Baiting Friends

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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:32 am

I can't really consider this guy a friend, but this is what happened.

This guy is a fan of my band, he emailed me looking for mp3s of rare material. I sent him some, but accidentally omitted some other files.

He asked about the missing files, and I told him that if he sent me this picture at his new job at Home Depot, that I would send him the missing files.

Awesome!

[img][/img]

Mod Edit: Image of someone who has nothing to do with scammers or scamming removed. [BB]

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:03 am

@pantsface...if this a joke between friends, then okay. But if you're getting an innocent person to pose with signs, then I'm thinking this ain't Kosher!

I'll leave this here for a while, until you can explain why I shouldn't remove it.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:16 am

Quote:

he emailed me looking for mp3s of rare material. I sent him some

I think it was a fair trade Laughing

It's not like he tricked him into sending the picture, he just asked for a trade.

Also; That guy looks like an employee of Home Depot, which is a hardware store in the USA that sells wood and other materials, so the sign is relevant, and hilarious.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:17 am

hmm... I see nothing wrong with it. Asking someone to pose with a sign. Not like I made him at gun point.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:26 am

KeyserSoze wrote:

Also; That guy looks like an employee of Home Depot, which is a hardware store in the USA that sells wood and other materials, so the sign is relevant, and hilarious.

And also has nothing whatsoever to do with 419 scammers. Should we now also get our friends and family to pose with signs, just because it would be funny? Sorry, but I don't think this is appropriate for this forum.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:43 am

Pantsface wrote:

hmm... I see nothing wrong with it. Asking someone to pose with a sign. Not like I made him at gun point.

It just seems to me like it's involving an innocent third party. But if no one else objects, I guess I'll let this one slide.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:48 am

well, holding a sign doesn't hurt anyone, and he did it willingly. I see no problem.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:52 am

Oh it's just a little fun. I do hope you asked his permission to post it on the web though.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:52 am

^^

you guys are all jackboots!

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:54 am

Sorry,

I don't see anything wrong with it. I have spent a considerable amount of time in Home Depot. They commonly make comments about "wood" in a joking manner. It's just good fun between a couple of guys.

Might be a problem in some parts of the world, but no problem here.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:58 am

Quote:

Should we now also get our friends and family to pose with signs, just because it would be funny?

I am always down for getting my friends to do stupid things. You should have seen the boxing match we had last weekend, it was great.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:22 am

Personal opinion: whilst it might be amusing to "bait" someone you know in RL into taking a funny pic for you, posting that full face pic on a rather rabidly anti 419 board (esp without his express permission) isn't the best of ideas.
/me looks around for a spare set of jackboots... nope, but found some discarded bunny slippers...

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:03 am

I wonder if this poor guy would still be a fan if he new what you did with his pic. Confused

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:23 am

I'm afraid I'm with SF on this one.
I think this could head down the "ethics" route pretty quickly though, so I'd like to point out that though I agree with SlayerFaith about posting the picture being a bit too much for me, it is only personal opinion.

The guy does have the makings of an awesome beard though!

Massive edit:

Mods, if I'm going too far here, please censor me, and Pantsface, with all due respect, you are a good baiter, and I have no problem with you personally, but....
The more I think about this, the more angry it makes me. This guy isn't a scammer, he isn't even a third party employed by a scammer in an attempt to scam you, he has done nothing more than appreciate your talent for making music. So he asked you for some rare material, it was a simple request (not a scam!) which you could have said "yes" to (which you did), or you could have said "No" to.
Ultimately, after saying yes to his request, you decided to use your "power" over him (and if someone is a fan of your work, you do to a certain degree hold some sort of power over them) to insult him and degrade him by requesting that picture and posting it on the internet.
I don't know you, or how big/successful your band is, but to me thats just plain wrong. In my opinion (and thats all this is), not only do you owe this guy an apology, but considering he's a fan of your work, I would suggest, if he is still a fan, some sort of offer of making amends. Be that tickets/backstage passes, or just an offer to go out for beers or something.

/rant

Apologies. That seemed a bit long-winded, and it wasn't meant to be a personal attack, so please don't take it that way. Sad

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:59 am

I agree with crash and slayer. Wonder if he'll remain your fan if he knew ...

... and is I Love Wood supposed to be some form of joke?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:15 am

Isn�t the whole idea of "baiting friends" an oxymoron? I guess it can be a little difficult to know where the line runs between "harmless" practical jokes among friends and outright betrayal, but at least for me, this one is definitely not awesome.

Sorry, but I really think it is better to stick to screwing with mugus rather than sincere people in real life (especially fans of your band!).

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:10 am

I agree with BLZ Bubb here. In my opinion this is an abuse of power over an innocent person. Yes, of course he did it voluntarily, but that doesn�t count, cause he had all the best intentions in the first place. I think the way you treated him was unfair and you owe him an apology.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:17 am

Phew. Thanks breadcrumb - I thought maybe I'd gone over the top with my response. Confused

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:30 am

^^ No, I too think you put it quite well.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

That was petty and mean-spirited.

I expected better of you, Pants.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:00 pm

I just hope you hid your IP.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:56 am

Well, I am flabbergasted at the response Ive received from MOST members of eater here. I simply see no problem with this.

However, maybe if all of you knew the whole story you wouldn't find it so offensive. I don't know, I didn't think id have to explain the entire back story in order to not be attacked.

The short version of the long story is, even though I wouldn't call him a friend, is that he was in my town visiting, he emailed me wanting to buy me a beer. I took him out and bought him a beer and lunch, and we had a fine time. Once he also flew from Arizona to Oregon to see us and the local paper did an article on his rabid fan-ism. So we had a bit of history.

Anyway, he told me about getting a job at home depot at lunch, and the story continues from there.

He thought I was going to use it for an album cover, though I never said I was going to, so I highly doubt he has any problems with it being viewed on the eater.

Although I think this attack on me is completely unfounded and unfair, I will drop it now. I simply do not understand this stance taken by eater in the least. Maybe it was one of those situations where you had to see the entire exchange of phone calls and emails leading up to.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:41 am

Are you all pulling a quick one over on Pantsface? Are you really that offended? It was posted in the General Chat section so I don't see why it would have to be related to 419 or baiting. I didn't see the guy but it's not like he wouldn't have known what was being implied on the sign and it's fair play if he wants something from the band than they can get something back from him. I also think it's safe to assume that if he will pose for that sign at work & think that it would be used for an album cover, he wouldn't be too beat up about it appearing on Eater. That kinda negates the idea that he's an ITP.

Well that's my 2 cents, nothing more.

Pants - that's awesome that you are sharing some of your rare material w/ a big fan. that's a lot more than just about any band out there. PM me a link to your band's site if you have one - i'd love to check out your music.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:32 am

Nope I'm not offended, now that I understand the background of the story Laughing

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:41 am

Pantsface wrote:

...maybe if all of you knew the whole story you wouldn't find it so offensive.

In my initial post I think I gave you the opportunity to fill us in on the background of this...

crashhoot wrote:

if this a joke between friends, then okay. But if you're getting an innocent person to pose with signs, then I'm thinking this ain't Kosher!
I'll leave this here for a while, until you can explain why I shouldn't remove it.

However, your response did not contain any explanation...

Pantsface wrote:

hmm... I see nothing wrong with it. Asking someone to pose with a sign. Not like I made him at gun point.

And when I voiced my concerns about involving an innocent third party...

Pantsface wrote:

well, holding a sign doesn't hurt anyone, and he did it willingly. I see no problem.

So now you are complaining that we jumped on you without knowing the whole story, when you decided not to give us the whole story first?

Please tell me what I'm missing here!