Wasn’t that Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones? Let’s not be too foot-loose and fancy-free with our cites. Otherwise, have at it, mate. Good to see some prissy arseholes herein get thier knickers in knots over your refreshing approach to posting. Keep up your productivity.
ROTFL – talk about a simulpost.
You May Be Right – Billy Joel
But I agree with you about the knickers in knots. 
- we have the power
I get the strong impression, Roland, that you really haven’t spent much time reading through posts in forums other than GQ. This is the BBQ Pit, the only place where people are allowed to take off the gloves and express their true feelings. Those that are inclined to be caustic are not going to hold back when they’re here.
Actually, several people asked you, politely, to stop doing that in some of your early posts. You completely ignored them there. Besides, it’s really not that hard to not use the title bar in every response, so your continued use of the title bar to start your responses comes across as being intentionally annoying.
If I may make a suggestion… not everything is worth a GQ. Really. GQ is supposed to be for questions with factual answers, not ruminations about the way chips used to taste, or how you think the marketing of said chips should have been handled, or whatever. Examples of how your burning chips issue could be addressed in different forums:
[ul]
GQ: Does anyone know why the flavor of my favorite chips was changed?
IMHO: Does anyone here really like the new flavor of these chips?
MPSIMS: I remember the good old days, when my chips tasted like this
The Pit: Dammit, why did Frito’s change the taste of my chips??
[/ul]
Some of the things that you post in GQ would be much better suited to the atmosphere of the other forums here, and you’re likely to get more appropriate responses too.
Something to keep in mind - the board’s #1 rule is “don’t be a jerk.” Now, there has been A LOT of discussion over what constitutes such behavior, and the mods and admins (rightly, IMHO) have resisted giving explicit examples, in order to have some leeway in moderating the boards effectively. A side effect of that, though, is that people are going to complain heartily if they feel that someone is behaving like a jerk. When this thread started, I daresay that people were simply commenting on some typical newbie-ish behavior of yours. However, now that you are responding to people’s criticisms like this:
You come across as saying, “I don’t much care if you find me annoying, I’m going to post the way I wish as long as it isn’t explicitly against the rules.” You may not be technically crossing a line, but you are alienating those people to whom you have “presented an opportunity to answer a question.” Ultimately you’ll find that no one will answer you seriously, and then where are you?
It is in fact possible to be rude and obnoxious without being profane and deliberately insulting. Please consider that.
One way to to be rude and obnoxious is to knock thoughtful questions off the first page of GQ with inane bullshit or questions that anyone with access to google or the SD search function could answer in less than a minute.
Exactly, whilst I find the ‘questions in the titles’ difficult to follow at times and the double if not triple posting annoying I enjoy most of his threads but agree that they need to be directed to the proper forums.
Roland, this is the pit and you are being pitted. Sometimes it’s worth just telling them all to go fuck themeslves as opposed to having to waste your time explaining your motives on the board. If an admin/mod told you to take it easy and you did then it’s cool. Otherwise bask in the limelight.
Encouragement - that’s just what he needs. :rolleyes:
Idiot
Especially bask in being pitted by Dubs that don’t have anything else to do with their time these days but post in the BBQ Pit it seems. :dubious:
::Taking the pig from under his arm::
“Back off, blackguard, or I’ll whack ya with me shillelagh”
::looks around menacingly::
Roland:
Welcome to the Straight Dope, buddy. This has always been a snarky, snappy place, not a place for the thin-skinned. That’s the tradeoff. You wanna hang out at the best place on the Internet, you have to put up with a fair amount of snarkiness. Don’t expect the mods to come in and chide other posters for “rudeness”, because some of the mods are just as rude themselves. Really the only forum where you’re reasonably guaranteed freedom from rudeness would be MPSIMS, but even there people sometimes get into it.
People abused this privilege over at JREF and the Bad Astronomy BB so much that it was eventually vastly restricted. Just mentioning it.
[sigh]
All that’s going on here in this thread is that a few people (out of nearly 4,000) happen to not like your posting style. That’s all. Normally with Newbies being Pitted this involves issues of grammar and spelling, the overuse of the ellipsis, the refusal to use the Quote function, things like that. It normally doesn’t involve “content” except where an obvious One Trick Pony has dropped by to bend our collective ear nonstop about SUVs, or Jesus, or circumcision, or white supremacy.
The occasional Newbie does tend to have this happen to him, that it turns out that his posting style rubs somebody the wrong way, and he gets Pitted, but most of them survive it. The ones that do survive tend to be the ones who, at least partially, modify their posting behavior, just a bit, to show willing. For example, I’d suggest you stop with the continual allnurses references. However, I at least understand that you’re not doing it on purpose, it’s just that it’s a part of your life and you probably type as fast as I do, so when you type “all nurses dot com” it comes out as a link, thanks to VBulletin. But the problem is that when it’s repeated so many times in so many of your posts, it starts to come across as a link/plug, “go visit this site!” which comes across as, kind of, borderline spam.
I have no idea why some people find the “typing in the title line” thing to be so irritating. This has never come up before, as far as I can remember. If more people hated it, they’d be in here flaming, because they’d get so irritated they’d come into the Pit looking to start a Pit thread on the subject and then they’d find this one and they’d say, “Oh goodie”–and they’re not. So.
Also, I will point out that when a Newbie truly outrages a large number of people in the community, there are a LOT more different people showing up for his Pitting. There’s an immensely ugly pile-on. But I don’t see this here.
Don’t worry about the BBQ Lays thread. Everybody posts a dud GQ thread every so often, that gets moved or closed. It’s no biggie.
Yup, nothing here but a bit of gentle persuasion.
The main reason why I referenced the Allnurses site (notice I left out the www this time) is because people started out by questioning my sincerity. Basically, they were implying that I was some sort of shill, imposter, prankster, or formerly banned poster trolling. Since, I have posted at this other site for several years it provides a historical record of my style and perspective (which I think is largely consistent for better or worse with what I post here). Also, I am floored when people question your sincerity just because you have what they see as radical opinions. It is true that I go out of my way to avoid “group think”. If most people think one way then I’m going to give the opposite perspective perhaps even more consideration, because I believe that the “herd” mentality is responsible for many of mankind’s evil acts. For instance, at “paranormal sites” like the The Shadowlands my skepticism was considered “over the top” and offended many of the “true believers”. However, here by comparison the fact that I am even open to the possibility of the “paranormal” seems to offend many. If I am with liberals I tend to put forth conservative positions. On the other hand if I am working with Republicans, I will raise issues of civil rights ect. where I feel the current administration is falling short. If I am posting in a Nurses forum I try to emphasize the positions of Dr’s and administrators, but if talking to Dr’s I focus on the issues of nurses. In short, I seek to cause people to think and to hopefully examine issues from perspectives that they find to be uncomfortable.
Well, yeah, see, that’s what I was saying earlier, about the “profiling”. Don’t take it too much to heart.
Squink, honey, if you think this thread counts as an ugly Pit pileon, then you ain’t been payin’ attention. 
Actually, I was being perfectly serious, but the board lacks the inverse-winky-smiley needed to show that without my having to type three or more paragraphs -far more than this issue is worth.
I think you’re giving yourself too much credit. The debate is not whether you’re some (ooooohhh) dangerous radical: it’s whether you’re just a garden-variety jerkish newbie who can learn how things work around here and thus become a valuable member of the community, or whether you’re a trollish jerk newbie who’s going to piss off everyone in sight and then disappear.
The point that several people have been trying to make – and that you seem to be resisting understanding – is that there are certain style issues that have evolved as ways of keeping communication clear on these boards. These “style” issues – like using the thread title to summarize the point of the thread, or posting in appropriate forums (see sunfish’s example above for ways that the same basic topic might be presented in different threads, depending on what exactly the bug up your ass is at that particular moment) – are not just about style: they’re conventions that have developed through member usage and the guidance of the mods to keep the dialogue here useful to all, without degenerating into masturbatory monologues on the part of the jerkish few.
But that is an insincere reason to have radical opinions. It sounds like you’re rejecting an idea just because it’s what most people think. That’s not at all the same thing as a bold willingness to tell the truth as you see it, no matter what people think.
Both perspectives merit equal attention. If there’s a mainstream idea that you don’t agree with, take the time to think about why most people have this idea or belief. If you can’t figure it out, ask in IMHO or GD: “Why do most people think x?” Take a few days to let people answer the question, and stay focused on it before you move on to something else.
If you want to change the herd mentality - as you say you do - a place to start is examining it very carefully, and asking other people for help in understanding it.
Please. Most of this 3-page thread is people trying to give you advice. My advice to you is to stop wasting your time trying to convince people you are right, and consider the advice. The smaller a part of my life I make defensiveness, the better I find my game is in any arena.
Think about it before posting again.
I guess as someone who believes in “the less rules the better”, I’m not very good at ascertaining or following a myriad of “nit picking” type regulations. Honest to God, if I were to incorporate all of the “advice” given here it would amount to more constraints than I faced in the Navy (at least there national security was in theory at stake). It like nursing. They can’t just say “make a bed that looks good” you have to follow their inane 25 step procedure for making a bed their way (however in the case of Nursing I can at least blaim so many rules on the fact that so many damm women are involved in nursing).
Why can’t we just say be polite, try to ask good questions, and provide the best answers (if so inclined) that you are capable of providing. Different people will post differently, use different types of thread titles ect. I thought diversity was a good thing (at least that is what is always rammed down my throat in college these days). I don’t want to upset anyone, but I feel that many here get “upset” to a degree completely out of line in relation to the issues involved.
Even if one of you posted something like “Rolands mother is a harlot, and his father buggered little kids” I would procede to rationally explain how your post was rude, non productive, and otherwise in violation of the basic tenets of logic. If I felt it necessary I might even provide a rebuttal. However, I would not “start a Pit flame” focusing on why you were a bad person. The solution to bad speech is more speech, not insults.
Roland,
I’ve been here a while although I’m not a prolific poster. I’ll say what the rest don’t seem to want to say. You’re a breath of fresh air in a way.
There are certain rules to any forum you are a member of though. A seemingly big one here is *Don't use the title bar!*...it's there for a reason though. We can't edit posts here, what you typed is forever..what you typed.
You're either very confined or an autistic 'Think outside the box' kind of person. Me though? I'd really dig it if you'd quit typing inside the 'Title' line.
Welcome Roland, I'll read your posts....even if I can't make heads or tails of them at times! ;)
-K