitchy, whiny thread I’ve ever read on these boards. It surprises me that so many of the posters I once respected have taken a simple suggestion such as paying for access and turned it into the be-all end-all of decisions.
The damn site hasn’t even started charging us and people are already saying how tired they are of the board. Yeah, well you know what? If the thoughts of 3 or 4 ignorant trolls in one thread can turn you off of a couple hundred other posters and thousands of other threads, then I’d say we’re better off without you.
Sometimes it’s best to realize when you’re not going to win against someone ignorant enough to claim they know the details of your financial situation and move on.
I don’t know what’s more childish, saying “oh, you CAN afford it, you just won’t” [sub]On another note, who the fuck cares? You know exactly what the poster meant. Semantics aside, you’re being a dick. Get over it.[/sub] or saying “if this is the community I’ll be left with, good riddance”. Yeah, because we’re all like that, apparently.
Is this reminding anybody else of that “Twilight Zone” episode, where all of the friendly neighbors turned on each other when the missile alarm went off, and there was only so much room in the bomb shelter?
Well, I admit, after page 4 or 5, I started to skim this thread.
I am seeing a trend here - $20 seems to be the amount that most people feel is reasonable. (Including me.) I am guessing that the form we filled out will tell the administrators the same thing.
I like the idea of having a “student” rate. Many organizations and clubs do this. I think it’s a good idea here too.
I also think that for people who don’t have credit cards, other forms of payment should be offered. I am one of those people who got my first credit card after college. I don’t think it’s such a stretch to realize that many people can’t or won’t use credit cards. So, PayPal, or sending in a money order/check sounds like a good idea.
Paying in incriments (as mentioned before) is also good. $5 for every 3 months, whatever.
And lastly, I am astonished and appalled that anyone would make a big deal over Pepperland’s, Nacho’s or anyone else’s finances, or reasons why they can’t afford $20 a year. Who cares what the reasons are? They say that they can’t/won’t do it. To press the issue (and piss them off) is useless. We all have set in our minds what we “can’t” afford. Just give it a rest, already.
BTW, what does TANSTAAFL stand for?
[Jim Morrisson]
This is the end, my friend…
[/Jim Morrisson]
Unfortunately, this board will most likely die a slow and painful death. Slow, cause the diehards will continue to fight (and pay) for it; painful, cause it will bleed members in a series of sad goodbyes.
Here’s a suggestion:
Why don’t you guys pool your monies and buy the damn board yourself???
Seriously, I don’t think it’s crazy to imagine: The Chicago Reader offers either to sell the thing outright (improbable, since they own all the rights, etc., but who knows?) or, more likely, to make an IPO (Initial Public Offering) of the board, i.e., sell shares of it to the public. Or, they could even do something along the lines of an employee buyout.
Hey, if Cecil et al. could put egos aside, we could all own the damn thing together! Happens all the time, folks.