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Silly and trivial, but... goons always derailing about regional food has been oddly helpful in my new job. We get customers from all over the US (world, even), and when I'm making small talk, I can always whip out, eg: "Oh you're from Cincinnati? I've heard about your Skyline chili!" or "Oh, you're from Memphis? I hear your bbq is the best, better than here in Virginia!" or "Chicago, huh? Always wanted to try a real deep dish pizza!" Puts the customer at ease, makes 'em puff up with local pride. I haven't had a customer service type job in years, and I suck at small talk, so it gives me an easy way to connect and make friendly banter. As a mod, I hate food derails bc they always devolve into "lol everyone in the US puts ranch on everything" vs "lol everyone in the UK boils everything into mush" style slapfights. But at my job? This has proven strangely invaluable. NB: this is not an invitation to start more food derails. Just saying the countless ones I've sat through have had a delightful unexpected side effect.
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Sep 19, 2021 18:02
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 04:10 |
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the goons of cspam and byob have helped me through a shitload of tough situations and it would be hard for me to list them all. They were there for me when my cat got sick this year. They were there for my wife and I when we decided to escape mississippi. It's because of cspam that my business exists at all, and continues to supply supplemental income as well as a rather nice tax writeoff for operating it in our home. I frequently remark to my wife that as pissed as I get about dumb poo poo sometimes on these forums I genuinely don't know where we'd be without them. A goon got my wife her new $16 an hour work from home job that she started yesterday. Soon we will both have full time wfh paychecks coming in and without something awful that wouldn't have happened, I'd still be living in mississippi instead of utah and maybe still working a dead end restaurant job. The good truly outweighs the bad by miles and miles and miles. SA has been a defining part of my life for closing in on two entire decades. Hard to grok really
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Sep 21, 2021 16:13
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I honestly don't even remember what first brought me to SA but I think it was around 2008 when I started lurking, and I just checked and registered in 2010. Goons helped me crack some tough nuts during my studies, especially those in the linguistics thread but other than that I just got a ton of entertainment and good vibes from this place. Sometimes I'd get help or information on small stuff that would've been a bitch to figure out myself but nothing major. Until a little over half a year ago, when my dad died. Being able to vent and talk about it in the E/N chat and braindump thread, as well as the Dutch thread, helped me through what has been the hardest time in my life. I never frequented those threads before but I stuck around because they're good people and super supportive, which is nice, and it helps to talk about your struggles and staying to help others feels like the right thing to do.
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Oct 4, 2021 13:57
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Thank you to all the goons who make silly let's plays, funny jokes, and informative effort posts. Also, to all the XIV goons who offered their sympathy to me. My father passed away yesterday after a short illness and all y'all have helped me process and at times get away from a very stressful situation. Hug your family and friends and tell your loved ones what they mean to you because you never know what tomorrow will bring.
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Oct 5, 2021 21:19
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I went to a goon wedding last Saturday and I met him through giving away games in PGS literally 10 years ago. We were Steam friends for a while and when his mom died I dragged him into EMS, where he ended up as as 1st Lt, left retail poo poo and ended up going from EMT-B to RN. The dude is awesome and I’m happy this site introduced me. Connor, what you’ve done with your life has been incredible. Ugly In The Morning has a new favorite as of 12:13 on Oct 22, 2021 |
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Oct 22, 2021 12:10
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The Book Barn subforum helped me a ton in finding quality reads, especially for history books. I like how they're well informed but not gatekeepery so questions about what they recommend are useful. The military history thread in Ask/Tell is excellent too for letting me ask questions and get real replies for stuff I had wondered about.
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Oct 22, 2021 23:32
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Zaurg's threads motivated me to lose a bunch of weight and start running marathons. Zaurg was like the forum's biggest fuckup, and he managed to get in shape and travel to run marathons. If even a fuckup like Zaurg can do this poo poo, I can, too. COVID times has packed on another 10lb from my lowest weight so I have work to (re)do, but I can do it. Also, this post: quote:I run slow
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Oct 27, 2021 02:12
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I have been taking care of my mom for nearly 20 years now. Ever since she had a (thankfully benign) lemon-sized brain tumor removed and had to have her knees replaced, she's needed more and more assistance as the years have gone on. I started working at UPS straight out of high school to help pay the bills and stayed living at home to help her, but thanks to American Medical Costs it was extraordinarily expensive for her medicine, especially since she is also diabetic. We were barely, barely hanging on, the only thing she had left was the house after losing everything else. After she lost her job in 2011 due to her declining health, we were in a panic, unsure of what to do because of expenses. Then Team Fortress 2 introduced trading, where you could trade weapons and hats. It all started with a Max's Severed Head that I was offered like a hundred bucks for, and the light bulb went on for a way I could help supplement my regular income. I started buying people's inventories and trading for stuff, and exchanged copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for tf2 items, and cycle them through the marketplace for steam wallet cash, which I'd use to buy games at a discount for people in exchange for paypal. I became extremely well known and part of the "Trusted Traders" group on Steamrep.com. After a person I sold to filed a chargeback claim scam saying they never received their items(because back then paypal had no protections for digital goods whatsoever so you could just claim you never got anything and get your money back and steal the stuff purchased too), I decided to only sell to people on Something Awful. I had multiple very successful threads in SA-Mart where I helped goons across the globe get cheap versions of steam games for either a 15% discount or vastly heftier discounts if they lived in places that charged 100+ dollars for 50-60 dollar games like australia, europe, etc. This was before Valve clamped down on gifting people internationally. I also began using my clout to broker TF2, DOTA and CSGO items for goons, including unusual hats, rare couriers, and even one of the Golden Frying Pans that at the time were worth about $4500, I believe that goon said I covered their rent for the following six months by selling that for them. I did all my brokering for free for goons, but accepted tips if people wanted to give me something for my services. thanks to the generosity of many goons who gave me a cut, as well as the successful steam games service I offered on SA-Mart, I was able to supplement my real job income with money from that and we were able to get by for about half a decade in the 2010s until I was able to go full time at UPS and stop my side jobs I had to do. I also met many amazing goons who I still talk to today, and who have helped me out immensely over the years, just by being my friend, even if I'll probably never be able to meet them in person. SA is an amazing forum and I do hope that it can grow again, it's felt a bit...desiccated the last few years. I know a lot of goons hate me for various reasons, but I still love this community and everything it has done for people, and I hope it stays active for decades to come.
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Nov 7, 2021 09:51
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The forums are how I met my Parahexavoctal has a new favorite as of 20:44 on Jan 18, 2024 |
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Nov 11, 2021 19:45
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I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty drunk & stoned right now, I'm risking a probation but honestly...gently caress it. Thank you to everyone here, whether it's been members, admins, or whatever role you've played. I joined this site over 15 years ago after a college friend showed me the front page & I've been hooked ever since. The variety, different opinions, people going out of their way to help complete strangers...it's been inspiring & motivating, as dumb or cliche as it sounds. Just wanna say thank you to everyone here for their contributions & keeping this place relaxed, creative & fun all the time.  E: to prove my point, I'll reiterate to any mods: if this is outside the rules, do what you gotta do. I'd rather eat a probe for a few hours for being honest than be quiet & not express how great this community is. I won't hold any ill will toward anyone for enforcing the rules. BOOTY-ADE has a new favorite as of 01:52 on Nov 13, 2021 |
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Nov 13, 2021 01:47
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I've built lasting friendships with nerdy weirdos I've met on this site.
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Nov 15, 2021 11:24
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BOOTY-ADE posted:I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty drunk & stoned right now, I'm risking a probation but honestly...gently caress it. it is ok, BOOTY-ADE, this is a safe space
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Nov 15, 2021 11:27
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Thursday Next posted:Zaurg's threads motivated me to lose a bunch of weight and start running marathons. Zaurg was like the forum's biggest fuckup, and he managed to get in shape and travel to run marathons. If even a fuckup like Zaurg can do this poo poo, I can, too. Oh yeah Zaurg did wonders for goon financial literacy. The mega thread had pages of carefully explained reasonable investing and budgeting advice that was ignored by the OP, but many readers were able to figure out how to improve their own situations.
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Nov 19, 2021 14:58
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this dumb web site taught me the eternal lessons of "be funny or shut up" and "lurk more" which is why i barely post lol
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Nov 19, 2021 15:04
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Jim the Nickel posted:this dumb web site taught me the eternal lessons of "be funny or shut up" and "lurk more" which is why i barely post lol I respectfully disagree. Don't let people bully you. 
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Nov 19, 2021 16:20
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sebmojo posted:it is ok, BOOTY-ADE, this is a safe space Honestly wish I could upvote this thank you
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Nov 20, 2021 02:34
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I was a lonely and loving weird child. I went to college and felt stupider and shittier than ever. I met a lot of goons who went to my college and while some of them were GOONS, a lot of them were good people and I was happy to have met them. I'm going through an emotional time again and places like this just don't exist like they used to. The world changed and maybe I didn't. Anyways, miss you goonbros and goonbabes. I know we're all in our 30s & 40s now but I wish you guys all the best.
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Nov 21, 2021 02:35
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C-SPAM is the only sane and rational place on the internet for Covid news.
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Nov 28, 2021 03:22
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Jim the Nickel posted:this dumb web site taught me the eternal lessons of "be funny or shut up" and "lurk more" which is why i barely post lol low-tier posters post without hesitation mid-tier posters lurk and shut up high-tier posters post without hesitation. Go for the gold
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Nov 30, 2021 23:51
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The breakup thread in E/N helped me realise I had been in an emotionally dark place for a long time in the aftermath of a long-term relationship and made me realise I was battling something much more serious than I thought. The folks there were very kind to me in a way that made me realise I hadn't been kind to myself, which in a way has been life-changing. I still struggle with self-loathing, but it was an outside perspective I really needed and that in a small but significant way changed my life. 
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Dec 2, 2021 22:07
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BOOTY-ADE posted:I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty drunk & stoned right now, I'm risking a probation but honestly...gently caress it. This forum has actually been great at letting me ramble while hammered without doing it to anyone where it would gently caress up my personal or professional life.
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Dec 3, 2021 20:36
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I've been posting here for 10 great years!* *years may have actually not been great
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Dec 4, 2021 23:34
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Being a member of these forums gave me a pretty good idea of what to expect when I visited the US and Canada a few years ago. BYOB also helped me deal with a pretty rough breakup. Just being able to vent to a bunch of internet strangers really made a difference.
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Jan 22, 2022 04:49
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Bargearse posted:Being a member of these forums gave me a pretty good idea of what to expect when I visited the US and Canada a few years ago. You really shouldn't have written your name in piss on her door. I don't care how horny the chips made you.
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Jan 22, 2022 05:57
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Inceltown posted:You really shouldn't have written your name in piss on her door. I don't care how horny the chips made you. Hey! That's enough of that schoolboy humour! Besides, I had a bone to pick with her about my missing donuts.
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Jan 22, 2022 06:53
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i've made enough friends through somethingawful that most of the attendees at my wedding were goons. some of my very best friends are goons. i just feel very fortunate to have had this community available when i've needed a sense of community in my life! way better than most cults.
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May 9, 2022 22:34
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SA has massively changed my life for the better at least twice: After I graduated from brewing school in 2010 but couldn't find work, a goon working as an expat in Denmark helped me get a job at a brewery there. The situation there ended up being a shitshow (through no fault of his or mine), but I got to live abroad for a year and having that on my resume got my foot in the door, and I've been working as a brewer for almost 12 years now. A few years later, when I got hit by a case of The Genders, SA was one of my first sources of support and helped give me the knowledge and confidence to transition. I ended up dating one of the first people who supported me, and even though it didn't work out between us, I'm happy that they're in my life.
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Jul 14, 2022 00:44
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That 'how do I eat if I'm poor' thread in gws equipped me to not be an idiot about grocery spending when I got my first apartment in second year uni (many years ago now) and now I'm rich and powerful from all the food money I've saved. That last part is a lie but the first part isn't
Killingyouguy! has a new favorite as of 17:23 on Jul 14, 2022 |
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Jul 14, 2022 17:20
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I read the general fitness thread in ylls six or seven years ago and learned to count calories and I lost like 30 pounds and have more or less been able to keep it off since then
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Jul 19, 2022 04:35
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Colorfinger and his lovely wife (I forget her username here) had a music show and they showed me tremendous patience, kindness and no judgment despite me being a republican christian idiot at the time and helped me break out of that cult completely. Not just them, but many on this site (different account obviously, as this one is new). It didn’t happen overnight and they weren’t the only factors, but it was the beginning of the end for me. They had far more kindness and less judgment than anyone I had been raised with, including my own family.
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Aug 24, 2022 23:35
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Twosday posted:Colorfinger and his lovely wife (I forget her username here) had a music show and they showed me tremendous patience, kindness and no judgment despite me being a republican christian idiot at the time and helped me break out of that cult completely. Not just them, but many on this site (different account obviously, as this one is new). It didn’t happen overnight and they weren’t the only factors, but it was the beginning of the end for me. They had far more kindness and less judgment than anyone I had been raised with, including my own family. Awesome. I like your username/regdate/av package there.
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Aug 25, 2022 01:04
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BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:Awesome. I like your username/regdate/av package there. why thank you!
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Aug 25, 2022 06:12
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E/N really helped me after a super traumatic experience, having somewhere to just talk about what i was going through really helped and i even met one person through the thread. we haven't kept in touch but having even one person to talk to and hang out with at that time made such a difference. Someone also posted kind of harshly at one point but they were right and that outside perspective was a good wake up call. I don't really "get" journaling to get through difficult feelings and having a semi public place to actually talk about everything was good for me i think.
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Sep 1, 2022 19:14
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The tattoo thread is the reason I only have cool tattoos and nothing lovely
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Sep 1, 2022 23:11
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venus de lmao posted:The tattoo thread is the reason I only have cool tattoos and nothing lovely But have you posted your penis to the tattoo thread?
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Sep 2, 2022 18:54
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I just stumbled upon people reminiscing about the dumb republican printer thread that spawned Weedlord Bonerhitler and I feel a great sense of pride at my contibution to the internet. That was a really fun loving day, you guys. 
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Sep 5, 2022 20:36
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It didn't work out, but during lockdown the ttrpg community here got me running a game that helped me through the monotony and doldrums of working during the pandemic, and that confidence got me running another game elsewhere that helped me make serious friends. Also I've saved hundreds of dollars on action figures via goon discounts.
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Sep 19, 2022 22:20
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Anytime I have ever taken a drug recreationally, I trust SA for the facts. I know doing this has helped me avoid harmful interactions and side effects. Thank you, you drug addled bastards.
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Sep 22, 2022 20:08
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Edit: Snipped
Dakota_Online has a new favorite as of 21:50 on Feb 21, 2023 |
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Oct 5, 2022 23:19
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Way back in 2007, I was 18 and intent on killing myself thanks to a lovely combination of childhood trauma and drug abuse. In between all the various edgelord stuff in GBS there was a thread about suicide, full of goons sharing stories about why they didn't go through with it and how things got better or how the suicides of friends and relatives had affected them. Reading that was enough to get me to hang on for a while longer. I don't remember how I got to SA, but that thread is what made me buy an account. And now I'm 33 and still here. Life's weird. Glad I didn't die.
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Oct 20, 2022 20:01
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