# The BBQ Pit should be gotten rid of **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 12, 2001, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131 "2001-10-12T21:12:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131/41 "2001-10-18T07:10:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > **It’s sort of like chopping the onions really big in a salad, so folks who don’t like them can pick them out easily.** Is this also why they use black olives? * * * IMHO, the reason **Handy** doesn’t like the pit, is because too many times he has been featured there due to his prodigious posting ability. It must be jealousy. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131/42 "2001-10-18T16:29:20Z")
I said: > [@](#): > > Also, long sig files are a problem from purely an aesthetic view point - they often overshadow the actual post content, and make it hard to sort out what is the comment. Whey you have a 1 line comment and 4 different sentences of sig file, you have a serious post imbalance. Hombre replied: > [@](#): > > However, you’re view of imbalance is subjective. Period. And, I would rather gain some insight to a poster by his sig that wade through 5 pages of useless, redundant insults just to get to a post that I’ve been refered to. Yes, the post imbalance is an aesthetic point, and as such is subjective. That’s why I labeled it aesthetic and put it second. It _is_ a bit tedious to read through 6 replies in the same thread by one person and all of them have 1 or 2 sentences of on topic reply and then a paragraph of sig file. In the past, some people have had sig files that scroll the page. (Duck Duck Goose comes to mind.) And while the first time you read a person’s sig you might get insight into him or her, the 200th time I read that same sig file it is space-wasting filler that I have to scroll past to continue the important part of the conversation. It is especially tedious when the comment they inserted was some sarcastic joke with a smiley that had nothing with furthering the conversation but was just inserted humor, and _then_ a full page of sig file. But yes, that’s just me. (And I have nothing against sarcastic jokes inserted.) As for comparing the two, they are very different things, and while one or the other may be more annoying depending on who the reader is, they are not related to each other and either can be altered without affecting the other. Long sig files get posted in _every_ forum, while insults are only legal in The Pit, and even then they can get you warned or banned. > [@](#): > > Second, let’s take your comment about the boards being here to be used. A little sweeping, wouldn’t you say? Without rules no one would ever be banned - even though they were just using the boards. Mods are constantly closing threads that were improperly started or used, and they should. Yes, the boards are here to be used, but used responsibly. I agree that there are rules and we must follow them. I just don’t think that thread length in itself should be a valid reason to limit posting content. And the number of pages isn’t bandwidth. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131/43 "2001-10-18T17:26:55Z")
We’re not that far apart in opinion. I agree once a thread is enough for a sig and brevity should be your guide. And It’s not so much that I disagree with you about balance, I was just pointing out that your’s is a subjective view. I should have omitted the sentence, “Period.” from my reply post. It infered a strength of commitment to point I don’t really have. Such is the nature of the dry word. Thread length in and of itself _shouldn’t_ be a reason to limit posting content. My point was that, having been posted as mature adults, it seems silly and time-wasting to have to read through pages of ‘fuck-yous’, each poster trying to say it in a more creative way than the last. Just seems a little harsh an uneeded. For taking the temperature of the board at large - which _is_ valid and informative - a simple , “I agree with **X**.” should suffice. > [@](#): > > And the number of pages isn’t bandwidth. I conceeded this point by stating my lack of knowledge in this area. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131/44 "2001-10-18T19:33:13Z")
[in a GQ tone]What is this, the Pit, GD, or ATMB? Sheesh. [MPSIMS ON]Not that I don’t mind that GD style conversation tends to slide into all the forums. [IMHO]But, I guess it really is just a matter of tastes. But clearly many people interact in the pit, and that alone should demonstrate that it shouldn’t be gotten rid of. ---
**Author:** ![curious\_george](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@curious\_george](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_george)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131/45 "2001-10-18T21:11:40Z")
Capt Amazing, Hombre, Irishman, and others, thanks for your responses. My opinion hasn’t changed much, though. I prob should have worded the subject -Could the BBQ Pit be gotten rid of, or cleaned up? -or- -Should the BBQ Pit be gotten rid of? Didn’t mean to sound bossy. ---
**Author:** ![curious\_george](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@curious\_george](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_george)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131/46 "2001-10-19T21:41:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > While not wishing to speak for Mr George I can offer a simple solution to the ‘inevitable’ flame wars. > > **Be an adult** That’s good for those of us 18 and older, but what about kids and teens here? Shouldn’t the Pit be cleaned up so that minors can use this board without their parents worrying? Isn’t that reason enough for this board to only have PG rated material. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131/47 "2001-10-20T00:04:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by curious george \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > > While not wishing to speak for Mr George I can offer a simple solution to the ‘inevitable’ flame wars. > > > > **Be an adult** > > That’s good for those of us 18 and older, but what about kids and teens here? Shouldn’t the Pit be cleaned up so that minors can use this board without their parents worrying? Isn’t that reason enough for this board to only have PG rated material. \*\* To quote Bodoni, this place isn’t Romper Room. We expect a certain level of maturity, and being able to stay out of the Pit if you aren’t supposed to be there is a part of that. But we do not define immaturity by age alone. Some teenagers are much more mature than some adults (JDT vs. Pepperlandgirl, for example). It’s a mentality we want, not an age. And if the parents don’t know what their kids are doing online, they should. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbq-pit-should-be-gotten-rid-of/87131.md?page=2)