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BrokenLinkage · 04-11-2014, 09:39 PM

It bothers me only a little that there are self-centered and immature people (with judgement likely further impaired by intoxication) that would do such a thing for personal amusement or notoriety. I've probably fit all three criteria at some point in my life.

What bothers me is that there are supposedly well-socialized, mature and sober fellow Boxster enthusiasts who would condone it.

I am no net nanny. Post whatever you want. But don't expect to post an opinion without being held accountable by those with differing thoughts.
Nine8six you seem like a great guy, I have really enjoyed many of your posts, and you have a phenomenal aftermarket headlight product that speaks for itself. Maybe you should let it, though, because your current articulated opinions are borrowing heavily against my reserve of respect for differing viewpoints. (and BTW-When an experienced mechanic and forum contributor offers the opinion that your headlight mod would result in a failed inspection in his state, he has no stake in your sales, nor motive to hurt them, its not personal, appears just trying to be helpful in responding to a newbie's request for info. Defending your product and dissing the other guy are 2 different things. And for the record, I've never spoken to or done business with either of you, although I really like your lights)

Random acts of vandalism performed for the sake of one's own amusement ARE NOT COOL, funny or not. Whose insurance rates do you think reflect the cost of correcting this vandalism?
Validating antisocial behavior because it is funny to a few people is just wrong from a values standpoint. But in financial terms, it is similar to the guy who goes to the movie theatre and shouts back at the characters on the screen- maybe funny to that guy and his inebriated friends, but the cost of their laugh is paid for by the other 100 people that feel like they have had their $9 ticket price and 2 hours of time stolen from them. So if their time is only worth minimum wage, that's about $2500 stolen from others --- was it really that funny?

Pranks played on friends with a predictable response, known ability to weather the financial or emotional stress, and the capability for payback, can be very funny indeed.
Pranks played on strangers, with the cost born by society at large and perhaps disproportionately by people in no position to bear these costs, and who lack the opportunity for retribution, are... small-minded, sophomoric, and cowardly. Respect for the property of others is essential for a society like ours to function. Maybe less so in other parts of the world, but I have no firsthand experience of non-capitalist societies.

As a child, I learned this first as a strongly held family value, the notion that you do not mess with someone else's property. I thought of it more as a family rule until in my early teens, a local crab fisherman found someone raiding his traps and shot him DRT. Seemed kind of extreme for the theft of less than $20 in crabs, I assumed he would be jailed or executed.
The judge sent him home, ruled it justifiable homicide, said the man had a right to protect his means of putting food on the family table, standing over each trap to shoo off poachers wasn't an option, so extreme measures were necessary to dis-incentivize the theft of his goods. I thought about it. Small theft repeated is just as bad as large theft. I liked eating crabs. No one would crab for a living if their traps were raided regularly. Good call judge.
I like my car. I don't much care for smart cars. But if there is no social sanction against ruining my car for another's amusement, pretty soon we'll all be driving around in a POS.
Flipping cars may be funny, but it ain't cool.

Now for the car prank I wish I had participated in... In high school, the teacher who later became my homeroom teacher, had been giving the class above me grief that they were not very creative in pranking the faculty. She drove a VW Beetle. Her classroom had sliding glass doors... yes, you guessed it. While the budding engineers calculated that there was 1/2" to spare if they took the sliding doors off the tracks, the weightlifters and linesmen retrieved her bug from its usual place. When she returned from lunch, she complimented the assembled class on the prank they had played by arranging all the class desks, including hers, outside her classroom on the lawn. To be a good sport she announced they would have class outside that day, but the desks would have to be replaced later. Not realizing the reason for the persistent giggles, she remembered a book she needed from the classroom and stepped inside to find her beloved baby blue VW facing the chalkboard like an attentive pupil. After a moment of apoplexy, she regained her composure to teach. At the end of class, she announced that she would set school history by failing to graduate an entire class if her unscratched car did not make it back to its usual spot by 5pm. It did.

04-11-2014, 09:39 PM	#33
BrokenLinkage Registered User Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Alabama Posts: 487	Flippin' Flippers It bothers me only a little that there are self-centered and immature people (with judgement likely further impaired by intoxication) that would do such a thing for personal amusement or notoriety. I've probably fit all three criteria at some point in my life. What bothers me is that there are supposedly well-socialized, mature and sober fellow Boxster enthusiasts who would condone it. I am no net nanny. Post whatever you want. But don't expect to post an opinion without being held accountable by those with differing thoughts. Nine8six you seem like a great guy, I have really enjoyed many of your posts, and you have a phenomenal aftermarket headlight product that speaks for itself. Maybe you should let it, though, because your current articulated opinions are borrowing heavily against my reserve of respect for differing viewpoints. (and BTW-When an experienced mechanic and forum contributor offers the opinion that your headlight mod would result in a failed inspection in his state, he has no stake in your sales, nor motive to hurt them, its not personal, appears just trying to be helpful in responding to a newbie's request for info. Defending your product and dissing the other guy are 2 different things. And for the record, I've never spoken to or done business with either of you, although I really like your lights) Random acts of vandalism performed for the sake of one's own amusement ARE NOT COOL, funny or not. Whose insurance rates do you think reflect the cost of correcting this vandalism? Validating antisocial behavior because it is funny to a few people is just wrong from a values standpoint. But in financial terms, it is similar to the guy who goes to the movie theatre and shouts back at the characters on the screen- maybe funny to that guy and his inebriated friends, but the cost of their laugh is paid for by the other 100 people that feel like they have had their $9 ticket price and 2 hours of time stolen from them. So if their time is only worth minimum wage, that's about $2500 stolen from others --- was it really that funny? Pranks played on friends with a predictable response, known ability to weather the financial or emotional stress, and the capability for payback, can be very funny indeed. Pranks played on strangers, with the cost born by society at large and perhaps disproportionately by people in no position to bear these costs, and who lack the opportunity for retribution, are... small-minded, sophomoric, and cowardly. Respect for the property of others is essential for a society like ours to function. Maybe less so in other parts of the world, but I have no firsthand experience of non-capitalist societies. As a child, I learned this first as a strongly held family value, the notion that you do not mess with someone else's property. I thought of it more as a family rule until in my early teens, a local crab fisherman found someone raiding his traps and shot him DRT. Seemed kind of extreme for the theft of less than $20 in crabs, I assumed he would be jailed or executed. The judge sent him home, ruled it justifiable homicide, said the man had a right to protect his means of putting food on the family table, standing over each trap to shoo off poachers wasn't an option, so extreme measures were necessary to dis-incentivize the theft of his goods. I thought about it. Small theft repeated is just as bad as large theft. I liked eating crabs. No one would crab for a living if their traps were raided regularly. Good call judge. I like my car. I don't much care for smart cars. But if there is no social sanction against ruining my car for another's amusement, pretty soon we'll all be driving around in a POS. Flipping cars may be funny, but it ain't cool. Now for the car prank I wish I had participated in... In high school, the teacher who later became my homeroom teacher, had been giving the class above me grief that they were not very creative in pranking the faculty. She drove a VW Beetle. Her classroom had sliding glass doors... yes, you guessed it. While the budding engineers calculated that there was 1/2" to spare if they took the sliding doors off the tracks, the weightlifters and linesmen retrieved her bug from its usual place. When she returned from lunch, she complimented the assembled class on the prank they had played by arranging all the class desks, including hers, outside her classroom on the lawn. To be a good sport she announced they would have class outside that day, but the desks would have to be replaced later. Not realizing the reason for the persistent giggles, she remembered a book she needed from the classroom and stepped inside to find her beloved baby blue VW facing the chalkboard like an attentive pupil. After a moment of apoplexy, she regained her composure to teach. At the end of class, she announced that she would set school history by failing to graduate an entire class if her unscratched car did not make it back to its usual spot by 5pm. It did.