Why has this question in Ask Metafilter gone so smoothly? August 25, 2005 12:08 AM Subscribe
I posted a smartass answer in this thread.
I admit it was a rude, snarky answer and shortly after posting it I wished it was deleted. Without my request, it was--to my relief.
Over the course of the evening, however, I found it unusual that what would in any other Metafilter setting would be a hugely inflammatory post (SUV, taxes, as subjects), yet after several hours no one had contributed (despite the topic matter and a user base in the tens of thousands).
So: Have Mefites become exceptionally complacent, did the topic (against all expectations) generate no interest, or was there a culling of the thread?
I admit it was a rude, snarky answer and shortly after posting it I wished it was deleted. Without my request, it was--to my relief.
Over the course of the evening, however, I found it unusual that what would in any other Metafilter setting would be a hugely inflammatory post (SUV, taxes, as subjects), yet after several hours no one had contributed (despite the topic matter and a user base in the tens of thousands).
So: Have Mefites become exceptionally complacent, did the topic (against all expectations) generate no interest, or was there a culling of the thread?
I would have thought that the low participation rate was because it's a very esoteric tax/finance question -- so not many people would be aware. It's also for business so doubtless that would better justify owning one in the minds of many t'would think. *shrug* I think everyone probably saw 'tax' as the main theme and not 'svu'. So what was your snark? Do share.
posted by peacay at 1:52 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by peacay at 1:52 AM on August 25, 2005
I saw that thread and a snarktastic comment -- to the effect that the poster sure didn't know much about the effect that past SUV discussions have had on the Metafilter Mental Equilibrium -- immediately popped into my head, then just as quickly popped back out again. I didn't even click in to it to see if others had less impulse control than I.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:23 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:23 AM on August 25, 2005
People (other than you it seems) respect AskMe and do, in general, refrain from posting snark or polemic where it doesn't answer the question... Further, they then don't pollute the grey with an "Why am I the only idiot here?" question...
posted by benzo8 at 2:34 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by benzo8 at 2:34 AM on August 25, 2005
I thought about posting some links to the information he was looking for. Then I decided I did not want to encourage the purchase of another 3-ton road monster. Saying that in the thread would of course be inappropriate.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:18 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:18 AM on August 25, 2005
I have to admit to flagging your comment for deletion, sourwookie. Look, in complete honesty, I know where you were comimg from. I hate big-ass 4WDs as much as you, and I can't believe the USA offers tax breaks to the kind of gonad-lacking people who feel the need to drive monster trucks on that dangerous, unpredictable inner-city bitumen. But your comment was, at the end of the day, of no help in answering the question asked. I'm really glad you saw the snarkiness of your answer as well.
posted by Jimbob at 5:44 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by Jimbob at 5:44 AM on August 25, 2005
I saw the flags on your comment which started out
"If you are like one of those people in my town who meet this loophole by getting a Yukon and putting in a window decal for their little hairdressing business and take it out on the town evey night--get bent...."
and removed it and sent you an email to the address you used when you signed up here. I'm fairly sure it's the only comment I removed from that thread. I was surprised that there weren't people who both a) knew about the tax loophole and b) explained what it was in a way that made it fairly clear that buying SUVs is thought of by many around here to be part of the problem and not part of the solution, but no one did, for whatever reason. Thanks to all of you who exercised some restraint.
posted by jessamyn at 5:59 AM on August 25, 2005
"If you are like one of those people in my town who meet this loophole by getting a Yukon and putting in a window decal for their little hairdressing business and take it out on the town evey night--get bent...."
and removed it and sent you an email to the address you used when you signed up here. I'm fairly sure it's the only comment I removed from that thread. I was surprised that there weren't people who both a) knew about the tax loophole and b) explained what it was in a way that made it fairly clear that buying SUVs is thought of by many around here to be part of the problem and not part of the solution, but no one did, for whatever reason. Thanks to all of you who exercised some restraint.
posted by jessamyn at 5:59 AM on August 25, 2005
Metafilter: I posted a smartass answer in this thread.
posted by driveler at 6:39 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by driveler at 6:39 AM on August 25, 2005
Have Mefites become exceptionally complacent, did the topic (against all expectations) generate no interest, or was there a culling of the thread?
None of the above. The question was answered in the first few responses. It's not a thread on the blue; there doesn't need to be a lengthy discussion, and just because you might have interest doesn't mean you need to comment.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 6:49 AM on August 25, 2005
None of the above. The question was answered in the first few responses. It's not a thread on the blue; there doesn't need to be a lengthy discussion, and just because you might have interest doesn't mean you need to comment.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 6:49 AM on August 25, 2005
punish me, i've been bad?
posted by Dean Keaton at 7:19 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by Dean Keaton at 7:19 AM on August 25, 2005
Jeebus, now we're "complacent" for not explosively shitting all over an AskMe thread that has the letters S U V in it?
Please close this babboon's ass of a thread.
posted by scarabic at 8:41 AM on August 25, 2005
Please close this babboon's ass of a thread.
posted by scarabic at 8:41 AM on August 25, 2005
Can we complain about SUV's here? Or about the ilk that drive them, or the cheats who claim 100% business use for a vehicle used primarily for personal travel?
posted by caddis at 8:53 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by caddis at 8:53 AM on August 25, 2005
My contribution to the low participation was to remember the admonition that "wisecracks don't help people find answers"--and to remember it before I hit "post comment."
posted by scratch at 9:06 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by scratch at 9:06 AM on August 25, 2005
Can we complain about SUV's here?
I would prefer to use this space to complain about the misuse of apostrophes, especially the grocer's plural.
posted by anapestic at 9:27 AM on August 25, 2005
I would prefer to use this space to complain about the misuse of apostrophes, especially the grocer's plural.
posted by anapestic at 9:27 AM on August 25, 2005
Touche anapestic, although I submit that my extra apostrophe adds less greenhouse gas to the atmosphere than the satisfied fart that comes out of the rear end of an SUV owner upon taking the keys to their new atmosphere destruction vehicle. [Just mentally lift that apostrophe off of my last post and recycle it over the last e in my first word in this post.]
posted by caddis at 9:43 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by caddis at 9:43 AM on August 25, 2005
If somebody were to say "I think all SUV drivers should be lined up and shot, especially if they call themselves 'progressives!'" would that be allowed? Actually what I really think is that there should be a special license/permit for a substantial fee, but still.
I agree that the deleted comment wasn't helpful enough to be a "nice" addition to an AskMe thread, but then it'd be hard for me to get upset by it as the question itself strikes me as very much like "I've heard I could set up a 'Satanist' sect and get tax-exemption to help support my little hobby of torturing puppies, plus I could use that 'church' to find molestable boys with bad attitudes; can somebody tell me how that's done?"
posted by davy at 10:01 AM on August 25, 2005
I agree that the deleted comment wasn't helpful enough to be a "nice" addition to an AskMe thread, but then it'd be hard for me to get upset by it as the question itself strikes me as very much like "I've heard I could set up a 'Satanist' sect and get tax-exemption to help support my little hobby of torturing puppies, plus I could use that 'church' to find molestable boys with bad attitudes; can somebody tell me how that's done?"
posted by davy at 10:01 AM on August 25, 2005
Also could somebody please specify exactly how the standards for allowable posts and/or comments differ between AskMe and the rest of the site? I'd like to know how to avoid getting a post or comment deleted (though it hasn't happened to me yet AFAIK).
posted by davy at 10:11 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by davy at 10:11 AM on August 25, 2005
Just make sure your comment in an AskMe thread is a helpful answer.
I had some extremely choice things to say to the moron asking the poetry for guys question, but I kept them to myself.
Of course, now I have heartburn.
posted by CunningLinguist at 10:30 AM on August 25, 2005
I had some extremely choice things to say to the moron asking the poetry for guys question, but I kept them to myself.
Of course, now I have heartburn.
posted by CunningLinguist at 10:30 AM on August 25, 2005
I'd like to know how to avoid getting a post or comment deleted (though it hasn't happened to me yet AFAIK).
Post only helpful answers, and don't post wisecracks that don't address the question. Is that really so hard to understand? If it is, try browsing the MeTa archives, where you will find the topic explored in nauseating detail in threads nearly as meaningless as this one.
I submit that my extra apostrophe adds less greenhouse gas to the atmosphere than the satisfied fart that comes out of the rear end of an SUV owner
Sadly, it's not an either/or proposition. While I would personally suffer great torment, I would happily allow the misuse of apostrophes in exchange for the elimination of SUVs. As that is not an option, I submit that it's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness, particularly when the candle in question is metaphorical and doesn't harm the environment.
posted by anapestic at 10:32 AM on August 25, 2005
Post only helpful answers, and don't post wisecracks that don't address the question. Is that really so hard to understand? If it is, try browsing the MeTa archives, where you will find the topic explored in nauseating detail in threads nearly as meaningless as this one.
I submit that my extra apostrophe adds less greenhouse gas to the atmosphere than the satisfied fart that comes out of the rear end of an SUV owner
Sadly, it's not an either/or proposition. While I would personally suffer great torment, I would happily allow the misuse of apostrophes in exchange for the elimination of SUVs. As that is not an option, I submit that it's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness, particularly when the candle in question is metaphorical and doesn't harm the environment.
posted by anapestic at 10:32 AM on August 25, 2005
Actually I now see I worded my last question badly: I've pretty much figured out how to not get deleted in AskMe, I was really wondering what the standards were (besides "don't post anything anybody might feel threatened by") for the rest of the site.
posted by davy at 10:44 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by davy at 10:44 AM on August 25, 2005
Oh cranberry, one might at least try to be helpful sometimes. (Of course caddis has a C compiler, right?)
But I can't figure out how to make xvkbd put an umlaut over an N.
posted by davy at 11:04 AM on August 25, 2005
But I can't figure out how to make xvkbd put an umlaut over an N.
posted by davy at 11:04 AM on August 25, 2005
I haven't really compiled anything serioius since the days of TurboPascal and Microsoft C (no pluses) on an 8088.
posted by caddis at 11:14 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by caddis at 11:14 AM on August 25, 2005
Hmmm, in addition to problems with spurious apostrophes I can't even seem to remember to use the spell checker.
posted by caddis at 11:43 AM on August 25, 2005
posted by caddis at 11:43 AM on August 25, 2005
The plural of "bus" is "busses" in some places and "buses" in others; I can never keep it straight. I'm glad there's only one way to spell "motor carrij."
posted by davy at 12:15 PM on August 25, 2005
posted by davy at 12:15 PM on August 25, 2005
I thought about posting some links to the information he was looking for. Then I decided I did not want to encourage the purchase of another 3-ton road monster. Saying that in the thread would of course be inappropriate.
How do you know that a purchase was going to be made? This could be just a simple query for information. Anyway, that is how I looked at it.
FWIW, this was one of those questions where I slapped my forehead and wondered why this guy could not find the information on Google. But years of working with taxpayer correspondence in my previous job has caused me to develop a soft spot for people with tax questions. "Our last name is Service" they used to say at the IRS.
posted by Fat Guy at 1:32 PM on August 25, 2005
How do you know that a purchase was going to be made? This could be just a simple query for information. Anyway, that is how I looked at it.
FWIW, this was one of those questions where I slapped my forehead and wondered why this guy could not find the information on Google. But years of working with taxpayer correspondence in my previous job has caused me to develop a soft spot for people with tax questions. "Our last name is Service" they used to say at the IRS.
posted by Fat Guy at 1:32 PM on August 25, 2005
How do you know that a purchase was going to be made? This could be just a simple query for information.
And even if that were the case, by providing the requested information, I would expose it to uncountable numbers of others. They might have been teetering on the brink of buying one of the monstrosities, and be pushed over by the impetus of a tax break. Lots of people are ignorant of the program.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:57 PM on August 25, 2005
And even if that were the case, by providing the requested information, I would expose it to uncountable numbers of others. They might have been teetering on the brink of buying one of the monstrosities, and be pushed over by the impetus of a tax break. Lots of people are ignorant of the program.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:57 PM on August 25, 2005
I'm glad there's only one way to spell "motor carrij."
And Jinann Tonix.
posted by dg at 8:51 PM on August 25, 2005
And Jinann Tonix.
posted by dg at 8:51 PM on August 25, 2005
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posted by Bugbread at 1:19 AM on August 25, 2005