# "Trolling" or "Being a jerk" to Lynn Bodini

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [August 22, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991 "2003-08-22T18:49:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/61 "2003-08-23T19:10:07Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rooves \*  
> \*\*I’m sure he tried. But knowing that you looked I’m glad it’s unlisted. \*\*

don’t need to do much of anything to ‘look’, braniac, those w/an email listed have a little ‘email’ tag in the bottom of their posts, while those w/o it listed don’t.

you also ignored the actual point I made - pretty damned audacious of you to snidely tell some one they ‘shoulda’ emailed you when you knew that they couldn’t have.

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/62 "2003-08-23T23:16:40Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rooves \*  
> **For the same reason you’re bitching and moaning and whining. Instead of posting here, why didn’t you send me an email?**

:rolleyes: Don’t be stupid about this.

> [@](#):
>
> **Next time I’m about to do something I’ll be sure to consult you first.**

That’s the spirit!

> [@](#):
>
> \*\*Because you’d do something differently than me, doesn’t mean you are correct. Also, you apolgized for something you hadn’t even done or been acused of. Good for you. \*\*

I apologized because I thought I had given offense in someone else’s “house”. And in the Real World of polite adult interpersonal relations, that’s what people do. The fact that I had not actually done anything wrong only means I was mistaken, not that I was stupid. Just like it’s much harder to be over-dressed than under-dressed, erring on the side of politeness and decorum is rarely incorrect.

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**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/63 "2003-08-23T23:34:28Z")

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**Rooves** , you don’t seem to want to take anyone’s advice, but the wisest course of action would be to back down. You’re not winning any converts to your way of thinking here. Now, perhaps you feel you shouldn’t have to do that, and that’s fine.

But fighting with people on every little point is bad form. When you do have something intelligent to say, people might instead remember you as the guy who pitched a fit in this thread. Do you really want that? (That’s a rhetorical question.)

**Anthracite** is correct. There are rules here. This is someone else’s property. We must obey those rules to the best of our ability. If we stray, the owners of this property - and their proxies - will let us know. They don’t kick people off for simply being a jerk (which is, of course, quite subjective); they kick them off for consistently being a jerk - and for ignoring their requests to cease.

You have been here five months. Sometimes it takes much longer for a person to get a real feel for how things operate here, and I’m sure that the moderators and administrators take that into account. However, you negate any slack that’s afforded you when you cop a rotten attitude.

YMMV. Just bear in mind that people are very helpful here when you’re nice to them.

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**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/64 "2003-08-23T23:56:11Z")

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Well put, **dantheman**.

**Rooves** , the best course for you at this point is to avoid conflict, as difficult as that may be.

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/65 "2003-08-24T02:06:57Z")

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In fairness, after thinking over what Dan has written, and reviewing what I wrote, I think what I said here was put in a “combative” manner, and what Dan said is better put. Actually, said out loud what I wrote didn’t seem all that combative, but it comes out more that way on paper. That really wasn’t my intent.

I still feel my point on contacting the Staff directly and in not always opening a thread to gripe over every cautionary note is good, but the OP here hasn’t had any history of doing that, so it’s unfair of me to characterize them in that way.

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**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/66 "2003-08-24T12:05:53Z")

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The feeling I always got from the moderators in this place is that the SDMB is under a reign of terror -policy is made on a whim by governors chosen for ruthlessness first and competence second, and the whole situation tends to make those who disagree with them meek and agreeable and still others militantly adopt the Mod’s policy on something, hungry to recieve the appreciation of those in power, much like children seeking desperately for affection from their distant father. It’s a very depressing police state here indeed, because unlike other police states, there can not be an Underground to secretly sew discord because they can be banned instantly.

Which raises the question, if you have a problem with this kind of thing, why do you care if you’re banned from here?

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/67 "2003-08-24T14:09:22Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eternal \*  
> **It’s a very depressing police state here indeed, because unlike other police states, there can not be an Underground to secretly sew discord because they can be banned instantly.**

Ah, but here’s where you are mistaken. There is an “underground”, if you know where to go. Both to find people slagging on the SDMB and flaming people here behind their backs like filthy little cowards.

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**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/68 "2003-08-24T18:04:33Z")

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I take complete responsibilty for the fact that I can be conflict oriented.  
But if you go back and look at the posts, you’ll see that I was polite to everyone who was polite to me. Even the one’s who didn’t agree which is almost all. I thanked them for their views.

Very quickly the point of a conversation gets lost and it becomes an issue of people trying, in a fit of posture, to make me be submissive.  
I will not lie on my back and expose my throat like those people want.  
I’ve admitted that the other thread was in poor taste and that it’s my own fault for being warned. That isn’t what people are taking issue with. They’re taking issue with my attitude.  
My attitude is fitting for the context in which it is being distributed.

If you look at the rest of my post outside of this thread you will see that I am well mannered and try to be helpful when needed.

I also don’t look at peoples post count or when they joined. It really doesn’t bear as much weight as you might think. I am a member of a civilization outside of the internet which also can offer great insight. This place is has no monopoly on that.

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**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/69 "2003-08-24T18:13:47Z")

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Eternal, was that question directed at me or everyone in general?

Very nicely put what you said although I’m not on any kind of mission against any of the mods. The point you made about some of the other members hits the nail on the head though.

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**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/70 "2003-08-24T20:07:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> I will not lie on my back and expose my throat like those people want.

Who the fuck cares? _It’s an internet message board_.

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**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/71 "2003-08-24T20:12:29Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rooves \*  
> **I take complete responsibilty for the fact that I can be conflict oriented.  
> But if you go back and look at the posts, you’ll see that I was polite to everyone who was polite to me. Even the one’s who didn’t agree which is almost all. I thanked them for their views.**

It is said that the wise man is polite not only to those who deserve it but also to those who do not. This makes him a wise man, for his enemies fall beneath him while his friends rise with him.

> [@](#):
>
> If you look at the rest of my post outside of this thread you will see that I am well mannered and try to be helpful when needed.

Then you have nothing to fear, do you? Be contrite when it’s appropriate, be strong otherwise. No one can fault you for that. If this thread is an anomaly, then there’s no real problem.

> [@](#):
>
> I also don’t look at peoples post count or when they joined. It really doesn’t bear as much weight as you might think. I am a member of a civilization outside of the internet which also can offer great insight. This place is has no monopoly on that.

It perhaps bears weight in a way you might not have considered. If someone has been here four years, they are not necessarily any wiser, more articulate, or more helpful than anyone else. However, that person will undeniably have a better understanding of this particular message board than someone who has been here a few months.

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**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/72 "2003-08-24T20:38:26Z")

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On one hand, the thread title is screaming that someone wants banned and they want it now. I’m pretty pleasantly surprised to see that hasn’t happened.

On the other, this stuff about throats and submission, beside getting me excited, is really silly. If you stepped in something a dog left before entering a party, and the host commented that maybe you should take your shoes off, since you were traking shit all over the freshly cleaned carpet, are you seriously saying, **Rooves** , that the proper response is to start screaming that you can track shit wherever you want? And that any other response (such as apologizing, and offering to help clean up) is submissive and weak?

This isn’t some domination game, its the other guests mentioning that the host does have the right to throw you out for tracking shit into the party, and giving you suggestions about what to do with your shoes.

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**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/73 "2003-08-24T22:04:18Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> I take complete responsibilty for the fact that I can be conflict oriented.

If that were true, you wouldn’t be conflict oriented, would you? Instead, you’d take “complete responsibility” for your actions and **shut the fuck up**.

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**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/74 "2003-08-24T23:08:12Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eternal \*  
> \*\*The feeling I always got from the moderators in this place is that the SDMB is under a reign of terror -policy is made on a whim by governors chosen for ruthlessness first and competence second, and the whole situation tends to make those who disagree with them meek and agreeable and still others militantly adopt the Mod’s policy on something, hungry to recieve the appreciation of those in power, much like children seeking desperately for affection from their distant father. \*\*

This is bullshit.

I see this said in various ways from time to time. Not just that a poster disagrees with a moderator on some subject, or thinks that a mod made a bad decision, but that the mods are deliberately doing things that hurt the poster specifically (and the message board in general) **just for the fun of being assholes**.

This view shows an appalling lack of reality. IMHO, it is very obvious that whether you agree with specific decisions or not, the mods and administrators of this board sweat bullets trying to make it the best environment they possibly can for the most posters. They work hard, they care, and they feel bad when things go badly.

To say they value “ruthlessness first and competence second” is childish nonsense. Wake up and see what the color the sun is in the real world.

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**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/75 "2003-08-25T00:55:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eternal \*  
> \*\* It’s a very depressing police state here indeed, because unlike other police states, there can not be an Underground to secretly sew discord \*\*

So what’s the Underground supposed to sew dis cord onto? Or is that a secret?

(I’m sorry, I know that picking on a typo is not exactly a good argument, but it was just so easy!)

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**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/76 "2003-08-25T02:01:30Z")

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Breakfast where the news is read  
Television children fed  
Unborn living, Living dead  
Bullet strikes the helmets head…

And it’s all over

I had those lyrics stuck in my head. I hope this helps shake them loose. This thread can be my personal psychologist (along with you guys).

Thanks for all the selfless advice on how I should think. I’ll now take those suggestionsd back to an independant panel of dentists. Four out of five will reccomend that I chew dentine. The other one, he’s who to watch.

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**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/77 "2003-08-25T02:19:18Z")

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C’mon now - no-one is telling you how to think, you’re just getting advice on how to act on this board. Again, the choice is yours; hang back, stay still and learn - or keep this thread going. I’d go with Plan A.

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**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/78 "2003-08-25T03:10:53Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Thanks for all the selfless advice on how I should think.

You won’t get any advice from me… I have too much respect for this board to waste bandwidth trying to explain to you what everyone else has made so obvious.

There is one thing though… In **RyleDup’s** thread where the guy is (apparently) legitimately talking about suicide, you (again) post _sans clue_ about **iampunha’s** variation on the cliche’ “When come back, bring pie”. There is some variation on this in countless threads, which you would know if you cared to, you know, “get a fucking clue”, before you open your drool generation unit…

> [@](#):
>
> Man, watch it. That looked an awful lot like you were mocking the red man.

First off, shut the fuck up…

Read  
The  
Fucking  
Thread,  
Dumbass.

Your drive-by worked like a fart in church. Everyone’s trying to coordinate communications to reach this guy and offering assistance, and you show up like the giggling fucking moron you are. Oh, and if you don’t know the definition of “drive-by” maybe that’s ANOTHER indication that you should lurk for a while, get a clue, and then go away.

Don’t come back. Don’t bring pie, rant or anything else. This board is fucking slow enough without wannabe-martyr dumbasses like you consuming valuable bandwidth, electricity and screen real-estate. You bring nothing to the table.

You might shrug this humble request off, or call me names, or whatever. Rest assured I won’t see it, so have fun playing with yourself.

-Rav

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**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/79 "2003-08-25T03:11:57Z")

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Learn what from who? I don’t come to the BBQ pit to learn from people. The pit is mostly comprised of people who rant at strangers because they’re to chicken to do it in real life.

Mpsims is where I go for a chuckle.  
IMHO speaks for itself.  
Although I don’t contribute much to Great debates and GQ I visit them often and that is where I learn from people (including some who have told me to fuck off in the pit).

The pit is largely full of bitter people perusing threads for the equivelent of a punching bag.

But that’s not to say anything about you Blonde. I don’t want to piss off the one person I was able to come to an understanding with.

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**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-or-being-a-jerk-to-lynn-bodini/196991/80 "2003-08-25T03:15:00Z")

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[Sorry, link to **RyleDup’s** thread…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=206758&perpage=50&pagenumber=1)

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