I'm here, so now what?

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I'm very sorry to trouble you all, but:

Are there any initiation ceremonies/tests I have to go through to prove my worth before I become I fully fledged member on here?

I'm only asking because that's happened in most of the other clubs/institutions I've joined/had to join in the past.

Hence, I was expecting some kind of rite of passage ritual, perhaps under false pretendes.
Or some kind of ID/record/detail cross check at least.
Or is that only what so called NT or "normal" people do?

Do such ritualistic behaviours not apply here because of who we are and our beliefs as unique individuals?

Hence, we assume that every member is telling the truth (on trust) without having to test them?

I'm not criticising, I'm just wondering.
If you abhor tradition of any kind or not that's fine too.


As for possible initiation tasks:

I'm sorry, I really can't bring myself to bite the head off of a live chicken or swallow a goldfish: that's cruelty to animals . I also can't do cartwheels, snap my fingers or stand on my head. Sorry, but I can't dance either. I can play a simple tune on the keyboard, or recite some poetry if required though.

As a side note, have any of you been initiated into anything in any unusual/interesting ways, or has this never happened to you?

If it's too gory or unpleasant I don't want to know, thanks.

Are there any other cultural things I should know about on here?
I often have problems/embarassmenst with unwritten rules in organisations, that's why I'm asking.

PS: I'm feeling a bit happier now.

er.... no.

i don't think we'll make you bite off the heads of live chickens... only thing is the rules on the top of the forums... nothing too difficult to follow. just the obvious, don't swear, don't bash people and crap like that.

Welcome.

Don't worry.

I've read the forum rules very carefully.

It was the unwritten rules I was worried about.

In the past I've got into trouble for disobeying rules that I didn't even know existed in some institutions.

I apologised politely and said: " I didn't know, why didn't you say?"

Somehow everyone magically knew these unwritten rules and I didn't.

That's why I'm double checking and asking now just to be sure.

Sorry if I sound paranoid.

Thanks.

We don't do hazing here.

Because the community is largely illiterate to unwritten rules, no one knows what they are... until it's too late.

Just don't drink the Kool-aid.

Well...

There is thing you see to become an official aspie.

It involves a bathtub full of mayonnaise, a french poodle and a boxset of all the Star Trek movies. There's an optional part involving bacon and a physics textbook, but you might not be ready for that part yet.


Just disregard what I said and you'll be one of us in no time.

Hmm, let me think.....

Nah, welcome!

Here's how the initiation works;

You start out being identified next to your avatar as a bird, something silly. And as you post more, you get more 'serious' mythological creatures, until 1,000 posts. At this point, you get to choose what's under your avater.

Past that, you're home free..

*hands you a celebratory banana* that should be good enough...gone are the days of owa giving you his brief initiation welcome paragraph.
*takes off hooded cloak and blows out candle*

Last edited by tinky on 04 Oct 2008, 1:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You don't have to do any of that stuff...but if you want to you are more than welcome to.

I think you are an official member by making your first post. But I think you are even more official when Tim_Tex welcomes you. He does it so well.

But I will add an additional welcome greeting.

Thanks for welcoming me.

Tim_tex has welcomed me already.

As for the bathtub of mayonnaise I won’t bother with that, it would be a waste of good mayonnaise.

It seems that such eccentric acts are socially appropriate if they are conducted for fundraising purposes. It’s apparently okay to bathe in a tub filled to the brim with baked beans to raise money for famine aid, especially if you’re famous. I find bathing in a baked bean tub in order to raise money to feed people hypocritical and silly. The excuse “It’s for charity” seems to socially justify this bizarre act especially if it's televised. This is despite the fact that the beans are unsuitable for human consumption afterwards and are put in pig’s swill.

I’m afraid I don’t understand physics that well. Would one of my old organic chemistry textbooks suffice instead? I have a very thick coding manual if that would do the job better.

I’m sorry but I heard all these horror stories about people in college having to do strange/dangerous/unmentionable acts in order to be accepted into a group. That was why I wasn’t accepted into many groups.

How do people know what the unwritten rules are in real life if they're unwritten?
How would we know if we didn't know about these invisible rules?

It's a very confusing way of doing things if you ask me. Why don't they just hand me a prep sheet at the beginning with "Thou shalt not"s so I don't have to blunder my way through working them out myself?

Why are all these unwritten rules always contradictory to the written rules of an organisation? Is there some kind of underground conspiracy going on?

One of these unwritten rules I’ve heard about is “don’t grass people up”. After the sports field had been mowed at school, we used to put grass on each other all the time. It’s very itchy and unpleasant having the wretched stuff put down the back of your jumper. What a bizarre and silly expression. Joking aside, I think people have the right to know the truth, particularly if the organisation puts emphasis on telling the truth.

Another one is apparently: “Don’t wait for the green man light to show at the road crossing; cross the road with all your friends when the red light shows to look cool.”

That unwritten rule is liable to get you killed if you’re not careful. I’ve known some cars that don’t stop on a red light at all. People do get injured (I’ve seen them). I say that ‘tis better to arrive ten minutes late in this life than fifty years too early in the next. This rule of self -preservation should apply to everybody.