# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 130
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2609 "2024-04-23T13:13:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > They asked specifically in the OP if the FFRF accomplishes anything. The asked specifically _ **of specific people** _: **Does anyone here belong to the Freedom From Religion Foundation** is the title, which leads into the question: **For those of you familiar with it** , what do you think? Is it legit? Do they accomplish anything? Not “have you heard of it?” or “how’s you google skills?”, but clearly asking for _members_ to comment. But sure, by all means, double down. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2610 "2024-04-23T13:30:04Z")
The title was changed, at the request of the op, to include the bit about actually being a member of FFRF, after that post. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2611 "2024-04-23T13:33:52Z")
That wasn’t the thread’s original title, though - @puzzlegal changed it at the OP’s request, as per Post #7. FWIW, I read @Darren_Garrison’s response as being a polite attempt to give @WOOKINPANUBv.2 exactly what she asked for: examples of what the Freedom From Religion Foundation accomplishes, _from someone familiar with it._ ETA: ninja’d by @puzzlegal herownself. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2695 "2024-04-25T18:39:41Z")
A large thank you to @wolfpup and @What_Exit for pushing the digression to it’s own thread. As we’ve said in this and other Pit threads before of note, the looseness on sidetracks in the Pit is one of it’s great strengths and greatest **pit** falls. Okay, I’m done trying to be funny for the day. Just wanted to thank those that saved me from muting my own thread. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2696 "2024-04-25T18:56:48Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > the looseness on sidetracks in the Pit is one of it’s great strengths and greatest **pit** falls. I completely agree. But the sidetracks have to be coherent and at least tangentially related to the subject of the thread. For example, we had a thread pitting the dearly departed **SamuelA** which morphed into discussions diving down into the details of his various asinine beliefs about technology and how the mind works which were what prompted the pitting in the first place. Those sidetracks were both a smackdown and hopefully informative to readers. But the seemingly endless protracted droning on and on about Gaza, indigenousness, Jews, and Palestinians in this thread was deserving of a Pitting of its own. Kudos to @What_Exit for taking the time and trouble to remove it to its own thread – a thread that I, too, have no interest in ever seeing again. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2697 "2024-04-25T20:23:45Z")
I like that discourse makes it reasonably practical to move big chunks of content like that. I am personally much more interested in the situation in Gaza than i am in who was rude to whom on this board. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2698 "2024-04-25T20:32:29Z")
I appreciate different people want different things, it’s just when there were an existing half dozen or _more_ threads on it… ones that had been linked multiple times in this very thread, it felt tedious. So in keeping with this thread’s direction - they weren’t being trolls, they were just so focused on winning the argument that they didn’t THINK about anyone else, or the purpose of _this_ thread. While I have disagreements with many of the posters that went at it in this thread, I don’t think many (reserving judgement on one or so) were causing intentional harm. Even the one who gave me a Fuck you! ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2699 "2024-05-12T16:12:05Z")
> [@When You Get Promoted/Relegated, Do You Get A Grace Period (so to speak)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-get-promoted-relegated-do-you-get-a-grace-period-so-to-speak/1001447): > > Like if your team is promoted from Championship League to Premier League, do you get a couple of seasons to find your bearings with the new level of competition? Or can you be sent right back to Championship after one season in Premier if you finish at the bottom of the table? I mean really, is this the dumbest question ever asked on SDMB? If not it’s got to be close right? So many places you can find the answer to this question. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2700 "2024-05-12T16:13:25Z")
So what’s the answer? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2701 "2024-05-12T16:14:20Z")
No, the average American knows little about professional “Soccer”. It runs at best 6th in the US. We have Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Nascar and really College Football and Basketball are ahead of soccer easily. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2702 "2024-05-12T16:17:06Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > No, the average American knows little about professional “Soccer”. It runs at best 6th in the US. We have Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Nascar and really College Football and Basketball are ahead of soccer easily And even if they know a bit about soccer, they may not know the details about promotion and relegation, as that’s not generally a feature of U.S. soccer leagues. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2703 "2024-05-12T16:20:15Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > No, the average American knows little about professional “Soccer”. It runs at best 6th in the US. We have Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Nascar and really College Football and Basketball are ahead of soccer easily. Fourth place, actually, if [Gallup](https://news.gallup.com/poll/610046/football-retains-dominant-position-favorite-sport.aspx) is to be believed. Although their metric for “most popular” seems to be self-reporting the answer to “what’s your favorite sport to watch?”. Other metrics - revenue, butts in the seats, etc. - may yield different results. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2704 "2024-05-12T16:22:36Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > So many places you can find the answer to this question. I ask questions like this on the Dope – questions where the answer may be easily Google-able – because I’m not after just the answer. I’m after friendly discussion of the answer. Maybe a fan can give an anecdote about a team that spent four seasons going back and forth between leagues. Maybe there’s some bylaw that explains why the answer is what it is. There’s more to the quest for knowledge than just data. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2705 "2024-05-12T16:23:21Z")
Maybe I should add a caveat of Americans over 40. No matter what, the percentage that love Soccer (in the US) is small. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2706 "2024-05-12T16:24:59Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Maybe a fan can give an anecdote about a team that spent four seasons going back and forth between leagues. Which I just did, in response to that poster, in their thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2707 "2024-05-12T16:34:42Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > I mean really, is this the dumbest question ever asked on SDMB? If not it’s got to be close right? So many places you can find the answer to this question. I’m guessing you weren’t pitted for asking easily these questions, which are easily answered by looking them up on google. [How do answering machines in the US work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-machines-in-us-tv-shows/995556) [Can I buy a gift card with an Amazon credit?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-can-you-still-buy-gift-cards-with-your-amazon-credit/993977) [Who do I call to fix a hole in my ceiling?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-foot-through-attic-ceiling-what-type-of-tradesperson/991699) [Is the plot different in the live action Little Mermaid?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-to-the-plot-of-live-action-little-mermaid/984977) ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2708 "2024-05-12T16:50:34Z")
1. In a “water is wet” sense there was no easily googleable answer to that question. I noticed a discrepancy between what I saw and what the TV shows were doing and reasonably thought it might be dramatic licence 2, Amazon stopped allowing you to buy gift cards, (you could always not buy credit card or Amazon branded cards) without any notice. At the time there was no info about it and no way for me to know if it was just me because I’d bought too many. 1. OK yeah, but I 'm really not handyminded and googling for phrases like hole in internal roof didn’t really help… 4 People were talking about it but there wasn’t any obvious place to just get a summary of any changes to the plot In all cases I had tried a Google search first, although 3 is maybe a little dodgy. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2709 "2024-05-12T17:06:12Z")
But instead of considering that the OP of the other thread may have had similar reasons for asking here, you pitted them. Why not just answer their question? ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2710 "2024-05-12T18:29:17Z")
Because arrogance knows no bounds. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2711 "2024-05-12T18:30:25Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > And even if they know a bit about soccer, they may not know the details about promotion and relegation, as that’s not generally a feature of U.S. soccer leagues. I knew absolutely nothing about it until I watched _Welcome to Wrexham._ Never even heard of it. It took me a little bit to wrap my head around it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=129) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=131)