# Recreational Outrage **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 5, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885 "2011-07-05T11:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/1 "2011-07-05T11:16:01Z")
You know, instead of just popping a link up, making a couple disparaging statements about the situation and wandering off, how about _doing something_ If the RO is about how some kid was abused to death, how about getting involved in a letter writing campaign to the powers that be who might be able to do something with child welfare services. Instead of writing about some heinous action against some homeless, how about getting involved in some sort of aid program. Instead of writing about some industrial fuckup, get involved in ecological rehab or protection. Don’t sit on your ass and whinge about it, get off your ass and do something about it. Injustice will carry on unless people get up and try to make a change. I got involved in a letter writing campaign, and my state now has decriminalized marijuana, and I am now working towards getting medical marijuana accepted so we can have California styled dispensaries, educational groups … what have you done except whinge about something? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/2 "2011-07-05T11:40:20Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/3 "2011-07-05T12:33:15Z")
Good reply Czarcasm 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/4 "2011-07-05T13:45:45Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > … I got involved in a letter writing campaign, and my state now has decriminalized marijuana… Correlation does not equal causation. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/5 "2011-07-05T14:07:29Z")
No, but actually doing something instead of just b\*tching about it is a far healthier exercise. I’ve loved the term ‘recreational outrage’ since I first heard it; it’s so fitting. 😛 And it’s kept me from posting in regards to things that don’t affect my life AT ALL outside the immediate thread. Life’s too short. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/6 "2011-07-05T14:28:49Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > Correlation does not equal causation. I’m not sure that **aruvqan** was claiming credit for it. Just saying that individual efforts to get something changed can sometimes lead to change. Sitting around and complaining on the message board won’t do any good except maybe to get other people complaining with you. But if it stops there and doesn’t get to the right ears, then yeah, it’s just bitching. It’s easier to just bitch, which is why it’s mostly what people do. I’m guilty of it myself a lot of the time. But when something truly irritates or offends me, I try and take the extra step to write a letter, even if I doubt that my lone little voice will have an impact. I should do that more often. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/7 "2011-07-05T22:13:45Z")
Never complain; never explain. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/8 "2011-07-06T00:49:56Z")
I feel I must correct you. RO = Righteous Outrage. Recreational outrage is the bitch yelling at a clerk in Walmart because she’s a miserable person that can’t have others happy. She gets an organism from making others cry. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/9 "2011-07-06T01:22:20Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > She gets an organism from making others cry. So that’s how babby is formed? ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/10 "2011-07-06T01:33:51Z")
If you had to do something about it, it wouldn’t be very recreational now would it? Then it would be more like work. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/11 "2011-07-06T01:58:08Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > So that’s how babby is formed? I corrected that 2 times when spell check kept replacing it. Orgasm orgasm orgasm damn it. Feel better?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/12 "2011-07-06T02:42:43Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I feel I must correct you. RO = Righteous Outrage. > > Recreational outrage is the bitch yelling at a clerk in Walmart because she’s a miserable person that can’t have others happy. She gets an organism from making others cry. No, on the dope RO = recreational outrage. They bitch and bitch and do nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/13 "2011-07-06T02:55:48Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No, on the dope RO = recreational outrage. They bitch and bitch and do nothing. Aren’t you bitching and doing nothing about others bitching and doing nothing? ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/14 "2011-07-06T03:07:21Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Aren’t you bitching and doing nothing about others bitching and doing nothing? You could make an argument that she’s not, that she’s leading by example by giving instances where she HAS put her money where her mouth is, and actually done something. Otherwise you’re just bitching and doing nothing about her bitching and doing nothing about others bitching and doing nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/15 "2011-07-06T03:55:07Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No, on the dope RO = recreational outrage. They bitch and bitch and do nothing. No it’s not. It’s Righteous Outrage. Holier than thou. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/16 "2011-07-06T05:09:05Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I corrected that 2 times when spell check kept replacing it. Orgasm orgasm orgasm damn it. Feel better?🙂 Usually. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/17 "2011-07-06T05:42:02Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > No it’s not. > It’s Righteous Outrage. Holier than thou. The term RO as used on these boards is and has been for a long time used to mean “recreational outrage”. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/18 "2011-07-06T06:04:32Z")
Yup. [Beginner’s Guide to Glossary of Terms on Straight Dope Message Boards](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=320298) > [@](#): > > **RO – “Recreational Outrage”** describes when a poster expresses righteous indignation and gets highly worked up (outraged) over some issue, typically some news occurrence that is completely irrelevant to the person’s own life and has no effect on that poster personally. The poster derives (recreational) satisfaction from expressing outrage and moral indignation, frequently including a sense of moral superiority, thus differentiating Recreational Outrage from other forms of outrage. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/19 "2011-07-06T06:07:21Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > No it’s not. > It’s Righteous Outrage. Holier than thou. I’m outraged that you’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885/20 "2011-07-06T09:18:56Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > The term RO as used on these boards is and has been for a long time used to mean “recreational outrage”. I’ve used RO since it started to be used too. It’s always been righteous outrage too, just like MPSIMS has always had the other meaning Mundane Pointless Shit I Must Share. There’s official and there’s unofficial meanings that get used in practice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recreational-outrage/587885.md?page=2)