# What if I don't want to be a "Charter Member" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 23, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798 "2004-03-23T00:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/21 "2004-03-23T07:19:18Z")
> [@leander](#): > > I couldn’t agree more. \<_very selective snip_\> … further the perception of elitism and cliquishness here. What a super idea. “Elite Member” has a certain ring to it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/22 "2004-03-23T08:38:08Z")
Well, if one didn’t want “Charter Member” under their name, then one could always wait till after the 22nd of April. Whilst waiting, one could enjoy the title of “Guest”. I say, what! Chocks away old chap! ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/23 "2004-03-23T09:08:15Z")
> [@GMRyujin](#): > > You type by yourself? Really, what a terribly medieval idea! I let the butler do it. He’s typing right now. Say hello, Wadsworth. Hello. **GMRyujin** , I believe I might like to use this as my signature. May I have your permission? ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/24 "2004-03-23T11:05:08Z")
I think that, instead of a permanent ‘Charter Member,’ the perk for founding members should be that, on the first of every month, a mod changes the title to some other title of his or her choosing. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/25 "2004-03-23T11:10:01Z")
This has got to be a joke. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/26 "2004-03-23T11:20:57Z")
I realized that my post wasn’t phrased as clearly as it could have been. My suggestion is that a mod chooses some whimsical title, and applies it en masse to all the ‘charter member’ titles. We all wake up on the first, and everyone has been transformed to ‘Prettier than You.’ ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/27 "2004-03-23T13:12:35Z")
> [@Mariemarie](#): > > **GMRyujin** , I believe I might like to use this as my signature. May I have your permission? Certainly! ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/28 "2004-03-23T13:14:32Z")
$$$$Test post to see if “Charter Member” appears under my name, Lovey.$$$$ ---
**Author:** ![GawnFishin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/29 "2004-03-23T13:20:24Z")
Hey **Philster** [Charter Member test posts this way](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246530). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/30 "2004-03-23T13:21:14Z")
Hey! I paid my 5 bucks and my title hasn’t been changed to “Charter Member” yet. It’s because I’m Jewish, isn’t it? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![GawnFishin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/31 "2004-03-23T13:23:44Z")
> [@](#): > > my title hasn’t been changed to “Charter Member” yet. Don’t worry too much, it took about two hours before I noticed mine had changed. Got the location info real quick but the “Charter Member” took a little time. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/32 "2004-03-23T13:26:52Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > If we go to a premium subscription plan (premium members pay a higher fee, but get more privileges) that’s one of the benefits that’s been talked about. HOWEVER, the moderating staff would still have final say as to the appropriateness of user-selected titles. So I’m figuring “Jonathan Chance - Women want him…men want to BE him” is out? ---
**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:** [March 23, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/33 "2004-03-23T13:33:01Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Actually, I almost started this same thread. > > “Charter Member” _is_ rather port-and-cigars. Is there any reason why it can’t just be “Member”,? The “Guest” title for unpaid folk would make it clear enough who has paid and who hasn’t. I rather like port, and tried cigars on a dare. I also like the title too. And you know why? Because we deserve it. We’re the risk-takers. The daredevils. We’re the ones who slammed our chips down on the casino table on number “36” and silenced the laughter. We were shown a map to the New World and supplied ships, supplies, and a hundred men, stout and true. We funded the “manhattan” project to serve the greater good. We stepped forward from the crowd and said “I, Spartica, will pay!” We lit the fuse, pulled the pin, signed the form and laughingly tossed our immortal souls into the wind. They told us it was a drunkard’s dream - a fools quest. A lie told to small choldren to make them feel better. Stories whispered by a secretive Byzantine Cabal. Ed Zotti would take our money and load up his Mercedes with Canadian Sex Slaves and Keystone Light and head to Vegas ala Hunter Thompson. He’d light his Havana cigars with our credit card receipts, laughing at us - laughing at YOU, yes YOU, **TheLoadedDog**. Mocking you and your value system. TubaDiva would get a gold-plated bidet. Lynn would get that new Weatherby rifle she wanted. Dex would finally get his beautiful, perfect, android body. xash would get his circus elephant. All funded from our sweat and toil. wrung from us like blood from the proverbial turnips. But we did it. I did it, you did it, we all - well, most importantly, I did it. It is for History to decide if our actions make us “monsters” or “messiahs”, not you or I. But until then - God DAMN it - I want my title. For taking my $5 TO THE EXTREME!!! ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/34 "2004-03-23T13:41:53Z")
Applause to **Una**. I really don’t care. Right now, it’s a novelty. In a while, after a lot of the Charter Members of today have gone their separate ways, and if the title still exists, it’ll be an oddity. But then again, I’ve always wondered “What do all those 1999ers know, eh?” We’ll look for cliques for whatever reason. What’s one more? ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/35 "2004-03-23T13:47:42Z")
Thanks, **Una**. I new there was going to be complaining, but I didn’t expect there to be so much complaining about every little tiny aspect of the subscription process. I’ve been here long enough that I probably _should_ have expected it, but it’s still a bit disheartening. I suppose the next thing will be somebody bitching about how he wants the Location field moved back to the left, or the bilious color of the reply box, or something else equally pointless. Some people need to just lie down in a dark room for a while. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/36 "2004-03-23T15:30:17Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > “Charter Member” _is_ rather port-and-cigars. Time to take up smoking cigars! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/37 "2004-03-23T18:37:36Z")
What? And here I thought that “Charter members” were just those members who were able to post charts. I know there a certainly a lot of GQ threads which could benefit from a good [pie chart](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030314.html). What do you mean we’re not going to be able to do that? ---
**Author:** ![Flash-57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/839c29/32.png) [@Flash-57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flash-57)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/38 "2004-03-23T20:10:19Z")
> [@Libertarian](#): > > This has got to be a joke. No, it isn’t. The split between the "do"s and "don’t"s is just starting. Right now, it’s mostly good-natured chuckles. But, it won’t be long before posters are completely ignored or ridiculed for not having the “right” tag under their name. I think Groucho once said something wise about joining clubs. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/39 "2004-03-23T20:33:42Z")
> [@Flash-57](#): > > No, it isn’t. > > The split between the "do"s and "don’t"s is just starting. Right now, it’s mostly good-natured chuckles. > > But, it won’t be long before posters are completely ignored or ridiculed for not having the “right” tag under their name. > > I think Groucho once said something wise about joining clubs. Wasn’t that something along the lines of “not wanting to join any club that would have him as a member”? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798/40 "2004-03-23T20:37:11Z")
Groucho? It sounds more like Mao. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-i-dont-want-to-be-a-charter-member/235798.md?page=3)