Bandwagon Threads

[the_std]

I really, really hate threads that start out with posting a story about a sucky customer, or sucky service one received, and say the story involves a teacher. Well, all of a sudden the whole thread dissolves into "OMG all of my teachers were demons!" and "my childhood was so hard, people were mean to me" stories that have absolutely nothing to do with the OP, except for the fact that it vaguely includes a teacher.

That's just an example. There are many cases where "I'm a special snowflake" whinefests completely derail a thread, and it makes me want to smack everyone participating. I don't mind thread derailment in most cases, but it's all of the "oh man, you think your life is bad? Check out my angst-boner!"-isms that really get my goat.

Shut up! No one cares! Everyone goes through shitty stuff! Argh.

[Rapscallion]

Sometimes it is one-downmanship, I agree. Other times it's showing that they understand where you're coming from since they've been there as well.

Hard to tell, sometimes.

Rapscallion

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, isn't starting a thread basically starting a conversation? If it wasn't, it wouldn't be a thread. It would be a single post. I mean, you can only figure out so many ways to say, "Gee, yeah, that sucks all right."

[DrFaroohk]

I'm usually one of those people trying to offer a similar story because I understand where they are coming from, but it usually comes off as one-upmanship of who's life is shittier. Even in real conversations, not just online. It sucks.

[Boozy]

Well, isn't starting a thread basically starting a conversation? If it wasn't, it wouldn't be a thread. It would be a single post. I mean, you can only figure out so many ways to say, "Gee, yeah, that sucks all right."

I think what the_std dislikes is when one inconsequential part of the post gets all the attention (say, the customer happened to be a teacher), and the main point of the post (the teacher was attempting to make a return without a receipt, for example) gets ignored. I hate it too.

Here's one of my own examples. I rarely post stories of my own on CS anymore, because most of my SC stories require me to mention the product that I sell. I sell wine. And almost every single thread I start gets turned into a conversation about wine. What wines they like, which ones they hate, where they buy them, how much they pay, etc. The fact that my story was about a guy who wasted an hour of my time deciding between two products is ignored.

I talk about wine all day. It's my job. I don't want to talk about wine when I'm not at work. I just want to vent about a bad customer. I wouldn't mind at all if people shared similar stories about indecisive customers. I'd consider that commiserating, and I'd enjoy it. But people sharing stories about wine is not of interest to me; especially since wine is clearly not the part of what happened that bothered me.

There's nothing I can do about it, and even if there were, I wouldn't. People should feel free to chat away in whichever direction the conversation takes them. Forums aren't enjoyable when they're too rigid. But it annoys me all the same.

[the_std]

I think what the_std dislikes is when one inconsequential part of the post gets all the attention (say, the customer happened to be a teacher), and the main point of the post (the teacher was attempting to make a return without a receipt, for example) gets ignored. I hate it too.

This is exactly what I meant. Sorry if I didn't make it clear in my original post... Commiserating with the OP and offering sympathy is just fine and dandy. Sometimes it's good to know you're not the only one to deal with that kind of thing. I was specifically talking about, as Raps put it, one-downmanship. "You think your band teacher sucked? Well, mine made us eat hot coals and swim around the Arctic Circle!" kind of thing. Yes, that's an exaggeration, but it happens so very often. It gets to the point sometimes where, if I click on a new thread and see that the OP mentions something that starts a lot of these threads (teachers is actually the one I notice the most), then I won't even bother checking any of the replies. It's kind of pathetic.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I imagine it's less about one-upsmanship and more about commiseration. Misery loves company and all that.

[Falconess]

As much as I hate one-upsmanship(or downsmanship, however you wanna look at it), I still consider that "on topic." I agree, the derailing is rather annoying. This I may start a different thread for the "one-ups" though, 'cause now I find myself wanting to rant about that *laughs*

[the_std]

Again, I'm not talking about if the OP is "my teacher really sucked" and everyone starts posting "yeah, that sucks, here's my sucky teacher" stories.

I'm talking about if the OP is "a teacher came in to buy a book, and she yelled at me cause it wasn't on sale" and the thread completely becomes "oh man, teachers suck, they ruined my childhood" stories.

That is definitely derailment.

[BroomJockey]

I understand and commiserate.

[DrFaroohk]

I get similar shit on other message boards, like if I'm telling a story about mcdonalds, and I'll say "me and my kid went to mcdonalds and...." only to be lambasted for referring to him as "my kid", instead of "my cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, cute, adorable, wonderful, awesome, loving, cute, adorable, awesome, loving, cute, loving, awesome, smart, best kid in the whole world Bradley!"