I Had A Random Thought...

[Zeusthecat]

One thing this argument highlights is how complicated this shit really is. I think Twig made a good point about the possibility that someone could always be offended by something that is said. I mean, we've all probably inadvertently offended somebody at some point with what we might think are innocent words. But that's just a part of social interaction. It's not always cut and dry and with each situation we have to determine whether the offense taken is justified enough to convince us to not speak a certain way.

For example, I still choose to use the word "retarded" even though some people find it offensive. I don't know why but in that case I decided that I'd rather use that word and risk offending someone then not use it at all. This is probably wrong on my part but somehow through 28 years of social interactions I have reasoned that it just isn't that big of a deal. That may make me a shithead but I like to think that most people go through this same decision making process.

Edit: And when I say I continue to use terms that are offensive I think its worth mentioning that I still adjust the way I speak temporarily if I know someone will be offended by it. Hence the moratorium on me talking about my dong.

[subbes]

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE

 

 

WHO LET THE FEMINISM THREAD LEAK INTO THIS ONE

[SecretAsianMan]

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE

 

 

WHO LET THE FEMINISM THREAD LEAK INTO THIS ONE

 

My bad.  I may have accidentally started all this with my dumb half a joke comment.  This discusson has helped me discover my secret forum power: the ability to turn a thread into an arguement with what I think is an innocuous post.  This is like my third one.  I've gotta stop this.

[Zeusthecat]

Hmmm, maybe we should have a "Random Argument" thread. The best thread ever.

Seriously though, these arguments are fun.

[shammack]

Hmmm, maybe we should have a "Random Argument" thread. The best thread ever.

Seriously though, these arguments are fun.

 

Counterpoint: No they're not.

[Zeusthecat]

Counterpoint: No they're not.

You make a good argument.

[Gormongous]

My bad.  I may have accidentally started all this with my dumb half a joke comment.  This discusson has helped me discover my secret forum power: the ability to turn a thread into an arguement with what I think is an innocuous post.  This is like my third one.  I've gotta stop this.

 

Nah, it's my fault, too. I'm still raw from a week-long fight with someone who saw no problem with putting "Black men, do not contact me" on their dating site profile, so seeing something similar somewhere else put me on edge.

[Twig]

Sometimes I have the urge to go back and reread books I loved as a child.

 

Like, say, the entire Hardy Boys series.

[SecretAsianMan]

I was an Encyclopedia Brown fan.  I also read a lot of the Boxcar Childen books even though I didn't like them.  I think I did it so that I could get a free pizza from Pizza Hut.

 

Edit: Huh, I guess the Book It program still exists.

[Ucantalas]

Every once in a while I go and re-read the Captain Underpants books. I still go buy them when new ones come out.

[Twig]

I did read both Boxcar Children and Encyclopedia Brown, too, but not nearly as much. I had every Hard Boys book up to a certain point.

 

Animorphs was my other big series.

[BadHat]

I'm going to pretend the above conversation didn't already end for a moment just so I can contribute this.

 

[Ucantalas]

That's.... painful. Like... wow. It hurts. It's so... awkward.

...I sometimes feel like I'm incredibly awkward and weird, but then I see something like this and I wonder if I'm not more normal than I think.

Someone please please PLEASE tell me this was all staged.

[SecretAsianMan]

I did read both Boxcar Children and Encyclopedia Brown, too, but not nearly as much. I had every Hard Boys book up to a certain point.

 

Animorphs was my other big series.

 

I read a bunch of Animorphs as well, but I never finished the series.  I remember reading several of the Goosebumps books and far too many choose-your-own-adventure books.  I read a Super Mario based one of those a bunch of times.

[subbes]

I've got a giant soft spot for Enid Blyton books!

 

It's right here, above my right eyebrow, and it's from where an anthology fell off a high shelf and hit me.

[Twig]

That's.... painful. Like... wow. It hurts. It's so... awkward.

...I sometimes feel like I'm incredibly awkward and weird, but then I see something like this and I wonder if I'm not more normal than I think.

Someone please please PLEASE tell me this was all staged.

One of the guys in there is from the Mega64 videos. Yes, it's staged.

[clyde]

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE

 

 

WHO LET THE FEMINISM THREAD LEAK INTO THIS ONE

This started my morning with a good laugh.

[dibs]

Pam, you are the best HR.

[Zeusthecat]

Goosebumps and Hardy Boys for me. And a touch of Nancy Drew. I also read the book "Hatchet" a lot as a kid. And "Island of the Blue Dolphins".

[Twig]

I hated Goosebumps. Not 'cause it was scary, but 'cause it was so dumb. Hah. The scariest thing for me when I was a kid was this... scary story, that was orally spread around all us young'uns. About this old man who lived in a cabin, and one day he laid a trap out in the forest around him, and it caught a tail of a creature, and made a soup of the tail. But then the creature came back for its tail and started asking for it in English. It had a rhyme, I think... Anyway, when it found out the guy ate the tail, it decided to dig said tail out of his stomach. Good story!

 

I wish I could remember better the details. Damn.

 

As for specific books: The Goblin Castle and The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm were pretty big for me. In fact, I read the latter far before I was able to fully understand it, I'm pretty sure, so I still don't even really know what it's about. Or maybe it was just a really goddamn weird book. (Because it was, that.)

[Gormongous]

I hated Goosebumps. Not 'cause it was scary, but 'cause it was so dumb. Hah. The scariest thing for me when I was a kid was this... scary story, that was orally spread around all us young'uns. About this old man who lived in a cabin, and one day he laid a trap out in the forest around him, and it caught a tail of a creature, and made a soup of the tail. But then the creature came back for its tail and started asking for it in English. It had a rhyme, I think... Anyway, when it found out the guy ate the tail, it decided to dig said tail out of his stomach. Good story!

 

I wish I could remember better the details. Damn.

 

Tailypo! That's a good one.

 

Man, it seems kinda profane that a spooky story has a Wikipedia page.

[Twig]

That's the one! Dang. What a stupid name. What the hell was I scared of?

 

In the version I'm most familiar with, I believe that the old man heard his dogs barking and then suddenly they stopped barking. Then he heard the voice and some scratching at this door, and locked the door, blockaded it, same with all the windows etc. Then Tailypo came down the chimney and it's pretty much as described in the Wiki from there.

[elmuerte]

Sound like a Pokemon.

[Ucantalas]

Wouldn't it be awesome to have real life Pokeballs, even just for self defence? Imagine you're about to be attacked by like, a bear or something. Instead of killing it, you could just throw a ball at it and have a chance of the ball keeping it inside. Later it could be released into the wild or whatever, but it would provide you with decent safety without harming the animal much.

[Sententia]

Plus we could achieve eternal life by putting each other in these perfect storage containers until cyborg technology enables us to become Big Dogs.