# Welcome back. Now fuck off. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 29, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436 "2007-10-29T13:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/1 "2007-10-29T13:31:40Z")
In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441977) a self-professed “old-timer” drops in to say hello. The first reply is Skip, who locks the thread, bans him and tells him to sign in under his original user name and click on “Subscribe”. That’s some Welcome Wagon you roll in, **Skip**. I’ll bet ol’ Gazoo can’t wait to break out his credit card. ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/2 "2007-10-29T13:34:30Z")
Yeah I thought that was kind of harsh. What is wrong with allowing the thirty day guest subscription. It sounded like to me he wanted to see who was still on the board and to say Hi. Maybe if he was welcomed back nicely and had some old friends on here he may have subscribed again. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/3 "2007-10-29T13:46:47Z")
So Skip welcomed Gazoo back politely and advised him of the changes to board policy and then, again politely, enforced those policies? Yeah, that Skip, quite the ogre. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/4 "2007-10-29T13:48:35Z")
I kinda had a problem with that too. I got a different user name when I paid my subscription and no one bothered me about it. Could it be Gazoo was trying to use two(guest) names simultaneously? ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/5 "2007-10-29T13:52:38Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] So Skip welcomed Gazoo back politely and advised him of the changes to board policy and then, again politely, enforced those policies? Yeah, that Skip, quite the ogre. [/QUOTE] Otto, dear, **Skip** banned the guy when he only had one post. Isn’t there some kind of “guest” period? You know, like thirty days or so? ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/6 "2007-10-29T13:55:02Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] So Skip welcomed Gazoo back politely and advised him of the changes to board policy and then, again politely, enforced those policies? Yeah, that Skip, quite the ogre. [/QUOTE] I didn’t think it was polite. I thought it was rather abrupt. Do you think Gazoo is going to be inclined to reach into his wallet after that? Really? When the board went pay-to-post, the mission shifted from _Fighting Ignorance_ to _Making Money_. That was poor salemanship on Skip’s part, at best. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/7 "2007-10-29T13:57:54Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] Otto, dear, **Skip** banned the guy when he only had one post. Isn’t there some kind of “guest” period? You know, like thirty days or so? [/QUOTE] Signing up under a different user name is verboten. There doesn’t appear to be any dispensation for returning members, though. Well, Gazoo wanted to see what the board was like after a couple years off. He sure found out, didn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/8 "2007-10-29T14:00:40Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] Otto, dear, **Skip** banned the guy when he only had one post. Isn’t there some kind of “guest” period? You know, like thirty days or so? [/QUOTE] Yes. He’s had that already. You don’t get another one if you go away for a couple years. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/9 "2007-10-29T14:02:41Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] Signing up under a different user name is verboten. There doesn’t appear to be any dispensation for returning members, though. Well, Gazoo wanted to see what the board was like after a couple years off. He sure found out, didn’t he? [/QUOTE] Not true, **Winston**. As I said I signed up as a paid member under a new name. Truth be told, I cannot even remember the old name I used when the board was free. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/10 "2007-10-29T14:04:39Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] Not true, **Winston**. [/QUOTE] Yes, it is true. Apparently they didn’t know about it; they do now. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/11 "2007-10-29T14:08:39Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Yes, it is true. Apparently they didn’t know about it; they do now. [/QUOTE] Yes, they knew about it. I said as much when I subscribed. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/12 "2007-10-29T14:12:49Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] Yes, they knew about it. I said as much when I subscribed. [/QUOTE] Nonetheless, I just reported you as a sock (just to be a dick). ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/13 "2007-10-29T14:13:59Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Yes. He’s had that already. You don’t get another one if you go away for a couple years. [/QUOTE] So if you were a member lets say two years ago and then you come back and sign up as a guest to get a feel for how the boad is now you are required to pay for a subscription right away? You are not allowed the thirty day guest time to see if you really want to become a member again? **Pay up or ship out!** I think that is sort of harsh. If they decide they don’t want to be a member after thirty days then no harm no foul or they get the membership fee and all is good. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/14 "2007-10-29T14:14:19Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] You don’t get another one if you go away for a couple years. [/QUOTE] Maybe you should. You know, just to see if the place has changed since last time you were there. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/15 "2007-10-29T14:16:42Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] Nonetheless, I just reported you as a sock (just to be a dick). [/QUOTE] Well, that figures. you being the Minister of Sockism and all. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/16 "2007-10-29T14:17:14Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] Yes, they knew about it. I said as much when I subscribed. [/QUOTE] It was discussed in [your first thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=386078), when other posters were warning you about the brutal mods. Also, you paid. Had you not, **TubaDiva** ’s post in that thread would have been quite different. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/17 "2007-10-29T14:17:46Z")
Well, the poster in question was a contributing member here from August 2001 to April 2004. That means he left the Boards pretty much exactly at the time that it went pay-to-post (i think that’s right; my first receipt for paid SDMB membership is dated March 22, 2004). He probably should have known the rules. That said, i tend to think that if someone comes back from that long ago, with a genuine interest in returning as a paid member, maybe they should be cut some slack and allowed to register a guest account. Maybe they could even be allowed to have their old username back, as a guest. A lot has changed here in the three and a half years since paid subscriptions started, and if i’d been away for that long, i’d probably appreciate a chance to participate as a guest for a few weeks while deciding if i wanted to return full-time. I just think it would be a good way to encourage more people to return. Now obviously, you only get one bite at the cherry; you can’t keep coming back every couple of years and getting a new guest period. But one new guest period for returning members doesn’t seem too unreasonable, especially when, like **Gazoo** , they are apparently upfront and honest about their reasons for returning… ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/18 "2007-10-29T14:30:12Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] It was discussed in [your first thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=386078), when other posters were warning you about the brutal mods. Also, you paid. Had you not, **TubaDiva** ’s post in that thread would have been quite different. [/QUOTE] Excuse me, **Frank** , but I heeded every warning in that thread. Warning is a bit of a stretch here, I e-mailed Tuba as other suggested. She responded politely. What do you think I was in danger of? Should I have been in fear of my life? Jeepers! Unless Magoo or whatever his name was was using two accounts, he should have been allowed to have the free thirty days. You could have told him that at the end of this ree period he could only pick one name. What is so wrong with that? Jesus, we get **VC03** posting all kind of racist shit, why can’t we welcome back a long gone member? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/19 "2007-10-29T14:32:29Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] What do you think I was in danger of? [/QUOTE] Of being banned, of course. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436/20 "2007-10-29T14:38:01Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] Of being banned, of course. Sheesh. [/QUOTE] Okay, I’m tired of teaching reading for comprehension. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-now-fuck-off/424436.md?page=2)