Who stole Mr. Cynical's password?

The BBQ Pit
1

I am putting this in here only because I don’t know where else it should go, because I don’t want to flame a guy I used to respect a ton if I am in the wrong about anything:

I don’t know what happened to you while I was away, Mr. Cynical, but a large percentage of your posts I have seen of yours since has been abusive, caustic, and essentially drive-by’s.

I came to expect from you erudite wit, intelligence and sensitivity back in the day.

Here are a few recent examples:

Should I get a restraining order? - Opalcat parodies another thread here. You could have ignored it, but instead just had to chime in with:

Yeah, thanks…and congrats on your ingrown toenail, too… - You posted about an offensive OP title here. And the way you did so didn’t show much more class:

The OP, who is a well-respected poster here, admitted he made a mistake and a mod came in and fixed it. Would it be so hard to say “thanks for seeing the error of your ways?” The old Mr. Cynical would have.

Survivor II - What did they have against Debb? - In this thread, all you did was reply with a link to another thread about how there are too many Survivor threads.

I despise Jeopardy ™ - In the thread started by PeterWiggen, your reply was:

lol … - In a thread where everyone was piling it on someone who begged for it, you distinguished yourself with:

turn ons - Thread started by a newbie, and the best thing he could post was:

Well, that was the last post thus far. Maybe he killed the thread that was so offensive to his well-being and scared off a newbie while he was at it? We can only hope…

Now, I wasn’t going to say anything because, even though I noticed the threads above, how he (or anyone else) posts is up to them.

But then it got personal when out of nowhere in Well, Thank Goodness There Are No ATHEISTS in Kansas!, I make a few points in a difference of opinion with Anthracite - nothing major and nothing which would even be out of place in Great Debates (and this was in The Pit) - and I am met with this gem:

As such, I feel the need to say something now.

Mr. Cynical, when I left, you were one of my favorite posters here. You were funny, and now I see you going out of your way to hurt people. You would accept an apology, now it seems that you hold grudges. You would make a joke, now you only find humor in some kind of misfortune of others.

Please don’t take this the wrong way. You are perfectly allowed to act in any manner you wish. You are not here to please me, and I wouldn’t expect you to change because I, or anyone else here, said anything.

I guess I just want to know what’s wrong with you, man. Because you were such a cool guy, and now, you are acting like an asshole towards people, and gratuitously at that.

I’d like to see the old Mr. Cynical back. If this is not possible, please tell me why, because missing him is one of the things that brought me back here…

And if it is not possible, then please just ignore me if I am actiung too much like a “dick” for your tastes. There are posters I don’t like very much, and I don’t go out of my way to interract with them. Please offer me the same courtesy if I am on that list for whatever reason and you don’t think I can crawl off of it.

Yer pal,
Satan

2

Mr. Cyn, are you and I going through phases? Full moon? Menopause? Seems I’ve been getting the same reaction from people lately.

Or maybe we’re just cranky bitches. Aren’t we entitled to that, too?

:confused:

Esprix

3

Satan, it goes much deeper than a mere stolen password… I’ve come to believe that some… entity… has been attempting to replace Mr. Cynical entirely. It seems that the real Mr. C has been kidnaped and it being held against his will, while a doppleganger has taken his place and is posting in his stead.

I propose a mission for the SDMB Elite Hostage Rescue Squad… to scour the globe and discover the location of the real Mr. C, while also finding out who would do this to him, and why.

Who’s with me? Who’ll help me rescue Mr. Cynical?!?

4

It’s simple.

Our dear Mr. Cynical has a small child that is just now starting to exert some independence rather than being just a poo, burp and tear factory.

I’m sure he isn’t sleeping well, his wife surely isn’t and it’s doubtful he’s getting laid more than once a week.

Not to mention that he recently got laid off and started a new job. Stress on all fronts can do weird things to a guy.

Leave him alone.

5

I’ve only read two of the threads you mention so I’ll confine my reply to them.

  1. The stillborn thread… If Mr. Cynical hadn’t said it, someone else would have, it was a completely ass-wipe thing to say, even in the pit. The OP had the dignity to apoligize and ask for the title to be changed, for which he has my respect. But IMHO, at the time Mr. C was speaking for a lot of people here and has nothing to apoligize for.

  2. Calling you a dick… Hmmm, well I certainly don’t consider you a dick, and I’m glad to see you back, but in your reply to Anthrocite, I do recall thinking as I read it that maybe you protested a bit much. I think the distinction she was trying to make was between a school board (local) and the Board of Education (state wide). The first time you pseudo-corrected yourself (“sorry”) was fine, the second time (“oops”) was a bit of overkill and then when you clarified your meaning of “President” it really came off as being somewhat vindictive and yes, maybe a little dickish. So again, IMHO I don’t see where Mr. Cynical was off base.

Anyway, I’m glad to see you back and I hope you and Mr. C can kiss and make up, there’s a lot of important ignorance fighting to be done.

6

**

I didn’t say he should apologize, did I? I said that the old Mr. C would have “thanked” the OP for seeing the error of his ways. And maybe even Coldie for making the change he did.

**

Maybe. But even if he thought I was a dick, I thought he was a friend. A few friends of mine welcomed me back. Hell, a person who didn’t like me welcomed me back. The first words I see from someone I thought was a friend after a long absense was “you’re a dick.”

Even if I was (and I am not saying I was, and in fact you aren’t saying I was), there’s a way to say it to a friend. And between my thing and all of the above, I came to the conclusion that maybe it wasn’t just me. Maybe it is. I anxiously await his reply.

Yer pal,
Satan

7

So, lemme get this straight …

Satan, you’re upset because Mr. Cynical isn’t acting the way he used to act. You consider him a friend, and you’re upset that he’s being snippy at you and in his board posts in general.

So, rather than reacting like a friend and e-mailing the guy and saying “Is anything wrong? What’s going on?”, you decide to put a list of his transgressions on display for God knows how many people. You also indicate disappointment that he’s not acting the way you want him to act.

Sue Duhnym outlined some reasons above that give some possible justifications for Mr. C’s tone on the boards. If you consider him to be a friend, my friendly advice is you either chalk it up to those reasons, or e-mail the guy privately and ask what’s up. If the guy really is under a lot of stress right now, having a “friend” post a thread that dissects his actions in public isn’t gonna help him through the tough times.

8

**
First of all, he is acting this way on a public board, and he said what he did to me on a public board, why is it surprising I might respond on that same public board?

Second of all, this gives me a chance to hear input from other people who may or may not either agree with me or disagree with me and I can adjust my thinking if needed with that input.

Third of all, Hi Poal!

Fourth of all, I don’t recall flaming him or anything. I was asking with genuine concern. I did not fly off the handle, so let’s not compare this to me dragging Mr. C on the Springer show and hitting him with a chair, which you seem to be alluding to.

**

Which were plausible, certainly, though I have yet to actually hear from him. I also know from my previous chats with him here and off the board that at least one of her assumptions is probably not a contributing factor.

In any event, if she is correct, I would urge him to take a break from the boards. If the outside life is getting to be so stressful that your whole personality and outlook changes, then that’s something he might want to do. Having just taken one, I can say that it does help. All up to him, but I was hoping to stimulate some kind of dialogue.

That’s your opinion. I posted it for the reasons I outlined above. You have a point, and it’s something I thought about before I posted, but I’d like to think that I have some points as to why I posted instead of e-mailed whether you see them or not.

Yer pal,
Satan

9

I’m not sure if I understand that one … he’s offended you personally, so you want to generate support or dissension for your position from strangers before you talk to him about it? I could be reading that wrong, so if I am, ignore this. If you’re bothered, just e-mail him and tell him so. No reason to pull his “transgressions” into a single thread just to validate your opinion with others’ observations.

Um … not sure how I alluded to the Springer show. But my point stands – if you’re genuinely concerned with MC’s behavior/state of mind, just e-mail the guy.

I’m sure you do have reasons for posting this as opposed to handling it off the board, and for all I know they’re completely valid. Just seems to me that his best interests would be better served if it was handled through private e-mail. But hey, I’ve got no dog in this fight.

10

So what you’re saying is, if he’d never called you a dick (or maybe if he had welcomed you back with tears of joy and a warm hug, then called you a dick), this thread wouldn’t even be here?

11

Just wanted to say I had noticed that Mr C. in those threads. He seemed abusive and definitely didn’t add very much. I figured that I just had a small sample and there were other threads were he was being funny and flirty.

If things are a bit stressful in his life, I want to offer my support and encouragement. If you need someone to email, Mr C., Send one over. I will reply with hillarious stories about Las Vegas showgirls, potbellied pigs, the lost diaries of Idi Amin and ascii art of flowing waterfalls, including the barrels right before they are crushed.

That goes for anyone who needs encouragement and or support. Well, if I like you as much as I like Mr Cynical. If I don’t like you, I will write you back and tell you sad stories about little boys who didn’t properly replace the lid on the peanutbutter.

pat

12

I don’t think Satan is being overly harsh or that his concern should be enough for many of you to get on his ass. He stated that he has genuine concern and with few alternatives it ends up in The Pit.

I for one know that email is not always the best answer as I have recently emailed someone about certain behavior and feelings towards me, as friends in the past, and I still have yet to hear back from this person. I feel like I am getting the major brush off. I would confront this person in public but because of certain things not privy to the board or chat room in question (it may or may not be SDMB related, I do have other internet communities I am a part of) I wont put it in words for the world to see. But email is not always the best alternative as I would like to shout to the world my concern for this person.

Something is going on and Satan’s attempts to get to the bottom of it concern more than just Satan, there are a few others that wonder what is going on. There are others on this board that wonder if Mr C is doing okay because his posts haven’t been the old Mr C we all know. If he’s not doing okay I think some would like to know and I am sure more than a few would offer to help in what ever capacity they can. I am one of those that has seen a change and would offer to help him if he needs it.

So please don’t get on Satan’s ass for wondering if Mr C is okay. The Pit may have not been the best realm, it could have fit in MPSIMS as well but the choice was The Pit and apparently rightfully done on Satan’s part.

13

Satan, you’re a dick.

:smiley:

14

I’ve got no problem with Satan or anyone else being concerned about Mr. Cynical. That’s not what I’m saying.

My concern is simply that Satan has gone out of his way to show everyone who cares to read this thread that Mr. Cynical isn’t acting according to Satan’s image of him. Express concern, fine, offer support, absolutely, but don’t put the man under the microscope this way. My guess is 99.9 percent of the people who read this board would never notice any change in Mr. Cynical’s posts if such changes weren’t pointed out to them. So why point them out?

It’s not a perfect analogy, but this reminds me of somebody getting up at a public meeting (town hall, say), pointing to another person present, and saying “Bill, you’ve always been a teetotaler. I’ve noticed you drunk several times now in the past few days. What gives?”

In my opinion, handling this privately would have been the better option. I’m not jumping on anybody’s ass (or at least, I hope I’m not; I don’t mean to). I just don’t see why this has to be handled on a message board.

15

**

I wanted to gauge if my perceptions were off-base in some way, or on the other end, affirm that I am not the only person who noticed this change. If everyone came in here saying “I don’t notice a change,” then I would have been the first person to say, okay, I probably was mistaken.

Whereas if I e-mail him privately, I can’t get that input.

As it turns out, nobody seems to dispute what I actually thought, that Mr. C is acting differently these days. You and some others question why I did it publicly, others came up with reasonable explanations, and others sinply showed the same concern I did without any diagnoses.

So, thanks to thi input from other people who know him, it is safe to say that I am not crazy about the perception that I have.

It also gave a chance for people who care about Mr. C to express it here. We all have things which get us down, and even the best of friends IRL get wrapped up in their own lives and problems thaty they don’t see that someone close to them is acting differently.

So, maybe with this public post, a few people who hadn’t thought about it might chime in, “Yeah, you’re right. Please add me to the list of concerned parties and I’ll do what I can to help.”

**

I don’t believe I said anything about your point not standing. I said I considered it before I posted, and I gave my points (in all of my posts thus far) as to why I decided to do what I did. If those reasons are not good enough for you, then I guess you won’t ever do what I did. Whatever. To me it’s six of one and half a dozen of another. Because, if I may be as blunt as you were, my points stand as well.

**

I believe I explained my points. They are valid to me, and to some others.

Then please stop fighting, thanks. Because I’m sure not.

I agreed that you had a point, said I considered it before you even raised it, and gave several points which were quite satisfactory to me as to why I disregarded the advice you gave when I brought it up to myself.

To me, this ends the discussion.

Yer pal,
Satan

16

I am saying that what happened is what led me to start this thread.

I can’t surmise any other scenerios because they didn’t happen. Maybe if I had seen a longer string of this behavior I might have chimed up whether I wound up being in the cross-hairs or not. I mean, I noticed it before, as I said. Maybe a couple more weeks of the same thing makes me post it even though I’m not a target.

And maybe if he did post something to me saying welcome back (I don’t think I would have required the melodrama you proscribed however), being called a dick wouldn’t have phased me because I would have seen the other side of him as well, the side I grew quite fond of. See, that’s what started this thread: The lack of the wonderful posting qualities that Mr. C had before I left is not here.

So, I can’t predict how I would have acted had the circumstances been different. I can only say that I noticed something amiss, and when it becamse “personal,” I decided to post something about it.

Yer pal,
Satan

17

This was not a rhetorical question (although I could understand how one might get confused) but since I know the answer anyway, I’ll let it slide. What I don’t understand is why’d you go through so much trouble (like looking up all those threads and then copying the links to this thread) just to ask Mr. Cynical why he called you dick? (And I really don’t know the answer to this question, so if you could be so kind and take so much time :rolleyes: to answer it… Thanks so much.)

18

Sauron: You made your point. I acknowledged that you are correct that your way was one way to handle it. I acknowledged that I had thought of that as an option. And I gave my own reasons why I rejected that in the first place.

You made your point, I accepted it, and I gave my points. Now, you obviously rejected them. Fine. Not everyone handles the same situations the same way. I’m just not so stubborn as to say mine is “right” and yours is “wrong.” I’m saying that I did it a way that I thought was best for the reasons I outlined.

We all know where you stand. A personal e-mail would have been better. I’ll expect a personal e-mail from you if my posting habits ever change drastically (if you ever consider me a friend).

As I said before: Point made, point taken.

Is there anything else you would like me to do here?

Yer pal,
Satan

19

Silver Fire: I’m sorry I did not answer your question in the time permitted. I was unaware that we were on some sort of time limit. I do hope the answer I gave was the one you “knew the answer to,” as I’d hate to be both tardy and incorrect in one fell swoop.

Yer pal,
Satan

20

Silver Fire,

While I am not speaking for Satan, please don’t get me wrong on that, I am speaking for others like me that know him and care about him. I think, and rightfully so, Satan has seen a shift in Mr C’s behavior on the boards. I don’t think he went through just to find Mr C’s posts but possibly saw a pattern through regular reading, unlike the Mr C we know, and remembered those threads based on his past.

I think it’s okay to question people if you see a shift in behavior. If your concern is real, and I think we can say Satan’s concern is, then I think bringing it to public is okay. It’s much easier to flame people I guess and people can accept that but when it comes to honest concern for the person involved, this being Mr C. then I think we need to look at it from a different stand point. Sometimes concern makes people uncomfortable rather than the usual lashing out. I believe Satan is doing his best to address something and make sure that Mr C is okay.

If Mr C is going through a difficult time, there are many on this board that are willing to help him out. I think Satan brought up a concern noticed by many but the rest of us didn’t have the balls to bring it up.