Posted on 07/31/2015 11:49:41 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows
The time has come to take action against thread hijackers.
Let me begin with an example of thread hijacking:
Like most Freepers, I am pro-life. Abortion and and euthanasia appall me, and marketing the results even more so. I support candidates who oppose the culture of death, and cheer when it is thwarted.
I also do not find it necessary to mention these facts on EVERY. FREAKING. THREAD.
There is a certain type of Freeper, though, who has no such restraint. For these zealots, any thread that deviates from the pro-life cause, no matter how trivially, is a heresy that must be immediately suppressed.
You are shocked by cruelty to animals? I guess that means you couldn't care less about the cruelty of THE MILLIONS OF CHILDREN ABORTED EVERY YEAR!!!!!
You lost a beloved pet? Why can't you mourn THE THOUSANDS OF ABORTED BABIES WHO DIED THE SAME DAY?!!!!
Your car shredded its transmission and you're looking at thousands of dollars in repairs? Why aren't you thinking about THE BABIES WHO WILL NEVER GROW UP TO BE AUTO MECHANICS BECAUSE THEY WERE ABORTED?!!!!
(OK, maybe I made that last one up.)
Arguing with these people is pointless. It's the same principle as wrestling with a pig - you just get muddy and the pig enjoys it. Similarly, trying to convince them that they are being rude is a waste of time - THE CAUSE is far more important little things like courtesy and respect.
So, what can we do about it?
We can get drunk.
I hereby propose The Thread Hijack Drinking Game. The rules are simple: When a poster tries to hijack an unrelated thread to his or her pet cause, you 1) reply to the hijack attempt by quoting the text in question, followed by the word "DRINK!", and 2) Take a drink (or any volume) of your favorite beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). Moderation is suggested on animal cruelty threads to avoid alcohol poisoning.
This game will not, I admit, solve the thread hijacking problem. But after a certain number of attempts we will no longer care.
And if anyone is offended by my little proposal, I can only say...
DRINK!
Practice this phrase, until it comes trippingly off the tongue at the slightest provocation -- as I do frequently when responding to my family's requests:
"NO! But just out of idle curiosity, what was it you wanted?"
Oh, Bob! THAT is very clever!
May I use it?
Norma is lady in her late 60s who was born in Puerto Rico but has lived in the U.S. most of her life. We’re supporting one another! (Another of our overcommitted ladies, Nilda, is in Puerto Rico dealing with Tenants From Hell.)
It’s not that we can’t show up for meetings and do something: it’s just the anxiety we have over doing it will enough. We need to remember that we’re just tiny cells in a big organism, and the results don’t really depend on us very much.
I just hope you’ll be well enough to visit! You need to go to the spine doctor!
Once you know what they want, you’re committed.
You and Norma need to realize that were you to be unavailable tomorrow, for any reason whatsoever, someone else could step in and take your places with a minimum of training.
Having anxiety about how much of what you can accomplish is a good measure of when you should make an exit. Your body is telling you things that you are trying to ignore. LISTEN to it!
I need to get the truck working or there will be no spine doctor on the 23. I now have no one to help me. Period. None of my neighbors drive, the bus takes far too long and I cannot afford a taxi that far. I can walk to the appointment on the 17th, and to Walmart, but coming home is something else again. From either place, the bus takes over 70 minutes to get to the nearest stop.
How much to take the first step toward getting the truck fixed? I have some left from the money that was going to go for our trip to San Juan but ended up buying the boys a new car.
(That made me cry.)
It is $50 for the diagnostic. I won’t know more until after I learn what part is needed, but it will be within a short time of the diagnosis. It is a fuel line problem and that can’t be disputed by anyone.
Once I get the part ($100+ ) I will know how long it will take to install. I would guess a total of about $250. Not sure of the labor. I may be able to find someone to do it for free. I will have to see what’s wrong, first.
Now your nose will run!
Got it.
You have FReepmail.
True, I did. I also have a pork and spinach sandwich with yellow mustard.
And I am soon off to bed. I still need to take my evening pills, and that is NOT a good sign. I should have taken them an hour ago.
Now it will take forever for me to fall asleep... :o[
I’m hoping for a restful night, myself! Kathleen has learned that she can get up a dozen times if she says she needs to go to the bathroom. At least she didn’t have a puddle this morning.
Of course. The advantage of the formulation is that it posits the refusal with great force, then it tempers it slightly with a mild but unconvincing sincerity.
It at least has the advantage of requiring one's supplicants to couch their requested boon in the properly respectful tones, even if it's still going to cost the same amount.
Today's wild-whiskered baby is the sister of yesterday's.
Floodly kitty has the wildest eyelashes I’ve ever seen.
Happy Friday! TGIF
See 2359.
Looks like D when he was a baby,
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