# You know you're a hardcore Doper when... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625 "2004-08-13T01:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/1 "2004-08-13T01:03:00Z")
This first one just happened to me, and spurred me to make the thread. You know you’re hardcore when: 1. You read Dopefest threads even when they’re 12+ hours away, just to see what’s going on. 2. The first browser you open in the morning and the last one you close at night is SD. 3. You regularly have 3+ SD windows open. 4. The high point of your morning is checking the boards. 5. You do more research for GD or GQ than you do for school. 6. One of your greatest dreams is to join the SDSAB. 7. In your accounting, the $5/$15/$7.48 for annual subscription is listed as “essential” (or some equivalent). 8. You’ve been known to post more than 10 times to the same thread. 9. Your sig line is always an in-joke here - and you still change it regularly. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/2 "2004-08-13T01:08:02Z")
You’re winning a game of [StraightDope Jeopardy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=271059) even though a Class III Hurricane is bearing down on you and half of the county has been evacuated. You even properly code the responses. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/3 "2004-08-13T01:10:03Z")
You stay in your classroom and read posts on your computer rather than eat lunch in the teacher’s lounge. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/4 "2004-08-13T01:13:57Z")
What **Gail** said! 😃 You start composing a Pit Thread when someone cuts you off in traffic, rather than flipping them off like normal people would. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/5 "2004-08-13T01:18:38Z")
You compulsively check individual post counts in game threads to make sure you’re no higher than third on the list before posting, lest you repeat the whole “a” thread situation. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/6 "2004-08-13T01:21:12Z")
You stay home and post on SDMB rather than go to town and deposit a $3000+ check. Of course by staying home you do not spend any money, so why worry? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/7 "2004-08-13T01:28:40Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > You compulsively check individual post counts in game threads to make sure you’re no higher than third on the list before posting, lest you repeat the whole “a” thread situation. How do you do that? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/8 "2004-08-13T04:17:18Z")
Your IT guy can’t find the toll free customer service number on the [Stamps.com](http://Stamps.com) website. You say, Give me five minutes. [Ok, so it took 7.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=271004) ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/9 "2004-08-13T05:16:10Z")
A friend or coworker makes a statement and you demand a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/10 "2004-08-13T05:45:14Z")
An inordinate number of your IRL conversations start with, “I read on this message board I go to…” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/11 "2004-08-13T06:20:08Z")
…figured out a way to itemize it as “a business expense”! 😃 (“cheat” is such an ugly word) ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/12 "2004-08-13T06:45:17Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > An inordinate number of your IRL conversations start with, “I read on this message board I go to…” How true. You end the conversation about a particularly witty thread you read with, “Never mind. You just wouldn’t understand.” > [@silenus](#): > > You start composing a Pit Thread when someone cuts you off in traffic, rather than flipping them off like normal people would. OR you’ve been known to say to unsuspecting asshats, “You are so Pitted when I get home!” and suggest to the lesser-addicted ranting doper spouse, “You should Pit them!” ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/13 "2004-08-13T06:52:56Z")
You’re still up and at it at 2:00 o’clock in the morning because you JUST CAN’T QUIT. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/14 "2004-08-13T12:06:09Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > How do you do that? Click on “number of responses.” You’ll get a pop-up window with the info, by poster name, in order of number of posts. And, yup, I learned that trick in the “a” thread. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/15 "2004-08-13T12:12:17Z")
Dang you, **twickster**. I finally had a chance to tell **Shibb** something he didn’t know, which doesn’t happen often I can tell you, and you pop in and beat me to it. I’m going to go sit in the corner and make motorboat noises now. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/16 "2004-08-13T12:18:45Z")
I was thinking when I posted, **Exgineer** , that we need a “stirring the cauldron victory dance” smiley for these occasions. I’m not unaware of the momentousness of the moment. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/17 "2004-08-13T12:30:39Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Click on “number of responses.” You’ll get a pop-up window with the info, by poster name, in order of number of posts. And it makes your day to learn a new trick! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/18 "2004-08-13T12:50:38Z")
…everytime my young kids ask me a “Daddy, why does…?” type of question, I evaluate which SDMB category it should be in if I decide to start a new thread. …I take it _very_ personally and check the Board a thousand times when I post something especially important to me, like a music sample or a long-held opinion. …I strongly consider breaking my 100% ironclad rule of never posting anything personally incriminating on a publicly-accessible MB on a daily basis. …I worry as much about my reputation on the SDMB as I do IRL. And I worry about the fact that I haven’t been to a live Dopefest yet. (and near as I can tell, compared to some other Dopers, I seem to be somewhat casual about this - I still haven’t made it to a Dopefest; how do you guys do it on a Friday or Saturday night when you have a family and kids? Most F or Sa nights are “collapse exhausted and watch a movie” affairs; if I do have a night out then, it is a date night…) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/19 "2004-08-13T12:54:50Z")
When an enormous news event happens, you go to [boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com) instead of [www.cnn.com](http://www.cnn.com) or [www.msn.com](http://www.msn.com). On 9/11, when I couldn’t access the news services, the Boards were a great news source. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625/20 "2004-08-13T14:14:17Z")
When you see the words “I Anal” and you read it as “I Am Not A Lawyer” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-a-hardcore-doper-when/259625.md?page=2)