No truckers busted with drugs in Nebraska on that date, either.
Big Willie Shakes, don’t accuse a member of trolling. While you’re at it, don’t act like a creepy stalker, either.
“creepy stalker”?
Just for rule clarification; If someone’s bullshit meter goes up, they Google a (most likely) newsworthy story and post a comment citing the fact no such event was reported on the internet media - how is that trolling? Posters voice suspicions & call one another liars in this forum on an almost weekly basis. Isn’t trolling the act of making incendiary, hyperbolic, inflammatory ‘devil’s advocate’ posts? As far as the stalking charge goes, I don’t see how a guest with less than a dozen posts could earn that label so quickly. YMMV.
Well, not being about to find a google hit for something like that and leaping to just calling someone a liar is a bit of a stretch.
If you’re going to get on the OP about anything it might be the leap she made from saying this guy is “like a father figure” to repeated gushing about “Daddy”.
If you ask me, that falls somewhere between maudlin and disrespectful (if he actually has kids of his own, or spongemom has a daddy of her own but glommed onto this guy because of his tragedy).
Still, I have no reason to believe she’d make up a story that’s just about a guy ina car accident.
The only person I ‘stalked’ was the fictional trucker who ran into Spongemom’s father, and that’s only if you consider a few minutes googling and perusing paper archives stalking. I didn’t accuse her of trolling, I asked why she made up a story about an accident that apparently never happened.
As someone with several truckers in my family, I get pissed off when people make up stories that make the profession look bad. Studies have shown that commercial drivers are far safer drivers than the average motor vehicle operator, and the incidence of drug-impaired driving is lower among them than the general population as well. They have to deal with the bad reputation caused by the occasional exception being blown out of proportion in the media already, and now we see people making them the scapegoat for made-up accidents as well.
I think you’re a little quick on the trigger here Giraffe and pointing the gun in the wrong direction.
By the way, the only reason I looked further into this is because a trucker being involved in an accident and being arrested for drug possession afterwards is something that would be discussed widely among the trucker community, as the repercussions affect ALL truckers. I knew when I first heard the story it wasn’t true (I was sure I would have heard of it), I just wanted to verify it before I said so.
You didn’t verify anything.
Do you have a list of all Nebraska traffic accidents with a big blank spot on August 1st?
Do you have a copy of the local newspaper from August 2nd? Along with copies of the newspaper that would indicate that they do indeed cover ALL big traffic accidents?
Maybe she did make it up. I don’t know why she would. But you didn’t verify anything and you’re gonna look like a great big flaming ass if she ever shows up with a newspaper article about it.
You’re asking me to prove a negative.
A truck driver who was involved in an injury accident and was arrested for possession of a “variety of drugs” would certainly make the news in Nebraska. It would be discussed among truckers across the nation. It’s very improbable that something like this would happen yet be impossible to find evidence of online.
Why aren’t you asking the person making the extraordinary claim to provide some kind of evidence?
This isn’t a “Great Debate” about whether this happened or not.
She told a story about an accident, apparently with no ulterior motive.
You’re calling her a liar (not a minor accustation) and your support is basically “I would have heard about it”.
Yeah, maybe you would have. Do you actually have a copy of the August 2nd Bumfuck Nebraska Times? You’re tapped into some network of truck drivers that discusses these things? You have access to the Nebraska DMV database and it’s not in there?
I mean. . .are you the president of the Nebraska bureau of truckers or just some guy with a CB radio?
I’ll concede it might be a stretch, but our new guest; Big Willie Shakes, claims to have a dog in this fight. I’m not here to fight his battles for him, he claims no such accident was reported - and whether you wish to believe him - or Spongemom - is entirely up to you. What I asked for clarification on was the Moderator’s note; The assertion that BWS was accusing the OP of trolling and was so quickly labelled a stalker.
Were I a new poster here, I know I wouldn’t be so quick to appoint myself to the position of forum skeptic - but I also know I probably wouldn’t be sticking around in a place where people in authority are so quick on the the trigger.
Some members post personal stories here that I wouldn’t fathom putting anywhere but on a weblog. But to each his own. The one thing I do know, if you’re going to reference a story that normally would make the news, why not cut the skeptics off at the pass and provide a cite? They’re not that difficult to find; especially when you know the person’s name.
Perhaps that’s what set off the BS meters originally. It sounds almost like a line from Golden Girls.
Perhaps the moderator knows something about BWS that we don’t - or is trying to avert another pile-on in a Spongemom thread. In either case, I was just seeking clarification, and considered BigWillieShake’s (what a stupid screen name) ‘contibutions’ neither stalker-like or an accusation of trolling.
The SDMB isn’t a web journal site - so if you’re going to post personal thoughts on newsworthy events, providing a small amount of proof would help contribute to (dare I say) fighting ignorance.
For all we know, you’re both lying. 'Tis the nature of the Internet.
Willie might be a fan of The Onion.
I agree. I’m not saying BigWillieShakes (a funny screen name, IMO) is wrong or lying himself.
Just seems like a weird thing for the OP to make up. Even a weird OP.
BWS wonders why I want him to “prove a negative”. He’s right, “a negative” is hard (impossible) to prove. That’s why him calling the OP a liar is a little out of line. Apparently he HAS “proved the negative” to himself.
He could at least fill us in on the extensive research he has done that has convinced him that the accident didn’t happen.
I accept that people can post their tails of woe here. But Spongemom has a history of posting tails of questionable veracity. Remember all the inconsistencies in the dead kitten thread?
In this case the veracity has been questioned. It is now incumbent on the OP to put up or shut up. If the story is in fact true she can have my sympathy and sincere hope that her friend or Daddy or person who has been like a father, enjoys a speedy recovery.
I do not think it is out of line to express doubt, especially when the poster in question has a questionable history.
I think Giraffe was way out of line. BWS was not stalking, merely calling bull shit. If he is wrong he can apologize.
As to why somebody would post BS. I don’t know. Ask START or one of the many others who have done it.
http://www.journalstar.com/shared-content/search/index.php?search=advanced
Turned up a few reports of accidents involving a semi truck that were far less newsworthy than what Spongemom is reporting.
News stories about a semi involved in a hit & run, no stories about a truck driver arrested after maiming Spongemom’s “Daddy”.
I also asked some friends who drive in that region a lot if they had heard of anything like that in early August, nope.
If I am proven wrong, I fully intend to apologize, and hope that Spongemom can understand where I was coming from. I get tired of hearing about how dangerous truckers are, and seeing what one believes to be a made-up story about a drugged up trucker ruining someone’s life pushed me to this point.
I do not expect to be proven wrong.
It does seem odd. There are accident reports at both those sites about people being cut from cars, people dying, hit-and-runs and they do go back to August 1st.
(and that was after some searching on “truck”, “accident”, “arm”, etc.)
Color me more suspicious than I was before. Still seems weird, even for spongemom.
Possibly. However, new guests whose sole existence appears to be criticizing the boards or other posters are viewed much more skeptically than established posters. The fact that before even participating in the thread, BWS had already taken it upon himself to start looking up traffic accidents to try to find the one discussed by spongemom is a pretty weird thing to do.
We don’t want people making things up to get a reaction, but neither do we want people who assume everyone is a liar until they can post real-life evidence that corraborates their posts. This is an anonymous message board, for crying out loud. Giving people the benefit of the doubt should be the default assumption.