I was bored. I got the idea to see if anyone had a joke site where they claimed to be the Smartest Man on Earth. I thought it might be good for some laughs. Imagine how surprised I was to find the website of the real Smartest Man on Earth. I lurked, I liked, I joined.
I yearned to belong.
I used to read Cecil’s column in one of the free weekly newspapers (always first thing I read).
One week I couldn’t find the paper and went online for the column.
Discovered the message board after a while; I don’t remember what I read first but I do know it was Auntie Em’s thread about the crazy co-worker that hooked me and made me join. I came in late but read every single post. That’s been my habit ever since actually.
Wait a minute. There was a show on A&E that’s not on now? No wonder people talk about how the network has gone downhill.
I ended up here two or three separate times when looking up different topics and during a bout of insomnia spent an entire night reading old threads. Took about a week before I actually posted but I’ve been reading pretty regularly since then.
Ed Zotti is blackmailing me.
I’ve paid up! Now give me the damn negatives!
Forget why I started reading straightdope.com, but since my readings gravitate towards things that will edjumacate and inform me, straightdope.com fit the bill perfectly. I later discovered the message board and tried to lurk as long as I could but a thread that (I think it was) asking for cute kid stories got me in, probably why MPSIMS is my usual haunt (I’m sure if it was a thread about, say, Star Trek then CS would be my usual haunt now).
(And, for those who were wondering (if there are any, my bet is none) yes I haven’t been posting for a while, my job came to an end last Friday (23rd) - had about 18 months warning, so it wasn’t unexpected), but I found quickly I have more time to surf the Dope at work than at home, have been way too busy here since I’ve been unemployed to Dope than I was at work. What does that say?)
Back in '02 or so, I searched for online information on Eskimos and stumbled on a Cecil Adams column, found the message board and started lurking big time. Having been an information-junkie since age four or so, I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time browsing through the fascinating topics: “Ooh, yet another question I’ve always wondered about”.
Left the Dope for a good while as it became pay-per-use, and got back when it opened up again to the poor and cheap populace. There are times when I get an overload of the SDMB and leave for a week or two, but always come back.
A feeble old man told me about it, a friend of my father’s actually. I was 15 at the time and didnt care, about two years ago. I started to lurk a bit, and decided I liked some of the stuff on here. People were intelligent and friendly, and some threads are worth a laugh.