The Morality Police

[Hal Copple]

My son and I were able to spend most of Sat together, doing car stuff, centered around getting snow tires (ice tires, actually, for SC) on his Boxster. Last week he spun gently off the interstate, causing a torn rear bumper cover. Could have been much worse.

He is on several Porsche forums, and we talked a lot about cars, and the people who populate the forums, like this one. Before i got my Replica, i was on a Mitsu forum, with my Turbo AWD car. It used to be that virtually all the discussion was about how to make our cars faster. In time, as the cars drifted down to a younger group of owners, there began to appear many posts about "kills", or when a fast Eclipse/Laser/Talon would beat some other car on the street. This would bring forth scathing denunciation of the street race, so these sorts of posts began to be less frequent, but i am sure the real incidents did not.

Chris says on the several popular Porsche forums, there are a few frequent posters who have taken upon themselves to jump on anybody who defiles the "image" of a Porsche driver. If a driver talkes about a spirited country drive, he will be scolded and chastized, and generally humiliated for disgracing the faultless public perception of how a Porsche must be driven. Chris calls them the Morality Police.

And so it happens here, on CC. A new member asked a reasonable question, here and elsewhere, and the first reply jumped his case for being stupid and lazy. If I were to contemplate purchasing any complex car, for sure i too would seek information and opinion, anywhere i could. It seems to me that we too have a small number of members who have assumed the right to keep things correct, right, and going in the proper direction.

Our own Morality Police, i call them. There is such poor tolerance (by a very few) of newness, of inquiry, of question, of disagreement, of naivete, or in general, of any non-approved action or opinion. As i have grown older, and hopefully matured, i have become more tolerant of most things, and think that those who claim the righteous position are mean and dangerous to the uniqueness of human nature. Me, I guess i am poorly tolerant of the Morality Police.

[ToyCollector]

Well said.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

I have to agree with you on this one Hal..... To quick to jump on a new guy and say "do a search".....

Some of us (me for sure) are not as good with a computer as some of the others here,guys,give us a brake.....

I'm not to sure how to do one,but the other day I needed some info on an old topic and could not remember the topic it was listed under,did a search and ended of with a ton of "hits",would have taken me half a day to go thru,I gave up in ten minutes,had I brought the topic up again (probably a year or more since it was up),I'm most definetly sure some know-it-all would have told me to do a search as the topic had been discussed before..... Had a newbie been told that,we may have lost a member.....

We all need to give a guy especailly a new guy the benefit of the doubt.....I for one,when I do something stupid,do not need to be told just how stupid it was,I know that already....

Let the man with no sins cast the first stone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That feels a lot better,thanks Hal..................

David

[G.R.]

Thanks Hal--well said.

[Edley Rondinone]

I agree with TC, David, and GR: Well said, Hal!

[kountzecobra]

Very well said Hal. The sad part is that the one(s) this is aimed at probably won't have the snap to realize who is guilty.

[jamvan]

Hal:

Very well and politely put.

jim

[ToyCollector]

All those that cherish and put their families first I am sure will figure it out---I hope.

[Rich]

Hal, tell your son to dump the Boxster and get a real Porsche...a 911SC and hang out at the air-cooled 911 tech forum at Pelican Parts. Going faster is pretty much the whole point.

[RPRICE]

Hal I missed the post you referenced, but know full well of what you speak. It is interesting to witness the "advanced degree" on any subject, that many people receive from their own return address. I'm sure that the average owner of our cars is a classic type A. But there are some of us that did not wake up knowing it all, and welcome the help and advice of our fellow gearheads. I am fortunate enough to have several performance cars and follow the various web sites dedicated to each. When the "elite" and or "police" take over the sites, it goes down fast. Sorta like when a gang takes over the neighborhood. Witness the number of post vs the number viewed. Then look at how most post are from a few. When I first got involved in CC in 1999, the post were from the knowledgable and were just that, historical and informative. No pretence, just love for the car and sport, and desire to nurture others. Now, it all seems to be about the rabbid opinions of some, with little support for the newbe.
Richard
Memphis

[BMK]

Hey

Don't get rid of the Boxster.



Dollar for dollar I think they are good value. Whilst room is not something they are known for they look great.

Cheers

Bernie

Cruising in the Boxster in the sun??

[casaleenie]

Dammit, this has been discussed before... do a search for Christ's sake!!!!!!

You lazy SOB!!!!!


Oooppps, Sorry,, thought this was a first time poster....

[G.R.]

LMAO

[TheSaint71]

NICE POST HAL! I totally agree when I was new on other forums I'd get that all the time "do a search!" Thats fine but I hated it because I did do the search and although like they said it was discussed a million times more often then not in my personal experince they never ever addressed the original question just tlaked bout it, obviously thus people keep asking about it! Ive gotten great replies to all my posts here! Thanks

As for how a Porsche should be driven, thats upto whoever owns it, but I have to nominate my grandpa.. in his 1977 911s which I called SILVER or SILVER BULLET for it was silver and gorgeous! Had like no miles on it etc.. ANyway my grandpa would take me to my aunts house, this in in Gold Beach Oregon right above California/Oregon costal border... well my aunt lives in squ valley a long skinny windey road... with many cliffs that drop deep down to the Rouge river and my grandpa would absolutely RACE down therse roads going 70 miles and hour on the tightest turns ever and would bet us he'd never squeel a tire... he scared the crap out of us! lol Thats my memories of him his excuse to grandma was that he washed the car and needed to get all the water off of it, which he did but wow scary ride!


anyway good times lol

Great post Hal

[PatBuckley]

Thanks for posting this Hal. You are are correct.

[Turk]

Are you guys talking about mrmustang's reply?

TURK

[Excaliber]

It's good point Hal makes. As I've said before and it's worth repeating:

Doing a "search" can be very time consuming and to often you don't find what your looking for.

All though it may be "boring" for some of us veterans to answer the same questions over and over, we should do it with a smile, not an attitude. WE owe the Club that.

Ernie

[G.R.]

Ernie that is the point I was trying to make--share your knowledge--that is what makes this whole thing enjoyable--share what you know--learn what you don't--help the the new guy if you can--razz some,get razzed--don't take it to heart--because frankly life's to short--

And remember "Ain't Life Grand"

[A Snake]

Right on Hal. Nicely done.

When I signed up, I was exposed to an environment here on CC that I was ill prepared for. There were a few smart asses, who seemed to delight in making fools of others. While they were by far the minority, they tended to spoil it for others. I haven't seen those types of posting for some time now, but I very nearly said stuff it and gave up on CC.

Hal has said it very well. This is indeed a forum intended to enlighten, provide entertainment and a place for people with a common interest to share ideas and experiences. It is also to provide information.

In any group, no matter what the focus, there will be that 10% who insist on being right about everything and argumentative, even when they have no idea what they are talking about.

Then, to make it all worth while there are the Hal Copples of the world.

There are a group of very knowledgeable people here at CC, who willingly take their time to help others, without making a dime doing it. That's pretty special in my book. They include manufacturers, mechanics, semi-pro and pro racers and some very gifted amateurs who have built their own cars.

Y'know, it's kinda funny. I never have told anyone to do a search. It's a lot easier to just try to answer their questions. Gotta get that ego trip ya know......

Al

[wilf leek]

Just a simple expression of support for the message of this thread.