# 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:** 192
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4117 "2025-03-15T01:38:27Z")
Actually, that assumption is based on facts and sound logic > [@Games that school hasn't blocked](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-that-school-hasnt-blocked/1015546/28): > > If they don’t have any sort of computer at home, how are they posting here if: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4118 "2025-03-15T01:39:56Z")
Yeah, no. Maybe read the middle paragraph again, and realize what I was actually pointing out. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4119 "2025-03-15T01:45:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You’re also assuming he doesn’t study because he wants to play games, like all of us did. (Those of us young enough even used the same computers for both!) I’ve asked questions like this before, and it sucks when everyone assumes the worst of you for asking. I thought maybe a different perspective would help, without explicitly pointing out that it’s shitty to make these assumptions. What exactly are you saying here? If your point is > [@](#): > > You’re also assuming he doesn’t study because he wants to play games, like all of us did. Why are you quoting that post of LHOD? What does that have tod with anything? If that sentence is your main point, why is it just the one sentence? ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4120 "2025-03-15T07:01:41Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m not super mad, just annoyed. You’re annoyed for absolutely nothing. There was nothing wrong with what LHoD posted. Get over your damn self. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4121 "2025-03-15T11:47:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > As am I. It’s still kinda shitty to look down on someone based on an assumption. Oh, for fuck’s sake. _HE WAS POSTING ON OUR MESSAGEBOARD_. My assumption was that he wasn’t doing so using an old telegraph machine. You’re trying to score a point calling me shitty for making an assumption, when it’s bleedin’ obvious. This is dumb. > [@](#): > > You’re also assuming he doesn’t study because he wants to play games, like all of us did. Your different perspective is nonsense and stupid, dude. I’ve been a classroom teacher for 18 years, which is long enough to watch the introduction of 1:1 devices in education, and to watch how students migrate from site to site looking for games, and how in classrooms with low supervision, students will often migrate to playing games instead of learning. I’m not making a baseless assumption here. Instead, I’m talking to this kid the way I talk with a lot of my students, about how they should assume some responsibility for their own education instead of doing the bare minimum that keeps them from getting yelled at. The school is blocking games. We know that. The OP is looking for a way around that block. We know that. There’s very little assumption involved. You, on the other hand, should type less and read more. Your assumption-based condemnations of me are ignorant and unwelcome. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4122 "2025-03-15T12:52:01Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And not be too worried that I’m being a bit of a prick back. Bad news, you’re being more than a bit of a prick. LHOD is literally the only person in that thread who engaged with the OP in a constructive manner, and his post was informed by his many years as a public educator. He asked legitimate questions and encouraged the kid to consider what they’re doing at school and whether they need to self-advocate for extra academic help. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4123 "2025-03-15T13:19:40Z")
Speaking as someone who was bored a lot in school, and who probably would have looked for unblocked games if they’d given me a device that can play games, i really don’t see anything wrong with LHOD’s post. Even if that’s the only device, there are bound to be better ways to spend your time, at school or at home, than playing the crappy games that aren’t blocked. And i can’t imagine it hurts to remind a school kid that there’s stuff worth getting out of school. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4124 "2025-03-15T13:49:36Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Your different perspective is nonsense and stupid, dude. Shit. Did I read, some time back, that you are trans? If so, I apologize for that last word. It was unintentional. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4125 "2025-03-15T13:49:39Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My assumption was that he wasn’t doing so using an old telegraph machine My assumption was that he was using a school-issued notebook/Chromebook and, since he was locked out of installing new programs, he wanted to know what websites offered games that weren’t blocked. Like the old websites full of Flash games before Flash stopped being a thing. I have no opinion on the rest of the kerfluffle, just that it seemed obvious to me how he was posting. I could be wrong but, since my own kid has a school issued Chromebook he brings to and from the house daily, my mind went there. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4126 "2025-03-15T16:15:45Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > My assumption was that he was using a school-issued notebook/Chromebook and, since he was locked out of installing new programs, he wanted to know what websites offered games that weren’t blocked. Like the old websites full of Flash games before Flash stopped being a thing. Sure, that’s possible, and it’s possible that he’s an attentive, studious student during school hours who has no intention of playing those games when he’s expected to be on-task in class (or doing homework), and that he doesn’t have a smartphone or other device that he can access outside of school hours where he can play better games. Occam’s razor, though. If that’s what’s going on, I welcome clarification from the OP. I don’t especially welcome judgy prickishness from Big\_T. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4127 "2025-03-15T16:57:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > dude I have women, men and a (tiny) number of trans friends who use the term interchangeably. It seems “dude” has crossed the gender barrier in my small subculture in my small country. It’s the “you guys” of the late 2010s. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4128 "2025-03-15T17:01:22Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My assumption was that he wasn’t doing so using an old telegraph machine. Now I want to hunt down an old KSR-33, connect it up to my PC, and post using that. > **[Technically We Write](https://technicallywewrite.com/2023/09/09/teletype)** ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4129 "2025-03-15T17:03:16Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Now I want to hunt down an old KSR-33, connect it up to my PC, and post using that. Oh wow. Now you have me thinking all kinds of impractical uses of outdated tech. Not sure if KSR-33s were ever used here, but I could easily make a Morse code transmitter to cover long distance communication at our local Burning Man offshoot, Afrika Burn. I mean, pointless, over complex and unjustified… but that’s art. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4130 "2025-03-15T17:15:54Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Now I want to hunt down an old KSR-33 Feh. A lightweight machine. When I was in the navy we used model 28s and liked it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4131 "2025-03-15T17:26:18Z")
I never was bored in school. I was blessed with the ability to get work done quickly. I wasn’t bored because I found a great interactive way to entertain myself in down time. It’s called _Read a Book_! We always had reading lists to get thru. I always, always had a library book on me. And not one teacher ever chastised me for it. No one _blocked_ it. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4132 "2025-03-15T17:44:31Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It’s called _Read a Book_ I mean, for the most part I agree. But I was in boarding school. Once I finished my homework, and had read mine and everyones school library books, I had nothing to fall back upon… but the bible. I mean, I read chemistry text books\* for entertainment, so the bible was ok by that standard. The bible is great. Really varied styles and some good ideas. If I were the editor, I’d have made some changes, at least in the ordering, and do we, as a species, really need several long lists about who begat whom? It’s still a decent novel, slightly eccentric plot. End chapter is probably the best, though requires significant suspension of belief. When I was at school with access to a library I averaged around 3 to 4 books a week - I read fast. But in times of hardship… the bible was all I had. On the upside, I know it better than most christians. So… usually my discussions with believers end with John 11:35 - “Jesus wept.” \* not known for their prose or plotline ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4133 "2025-03-15T17:51:12Z")
Schools vary. I could read a book during study halls, but not during classes. I had to find other ways to keep myself entertained during class. (And yes, i also listened to the lectures. I generally liked school and did well in it. But i certainly got bored sometimes, too.) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4134 "2025-03-15T17:53:14Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Not sure if KSR-33s were ever used here, but I could easily make a Morse code transmitter to cover long distance communication at our local Burning Man offshoot, Afrika Burn Do eet! > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I never was bored in school. I was blessed with the ability to get work done quickly. > > I wasn’t bored because I found a great interactive way to entertain myself in down time. > It’s called _Read a Book_! I have vague memories of being stuck in the third grade reading program during second grade. First, the teacher noticed that I was restless, bored and being a distraction. Then, she found that I was reading the stories and answerng all the questions correctly in a lot less time than the other kids. This confused the hell out of the school as I was already classified as learning disabled. I don’t remember if I had been diagnosed with any mental illness just yet. I think I was diagnosed ADHD and started Ritalin the next year, Because of the ADHD, it was nearly impossible to read for more than a few minutes at a time and it was extremely dificult to read anything of more than ten pages or so. I am very glad that reading a book worked for some people. It definitely is not the answer for every student. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4135 "2025-03-15T17:53:35Z")
We had Libraries in school and a public library. I haunted the stacks. I always had a book. Rarely bought books unless I had no other access. The required reading were books my older sibs had acquired. So they were usually around. I was known to read the dictionary. And yes, there was the bible. Now, kids can get books on a tablet or phone. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4136 "2025-03-15T18:09:56Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Because of the ADHD, it was nearly impossible to read for more than a few minutes at a time and it was extremely dificult to read anything of more than ten pages or so. That’s the case for me, too. Even today, as an adult, I very rarely read books. It’s beyond frustrating to read a chapter and have no idea what I read. And I mean that literally. My eyes scan all the words, I flip the pages, I certainly look to be reading, but take the book away and ask me what the last few paragraphs were about and I won’t even be able to tell you the names of the characters. However, when my brain goes into hyperfocus mode while reading, I can fly through a book, but that’s exceedingly rare. In general, a book takes me a month+ to read as I usually just chip away at a few pages a day. The time that most people spend on reading, I’m spending on other hobbies (like the 3D printing stuff we talked about in a different thread). In college, my psych teacher pulled me off to the side one day because I always doing calculus homework during his lectures. I assured him, and I meant it, that I needed to be doing something else in order to be paying attention to him and that if he ever notices me following him (with my eyes) as he paces around, I’m probably day dreaming. I also mentioned that I do participate in the lectures and he’s welcome to call on me, which he did. Also, my next class was calculus and I needed to get my homework done and calc homework was a good of a ‘fidget toy’ as anything to keep me from day dreaming. Adderall made such a big difference for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=191) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=193)