# Spongemom - cooling **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269 "2005-07-13T01:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/241 "2005-07-14T03:02:34Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > \ **SM** provided ways for people to track her down, not the mods. She obviously didn’t anticipate that rant going the way it did, but that’s life. Because some rabid goat-felchers followed _her_ directions to flame her on _her_ site because of things _she_ said…well, that’s really stupid and petty of them. The only way the goat-felchers could possibly make IRL threats is if _she_ supplied IRL details somewhere. > \ Yup, that’s true enough. A quick Google search on “spongemom” brings up any number of footprints. It is not the Straight Dope’s responsibility to keep us safe from ourselves in this big, bad internet world. ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/242 "2005-07-14T03:11:43Z")
Wow…that was a long read. Forgetting this whole thing would be great…but I want to answer a few questions first. 1. I didn’t know who Mynn was, it was someone else that emailed me about this thread. I read it, then emailed Mynn and found out what was going on. 2. I deleted my own sig, and I deleted my own profile links. It was long after that that my forum was invaded, but…oh forget it. He/she was banned, registered with another name but hasn’t been back on the forum yet…I’ll forget it happened as long as it doesn’t happen again. 🙂 3. I thank you all for the welcome back, but I really don’t think anything is ever going to be the same as it was before I started my disaster thread. Things aren’t forgotten around here very often, as was proven in the post in my thread stating the following: > [@](#): > > I remember after her very first post here, about how she was going to post in purple, she got pig-piled and handled it all right. The purple posting fiasco happened back in January, (all that “This post has been \_\_\_ed by the \_\_\_ist!!” was a lot of fun, btw) and someone brought it up in May, proving my point that things aren’t forgotten. I have a feeling I could post in IMHO in response to…oh I don’t know…a thread about flatulence, and someone would come back with “Don’t listen to her, she feeds her cats to Rottweilers!!” and someone else would say “Yeah! Her farts don’t count here! Cat killer!!!” and so on… 1. The neighbors’ new puppy, black and white little fuzzball, cute as ever. I’d step out back and take a picture, but the dogs are inside right now. My gramma and I were out back one day about a month ago, and heard a bunch of yelping and growling, so we came around the corner of the garage and saw the Rott mauling the puppy. Neighbors come out back door, wife kicks Rott in stomach, puppy limps away bleeding, both dogs are shuffled inside and not another sound is heard. The puppy doesn’t limp now, but I still see them in the yard alone together. 2. To the person that mentioned the kitten that was stepped on - we didn’t know which one it was that got stepped on, they were all sleeping together under my gramma’s chair and she didn’t know it. A vet’s check-up of all of them came up with nothing. The one that was stepped on was the one that started out being skinnier than the rest, so it took longer to realize that she wasn’t putting on any weight at all. I took her to the vet again, somehow knowing that it was her that had been stepped on, and after the vet took a much closer look, we found out her jaw was broken. She was put on an I.V. drip for a while, then sent home. Later that same night, she started having trouble breathing, her eyes were bulging out, and she started collapsing when she tried to walk, so I called the vet at home and told him about it, and he said there was nothing he could do, it was 11 pm and he was in bed. Not ten minutes later she was dead. I wish there was more I could have done, but I can’t do anything about it now. 3. There are two screen doors on my front porch. One of them has holes cut out so that the cats could go outside as they pleased. Due to a lack of funds, the door and screen cannot be replaced right now, so there is a baby gate blocking the bottom half of that door, where the holes are. Snuggles and Smokey can jump on the tables on the porch and look around outside, but they can’t venture farther than the porch walls. They get their fill of fresh air, and I can rest easy. They spend their nights indoors. 4. All nasty and vicious comments aside, I did take something away from the Pit thread I started. I realize that I was being careless and irresponsible, when the whole time I thought I was just letting my cats do what…well…what cats _do_, roam the yard, chase bugs, eat grass, just _be cats_. I hate that they can’t do that, and being on the porch will have to suffice. They’re safe, that’s all that matters. 5. Some of you told me not to post here, and I’m probably going against better judgement, but now that this is all typed up, I’m posting it anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/243 "2005-07-14T03:17:11Z")
> [@Mynn](#): > > One move to never ever land of the thread that gets linked and referenced will at least keep from popping up again and again with fresh rabid weevils, any time anyone wants to reference it. But why shouldn’t that thread get referenced again and again. **Spongemom** ’s gigundous “Fuck you all. Every fucking one of you” was some funny shit, yo. I’m glad I can just provide a little [linky-poo](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6199997&postcount=68) should I ever feel the need to express the sentiment. Anyway, I’m glad **Spongemom** ’s back, and I hope she keeps posting. **Mynn** , on the other hand…well, let’s just say that I had to read the above quoted sentence a dozen or more times before I was satisfied that it probably said what I thought it said. Incoherent _and_ whiny? I’ll send you the seven bucks if you’ll just go away. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/244 "2005-07-14T03:24:51Z")
Shoulda previewed… Back in January might seem like a long time ago to you, **Spongemom** , but to those of us who have been here for a while, it’s nothing. And just because people remember it doesn’t mean they hold it against you. And if someone throws a “cat-killer” insult at you in IMHO, then they’re the one who’s very much in the wrong. They’d probably get a reprimand for that. They can re-pit you if they want, but following you around hurling insults in unrelated threads? Nuh uh. There are lots of well-established posters here who have had some pretty spectacular on-board disasters, and are still here and posting as valued members of the community. If you enjoy the dialogue here, please do stick around. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/245 "2005-07-14T03:31:25Z")
Welcome back, **Spongemom**. I hereby apologize for the “hide the kittens” wisecrack at the start of this thread, and won’t be tossing any animadversions your way about it again.\* You saw where you’d gone wrong, dealt with it, and had the guts to come back here and say so. That’s admirable. On preview, what **Green Bean** said, too. \*Of course, there’s no guarantee I won’t crack wise to/about you on some other topic, but it won’t be with malice aforethought. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/246 "2005-07-14T03:47:59Z")
> [@Spongemom](#): > > All nasty and vicious comments aside, I did take something away from the Pit thread I started. I realize that I was being careless and irresponsible, when the whole time I thought I was just letting my cats do what…well…what cats _do_, roam the yard, chase bugs, eat grass, just _be cats_. I hate that they can’t do that, and being on the porch will have to suffice. They’re safe, that’s all that matters. Lots of people have had Pit threads backfire, **Spongemom**. It’s the proverbial double-edged sword. It’s the place to flame and vent, but it also carries the risk of equally outspoken feedback. Some of the feedback might be nasty just because it _can_ be. Much more will be thoughtful but…blunt. _Very_ blunt. Pitizens tend to sort things out over the long run. That includes unwary incomers as well as hardcore nasties. The Pit process isn’t for everyone, in every circumstance. One circumstance doesn’t make a poster. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/247 "2005-07-14T03:55:32Z")
1. \*\*Mynn - \*\* you mentioned you have an illness that causes “brain fog”. Is that the cause of your trouble communicating clearly? If so just say so and I think most of us would be happy to work with you. If it’s just a “stylistic choice” then I think you need to take some responsibility to edit for clarity. Only James Joyce gets to completely sacrifice coherence for style and get away with it. 1. I’ve read the original sponge-thread, the warning thread, and now this thread. It seems pretty clear to me that \*\*Spongemom \*\* was mistreated. Some of those posts were \*horrific \* and the mods could have taken stronger action once they’d escalated to the point of wishing - well I won’t repeat it, but let’s say in that context I don’t blame Spongemom in the last for the “fuck you all” post. And I don’t blame her for being unnerved. And when those psycho threats started wending their way onto other boards I don’t blame her for being REALLY unnerved. Mods didn’t seem sympathetic at all to me. I think it would have been decent of them to delete that thread. They didn’t have to do it, sure, but they would have relieved some serious real world upset. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/248 "2005-07-14T03:59:45Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > Well, folks. That originally looked like an ascii “train wreck”. Something went wrong with the hamsters! Every time **Two Trouts** tries to make an ascii “train wreck”, Og kills a hamster. With a 1920’s style “Death Ray”. ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/249 "2005-07-14T04:00:49Z")
I’m starting to think maybe this place isn’t so bad after all. After this thread is finished though, I sure as hell won’t be venturing back into the Pit too often. 😉 ---
**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:** [July 14, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/250 "2005-07-14T04:32:17Z")
> [@Spongemom](#): > > I’m starting to think maybe this place isn’t so bad after all. After this thread is finished though, I sure as hell won’t be venturing back into the Pit too often. 😉 Yeh, that’s what they all say. The place is addictive, I say addictive! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/251 "2005-07-14T04:43:37Z")
Its Squidward’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/252 "2005-07-14T05:02:27Z")
**Mynn** , you are a cruel, thoughtless bitch. In order to support another one of your tiresome complaints about the administration of this message board, you caused a thread that was very painful for **Spongemom** to be brought back to center stage. By your own admission, you _knew ahead of time_ that Spongemom wished the other thread would just go away. You knew it was a painful meltdown for her, and was causing her other problems as well. But to serve your own whim, you brought it back to everyone’s attention. Tell ya’ what: Your paid subscription should be about a third done. Post an address here where you can be reached by snail-mail and I’ll send a ten-dollar bill to you, thus buying out the remainder of your subscription. In return, you promise to leave and not post here again until after your current subscription has expired. It’ll be worth ten to me not to have to decipher your crappy writing. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/253 "2005-07-14T06:10:23Z")
> [@Spongemom](#): > > The purple posting fiasco happened back in January, (all that “This post has been \_\_\_ed by the \_\_\_ist!!” was a lot of fun, btw) and someone brought it up in May, proving my point that things aren’t forgotten. That was YOU??! Damn, that was annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/254 "2005-07-14T06:13:22Z")
She wasn’t the Grapist. She just posted in purple for a while. IIRC, people compared her to the Grapist. ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/255 "2005-07-14T06:28:00Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > She wasn’t the Grapist. She just posted in purple for a while. IIRC, people compared her to the Grapist. Exactly. I was the one that made the thread titled “I am not the Grapist!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/256 "2005-07-14T07:03:17Z")
Heya, **Spongemom**. I have to hand it to you, it takes a lot of guts to come back after the flogging you took. And I’m glad you managed to wrangle something of use out of it. Here’s hoping you stick around. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/257 "2005-07-14T07:52:35Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > She wasn’t the Grapist. She just posted in purple for a while. IIRC, people compared her to the Grapist. I know. That’s what I remember. And my post was at least somewhat tongue-in-cheek. You know, the irony of being reminded of something annoying she used to do by a post where she’s complaining about how no one will forget the annoying things she used to do… Ah, forget it. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/258 "2005-07-14T08:43:11Z")
I’ve been reading up on all that happened in the related threads and this one, since I completely missed the whole she-bang until today. As I read along two things occured to me. One, that this was a brilliant, incredibly subtle and labyrinthine plan to selflessly get all the heat off Spongemom and bring it down on Myn. Right? Please? Second, I’ve taught for more than a decade at a school where virtually every student has recently acquired english as a second language. I’ve helped my sister, who has a language disability, get her BA (and without just writing her papers for her). I have even followed and contributed to the hijack be-festered MMP over in MPSIMS, for over a year. Given all that training-- Myn’s writing makes my eyes cross. The only thing I can say is that it’s almost like free form poetry or rebel haiku. > [@Myn](#): > > There are only so many ways I can admit I posted badly and potentially made it worse than it was. > Ways there only so many of which to admit can I that badly post I do and make things worse thereby, mayhaps. > Bad post I? Maybe, no. Maybe, yes. Try Bud Dry. See? I don’t understand most of it, and she may need to down play the Yoda speak, but there’s something to it, maybe. Whether it’s raw genius, ahead of it’s time, or indicating a need to adjust meds, she might be able to convince someone to give her a nice little grant. If you do decide to go that route Myn; word to the wise-- be sure to have someone else fill out the grant request for you. [sup]I thought the I’m not the Grapist thread was kinda funny, actually.[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/259 "2005-07-14T09:57:48Z")
Heck, I don’t have any trouble following \*\*Myn \*\* at all. Admittedly, her writing sometimes seems very stream-of-consciousness, but it’s not particularly difficult to follow. I’m quite amazed that she’s remained \*mostly \* polite throughout to the people who’ve decided to ignore what she’s saying in favour of playing Master Grammarian. She’s apparently managed to retain her sense of humour as well. Imagining myself in her place, I can honestly say that if people weren’t bothering to read my responses, explanations and apologies except so they could oh-so-cleverly quote them and make fun, I’d have lost my sense of humour about it long before this point. In fact, I’m fairly irritated on her behalf with the people who, rather than actually read what’s here, keep interrogating her on the same stupid questions over and over again. **Myn** , you’re all right in my book. **Spongemom** , full marks to you too, for having gone away and thought about the cat situation and then taken steps to contain them. I know it’s a giant pain to try and keep cats inside when they’re used to having the run of the yard (I have a rather convoluted yard enclosure to keep my boys in) but good on you for making the effort and accepting the genuine advice for what it was worth! ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269/260 "2005-07-14T12:37:46Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > Heya, **Spongemom**. I have to hand it to you, it takes a lot of guts to come back after the flogging you took. And I’m glad you managed to wrangle something of use out of it. Here’s hoping you stick around. Ditto. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spongemom-cooling/312269.md?page=14)