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bladespark Somebody on one of the forums I frequent put up a topic asking if any "SG members" were present on the forum. I asked him what "SG" was, because I had no idea, and this is, copied directly, the response I got: “ It's a you know ;.. don't know thing," on or off the Bus." so to speak,( Merry Pranksters). No offence, be carefull what you ask for.”
Well, firstly saying “no offence” when you’re being kind of offensive only annoys me more. (It’s like that “bless her heart” thing. “Bless her heart, she has’t got two brain cells to rub together.” And somehow the “bless her heart” bit at the beginning is supposed to make the rest of it okay? Right.) Secondly, “be careful what you ask for?!” Either TELL ME and let me regret it, if I’m going to regret it, or don’t tell me, but condescending at me because I asked a logical, straightforward question in honest ignorance? Not. Cool. At. All.
I expressed, fairly politely, the fact that I found this attitude to be rather irritating, and gave him my opinion, that if he wanted to keep secrets, he should just keep them, rather than waving them publicly in front of everyone. I did say “It seems a little bit thrid grade” but that’s a rude as I got. In response to that, he added a little “nevermind, I remove the question” notice to his original post. He didn’t actually remove the question, mind, he just tacked on “I am retracting this question” along with something slighty cryptic about having “groped for the edge o f the envelope.” And although he did ask us to forgive him, he didn’t actually offer any sort of apology. And as he also said that he was retracting the question for the sake of our mental health, he managed to get off yet another sneer while pretending he was apologizing. (I think the definition of “apology” is starting to be forgotten, given the number of times I’ve run into somebody saying that they had apologized when they very clearly hadn’t. And apology needs to say “I am sorry.” You don’t have to use those exact words, but you do have to make it clear that you admit to your fault and regret harm caused. “I wish I’d never done it” is NOT an apology. Neither is “I won’t do it again.” “I’m sorry I did it” is good. “I was wrong, it was my fault” is good. Even “I’m sorry that what I said upset you” is all right, if you really can’t say “I was wrong” in good conscience. But people seem to think “Hey, I don’t want you to be mad at me” is an apology these days.) Ahem. Back to the topic at hand.
It’s one of those stupid little things that shouldn’t bother me, but man this has my back up. If you’re going to troll around for members of your little secret society, I would think you could do something less obvious than posting “Hey, any Simian Gluemuncher members here?” I totally understand about being part of something you can’t talk about. I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt. But secret handshakes and call-response exchanges exist for a reason, and it’s to avoid embarassments like this. You’re supposed to be able to spot another Slug Gobbler without having to advertise to the uninitiated that they exist.
P.S. I do know what the Merry Pranksters are, of course. The Wikipedia on them gives a quick run-down if any of you reading don’t. Still have no idea what SG is. Mentally I shall continue to call it unflattering and strange things until I find out.
Well, firstly saying “no offence” when you’re being kind of offensive only annoys me more. (It’s like that “bless her heart” thing. “Bless her heart, she has’t got two brain cells to rub together.” And somehow the “bless her heart” bit at the beginning is supposed to make the rest of it okay? Right.) Secondly, “be careful what you ask for?!” Either TELL ME and let me regret it, if I’m going to regret it, or don’t tell me, but condescending at me because I asked a logical, straightforward question in honest ignorance? Not. Cool. At. All.
I expressed, fairly politely, the fact that I found this attitude to be rather irritating, and gave him my opinion, that if he wanted to keep secrets, he should just keep them, rather than waving them publicly in front of everyone. I did say “It seems a little bit thrid grade” but that’s a rude as I got. In response to that, he added a little “nevermind, I remove the question” notice to his original post. He didn’t actually remove the question, mind, he just tacked on “I am retracting this question” along with something slighty cryptic about having “groped for the edge o f the envelope.” And although he did ask us to forgive him, he didn’t actually offer any sort of apology. And as he also said that he was retracting the question for the sake of our mental health, he managed to get off yet another sneer while pretending he was apologizing. (I think the definition of “apology” is starting to be forgotten, given the number of times I’ve run into somebody saying that they had apologized when they very clearly hadn’t. And apology needs to say “I am sorry.” You don’t have to use those exact words, but you do have to make it clear that you admit to your fault and regret harm caused. “I wish I’d never done it” is NOT an apology. Neither is “I won’t do it again.” “I’m sorry I did it” is good. “I was wrong, it was my fault” is good. Even “I’m sorry that what I said upset you” is all right, if you really can’t say “I was wrong” in good conscience. But people seem to think “Hey, I don’t want you to be mad at me” is an apology these days.) Ahem. Back to the topic at hand.
It’s one of those stupid little things that shouldn’t bother me, but man this has my back up. If you’re going to troll around for members of your little secret society, I would think you could do something less obvious than posting “Hey, any Simian Gluemuncher members here?” I totally understand about being part of something you can’t talk about. I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt. But secret handshakes and call-response exchanges exist for a reason, and it’s to avoid embarassments like this. You’re supposed to be able to spot another Slug Gobbler without having to advertise to the uninitiated that they exist.
P.S. I do know what the Merry Pranksters are, of course. The Wikipedia on them gives a quick run-down if any of you reading don’t. Still have no idea what SG is. Mentally I shall continue to call it unflattering and strange things until I find out.
