Ugh, today I encounter yet another posting style that irks me. In this thread, I ask the OP a simple question about why she chooses to limit her charity by only wanting to give it people who are “personal.” I had no idea what she even meant by this and wanted clarification.
Then wheresgeorge04 comes along to do what I’ve seen far too many people do here: Post in a thread for the sole purpose of calling out threadshitting. Why even do this? If you think somebody is threadshitting, don’t hijack the thread even more with a laconic whine. If the thread has honestly been threadshat, you’re only making it worse! Bring it here if you must, but don’t shit all over somebody’s thread just so you can pat yourself on the back and pretend your a moderator.
If you have something to add to conversation, then, please, add it. But if you’re only posting so you can be a junior mod, then do yourself, the OP, and everyone else a favor, and don’t.
Grr.
Yes, I will admit, on a second reading my question does come off as a bit rude, but it’s an honest question and doesn’t really have relevance to this pit. I’m pitting this particular style of drive-by junior modding, not wheresgeorge04’s specific instance of it.
FWIW, I was specifically referring to post 6 in the referenced thread, in which you out-and-out accuse the OP of offering her FREE infant formula to a doper so she can get “recognition for the gift.”
I was browsing a nice thread, NOT a pit thread, in which someone tries to do a favor for someone, and you came along and dropped an upper decker.
So, yeah, I called you on your threadshitting. Not something I’ve done before, but the opportunity had never arisen quite so blatantly before.
Joe
ETA : Never mind - my extra comment was unnecessary.
It seems incredibly weird. There’s extra effort involved in giving over the internet vs. giving to a local women’s shelter. And besides, what if someone doesn’t want to give up their address to have things mailed to them?
Count me in with seodoa, this reeks of seeking recognition for the charity. Otherwise they would have dropped the formula off at a women’s shelter already and be done with it.
IMO, posters would have replied to the OP’s thread and shared a bit of their stories. Nothing too personal, but perhaps enough to get a feel for who was actually receiving the donations. OTOH, at a women’s shelter, you just kind of drop off the goods and walk away. You probably don’t get to see the faces or learn about the people who are actually benefiting from your contribution.
I didn’t accuse her of anything. I said that that was the only reason I could think of. I even stated in that post that I was not saying that that was the case. I would never be so presumptuous.
I earnestly wanted to know why the OP would want to go through the extra hassle of doing the donation over the SDMB (which would not necessarily guarantee an honest placement in a needy home), when there are so many women’s shelters, government programs, and other charity organizations that would gratefully accept the material.
Hi, Neighbor!, I am sure this is what is meant by “personal” in the OP of that thread, but I don’t really understand why it matters so much. And that is why I asked the question that I asked. I honestly want to know why it matters whether you know the needy person’s plight or not.
Giving the formula away over the Internet just seems like such a waste of resources compared to dropping it off at a local shelter or pantry. The OP seemed concerned that it goes to a family that actually needs it, and those organizations are able to ensure that it does. A thread on an Internet forum cannot come close to doing that.
ETA: Borborygmi, I have nothing against giving away formula. I am not questioning why she is giving it away. I am only asking why she would purposefully make it harder for herself to give it away and why she would do it in such a way that would not really guarantee she gave it away to the people who honestly need it.
I will put this in a separate post, with nice big letters for everyone to read, in case some people don’t understand from the OP:
I am not pitting wheresgeorge04.
I am not pitting people who give to charities.
I am pitting the act of threadshitting for the sake of pointing out threadshitting.
Mercy! Br’er Lapin is a wonderful person for thinking to give the infant formula away rather than tossing it. I just wanted to know why she would choose to do it over the SDMB rather than giving it to an organization that has the resources and ability to give it away efficiently!
I get that, and so I really should have resisted posting my drive-by above.
I do think it’s a bit ridiculous how the original thread immediately blew up, then almost as quickly was locked. It’s not like Br’er Lapin just joined yesterday, looking to cause trouble. Preferring to give a valuable staple away to a mostly-anonymous fellow Doper instead of giving it away in a completely-anonymous handoff doesn’t seem questionable to me at all.
Oooh, on preview (yeah, I think/type slowly), what you said.
Yes, I placed the offer at the SDMB specifically because I want people to think I’m an awesome person. Or maybe it was this:
I’d feel a little better if I at least felt like I knew SOMETHING about the people the formula would be going to. I personally knew people who abuse systems like this in order to just take the formula down to the local corner store and sell it for drug money. I believe there was a thread about this recently, as a matter of fact
But thanks for all being a bunch of bitter fuckers.
As an addendum: I’ve been at the message board for YEARS and I feel like part of a community here (mostly an outsider, but still a part). Is it wrong to want to help out members of a “community” you “belong” to, before you help out total strangers?
And what fucking business was it of yours? What right did you have to question her motivation?
You were an asshole in that thread and you got called on it. Shut the fuck up now, because you’re just making yourself look like even more of an asshole.
And that answer would’ve more than satisfied my curiosity. I meant no ill will of any kind. I was merely curious. Thank you.
Turek, I’m shutting up now. Nobody posting in this thread is going to actually pay attention to the OP and I see that now. The thread I linked to was mean only as an example of the kind of post I was pitting. This thread has nothing to do with how I phrased my question in that thread, what question I asked, or even that thread at all.
Absolutely not and good for you. Charity begins at home and if you define the dopers as part of your ‘home’ then it is better then giving to some large faceless organization with overhead costs.
Well, if you were merely pitting “threadshitting,” I find it hard to believe anyone would have disagreed with you. By definition, it’s not a good thing. The replies here were just addressing your particular example and determining whether or not the bickering between you and wheresgeorge04 caused the thread to be prematurely locked. IMO, you both derailed the thread quite nicely.
Right. It’s impossible to ever mention any other thread in the Pit without Pitizens seeing that as an invitation to debate the merits of your behavior in the thread, on their own terms, not the ones you wanted to set out in the OP. It’s frustrating, but fighting it is pointless. I honestly think you could say ‘I was threadshitting. It was wrong and I should never do it again. I cannot deny that I was threadshitting in any way’ and a lot of people would go ‘Whatever, stop denying it!’
I agree with you – posting just to say ‘that’s threadshitting’ EVEN WHEN IT IS TRUE is still adding to the threadshitting.