I guess I just need to vent
 

I've switched my screen name because I'm pissed.

And I guess I just need to vent.

I am so beyond sick of reading these retro rush stories and these narcissistic posters on purpose leave us hanging. I know it's really a ridiculous thing I'm saying but it makes this board suck if you ask me. I know the moderators have no control over the posters, can't force them to continue their precious story as us losers wait with anticipation to finish their story. But it really makes me mad.

It's one thing for the story to be in real time and if god forbid the outcome isn't favorable for them to fall off the face of the earth. But it's an entirely different thing for the poster to know how their story ends and to fool us with, "and the bid card said..." and then keep us waiting for 10 days.

And us readers who post and post and post some more with things like, "you can't keep us hanging!!" "I'm hooked on this story" simply feeds their narcissisism. As I know this post does as well.

And don't even get me started with how stupid these posters are during their rush experience. Do you think that telling another house that you like/don't like another house is smart? I don't care how young, immature you are. Would you go to a job interview with Apple and tell them you own a PC? I was clueless during rush but not stupid.

And to show them how uninterested you are? Are you effing kidding me? The arrogance is quite staggering if you ask me.

Clearly I'm worked up and I know how ridiculous I sound but I think we need to stop feeding the flame of these insecure posters who are clearly looking for attention from complete strangers.

Now wonder generation Z or whatever they are called have reputations of being spoiled, etc.

Sorry for the rant.

Feel better?

I wish I were you. If the most stressful thing in your life is being pissed off about people's lack of speed in posting their personal recruitment stories, you're in a much better place than 99% of America.

No, I don't think you do. If you did, you wouldn't have created a new screen name and started this thread.

Why do you read those threads if they're going make you mad enough that you out so much that you actually go to the trouble of creating a new screen name and ranting about them? And why do you care enough to get mad about it?

Just. Don't. Read. Them.

I tired of it long ago, and that's why I'm in MC's corner - just don't read them.

Wellll, I do see the narcissism and I do hate how drawn out they are. That being said, these threads are like "The Hills" for me...obviously exaggerated to create drama but that makes it fun. I think all these "brutally honest" and "real" threads are probably not 100% honest or real.

I think this season had so few interesting rush stories. I think the majority were scared off and the few that did post their stories after recruitment was over didn't have the usual spark or excitement. I agree that with the amount of people who can figure out who PNMs are its probably safest to wait, but I'd be lying if I said it was just as fun to me as previous rush seasons. There were very few memorable stories (heck...there were very few stories at all!). So that being said I enjoy the drama of the "real/honest" threads...at least it gives us something to read.

LOL. Yeah, geez, "stunnedgirl"?? It's affecting you that much? You need to step away from the computer then. I checked that aprocess thread maybe twice and found how dragged out it was so irritating, I haven't clicked into a rush story since. There's life outside the recruitment forum, give it a try!

I wouldn't go so far as to saying it affects me or whatever, but I do think those types of threads are a bit ridiculous.

If I had a nickel every time the phrase "brutally honest" was thrown around in the last 2 years here, I'd have enough money to offset the 401(k) losses I've had in the last 2 days.

And it doesn't help that those posters are asking "does anyone want to hear it?" or "should i post this story?"

Really? If you're gonna post it, just post the dern thing and be done with it. You don't need to ask permission just so you can get all kinds of "YAY!!!!!! ANOTHER RETRO THREAD! AND IT'S A BRUTALLY HONEST ONE! I CAN'T WAIT!" replies.

Anyway, that's just my take on it.

Amen sister!

That thread was also extraordinarily well written. That's what has turned me off to many of the retro threads: poor production values, as they say in Hollywood.

Stunned Girl,
I wish I had your problems! But, so do most people...pick up a newspaper, or look at news website.... there is a helluva lot more going on that is stress-worthy!!!

Yeah, but she's venting in the appropriate place, and I don't think she's comparing her situation to anyone who is really suffering.

AMEN!!!! Finally a post worth reading here!!!

Another AMEN!! :)

You can like recruitment stories and not feed the narcissism. The fewer "OMG MORE MORE MORE" posts we have, the less posters will demand with "oh I guess no one is reading..." I comment on stuff that I find worth commenting on, but I don't need to beg people to continue.

I agree with violetpretty and many others who have posted above. I think I posted on a few stories saying I wanted more, but there are many others who are over zealous with constant posting. On the other hand, people who post stating they have interest might help the retro stories post more frequently or give the original poster more confidence that people are actually interested and that there is a reason for them to be posting.
I am not plugging for any story including my own. I am only trying to say there is a fine line between stating interest for the poster and feeding narcissism.

In case you were wondering, WCsweet<3, I am enjoying your story.

yes! I agree. I've pretty much stopped reading recruitment stories, but there will be the occasional story that will interest me. Retro stories were fun, like last year but not anymore. Plus, now we have fictional recruitment threads (a la Chuck Norris) which is just plain ridiculous.

'stunnedgirl' if you are that irritated, do what everyone is saying and STOP reading recruitment threads. It will save you from being worked up.

Apparently I'm the only one sitting around wondering who "stunnedgirl" is. :o

Too bad you don't have the nuts to say it under your real screen name.

I was thinking the same thing.

First of all, if I was the one who started the Totally honest type thread (I wrote my retro story about a year ago that featured a rush that took place in the 1970s) that seems to have taken a turn: I apologize. In my case (the story was told fairly quickly) I had messages to today's pnm that included: don't be put off by a sorority's reputation, religious tolerance/diversity, and that things work out. The narcissitic turn...is unbearable. I view these threads (the honest, real time or soon thereafter) not as a "brag book" but as an educational chance to give girls some information on rush, how to rush, and how to get started in college life. But, I will say that I have seen the trend that if a pnm says something "wrong" or lacks discretions...some of the ladies really jump all over them. Silence is sometimes a preferable thing. If a girl says that...ABC has ugly girls, an ugly house and/or just plain lame....let the child be. She's got more issues than can be addressed in any forum.

My daughter, who will rush next fall, read a few threads. (Since she is 18 she doesn't feel the need to discuss everything with me...and that is fine.) Daughter did say that she knows she needs recs, knows a bit about the school that she is rushing in, and that she thinks that she'll do fine whatever happens).

Now it's my time to vent...

I can think of several posters, actually. They are the ones that if you review all of their posts, they have nothing to say on this board other than to comment on the Recruitment Stories. What do they say?

"More, more"
"I'm hooked"
"Where are you, we want more"
"Are you coming back"
"I'm dyyyyyyyyyyyyying"
"Thanks"
"Congratulations to you and XYZ"

That is the extent of how they post. Nothing is more annoying than having to weed through uninsightful comments.

I read recruitment stories, but not every day. It's not because of the OPs; it's for the stupid-ass comments that don't add to the story.

Off
My
Soap
Box

The only one of those that is not bad is the congratulatory posts, IMO. Once those pop up, the thread is basically over, so you don't have to sift through anything. Plus, congrats are due.

Ditto!

I tend to somewhat agree with this. I think that there are enough advice threads warning PNMs to use discretion, and telling them that the things they say in their threads can have a negative affect on their recruitment.

If they ignore that advice and choose to insult chapters in their threads (yes, there's a line between honest feedback and insults), put out all sorts of identifying information and just be totally indiscrete, we should just let them, and see what happens.

Sometimes I think we're being a little too nice by jumping in and telling PNMs their mistakes.

On one hand I agree - on the other hand, I think that sometimes the PNMs are using this as a "vent" area and just getting it all out and not thinking how widely read it'll be till after they hit "submit reply." It's a part of this puter age. It's the difference between having a diary and a blog. People jumping on them is the equivalent of a mom yelling at a 5 year old "SALLY DON'T RUN ACROSS THE STREET YOU IDIOT!!" and almost ripping her arm out of the socket to stop her, just to try and keep her safe.

Most people don't read all the threads when they start posting here. Unfortunately. But those who do and still say things like "XYZ seem really slutty" - yeah, let them hang themselves. The problem is you don't know who did and who didn't.

Exactly and plus the PNMs don't know who will be reading it. They think that as long as they don't say "My name is Susy A. Smith, a sophomore at Troll University" that they'll stay anonymous, so they can say whatever they want.

Since we're on a venting spree about the recruitment threads, can somebody give me an accurate definintion of "Retro"? Being an older poster, I enjoy reading experiences similar to my own and then get upset when retro is defined by the poster as 2006. Can we please establish a clear definition for this along with the term "brutally honest"?

I don't understand why you guys are fighting her on this. As far as I can see, A sorority girl has told the rest of her 'kind' (fraternities and sororities, brothers and sisters) that she needed to vent.
The title is "I guess I just need to vent"
You clicked on it. Was it to read what she was venting about so you could just argue about her sorrows (as little as they may be). Or was it to say 'there, there.' and give a small pat on her (online) shoulder.

Come on people. Give Peace a Chance.

I think it "retro" refers to the fact that it is not "live" (happening right now) and the poster is talking recruitment before the semester we are in at that point (meaning they have either already been initiated, or they went through rush as recently as last semester and did not get a bid).

For instance, if I was a PNM, I could post my "live" recruitment story, and I would post either at night after, or the day after recruitment events. I could also post my recruitment story after the fact, but in the same semester, and that would not be retro.

However, if I were to post my own recruitment story as a member (and I won't, because it would be three lines long), it would be "Retro" - because I was initiated in Fall 2003.

That's my take on it. Maybe "retro" is not the right word to use, considering many people think of the 70s/80s when they hear it, but there ya go. It's kinda like saying "I listen to oldies" and people take it to mean "I listen to music from the 1960s."

As far as "brutally honest" - I think it might be that people are using it to cover their butts if they say something mean about a given sorority. My "brutally honest" recruitment story would go something along the lines of "I was too lazy to get out of bed for formal recruitment, so I went informal in the fall instead."

I had rather read new "retro" threads, uninteresting, uninsightful posts, the rambling of narcissistic posters, etc., than to read posts from people who parrot the same bullshit in every recruitment thread. There are some long-time GCers who could basically copy and paste almost every one of their posts. It's not so much irritating that they say the same thing over and over, it's that their posts are in the same thread with the other "parrots".

Wow. Talk about brutally honest.

I wasn't trying to start anything, but surely I'm not the only one who has noticed.

You're right, but I feel like a lot of the time it gets frustrating for regular GCers to answer the same question over and over again. People don't read the stickied threads - which is a shame because a lot of their questions can be answered there.

Sometimes there are unique problems, but the recruitment threads get rough sometimes because it feels like not only are the same questions asked a couple times a year, sometimes they're asked a couple times a DAY. At that point, some people copy/paste links to other threads where it has already been answered, some people copy/paste their answers from other threads. Others just don't add in their two cents or post something along the lines of "READ THE OTHER THREADS PLEASE" (and I have to admit - I've done all of these a few times).

It's hard to remain compassionate about people's recruitment problems when there's so much overlap that reading the stickied threads would solve any issues a person may have.

I really really dont like the recruitment story threads. I always hope they end up getting cut from all the houses (or cars or flowers or football teams or desserts or watever they want to call them)

It has always been my impression that the reason why writers of the retro recruitment threads leave cliffhangers is to mimic the true reality and excitement that is derived from reading real time recruitment threads. For me, there is a palitable excitment everytime that you open the browser as you wonder "what happened next?!".. I agree with AphiAnna's assessment that these threads are akin to reality shows like "the Hills" which find success in perfectly timed drama.

That being said, there might indeed be something narrcasstic about posting these threads. There might, may I even say, a bit of envy felt by retro posters towards their real time rushing counterparts, which spurs them to pen their own stories.

Personally, I actually like retro threads, and if someone gets their kicks off of being an internet celebrity, I could care less. Certainly not something to get your panties in a bunch about.

To the OP, no, the cliffhangers on the recruitment threads don't bother me in the slightest. Since a typical workday for me runs 10-11 hours, I figure that other people have demands on their time as well, and it may be a week or four before they can post. Or as TPARose said, maybe the posters just want to drum up a little excitement.

My only problem is that if they take their time posting the result, being of a certain age, I tend to forget the beginning of the story. So I have to go back and reread it, in order to recollect that a certain girl just *loved* "Rum Raisin," but couldn't stand "Cherry Garcia". :rolleyes:

Yes, a few of the posters strike me as being somewhat needy of attention. But I work with at-risk children, and for some of them, when they need attention, they throw furniture, or hit you.

So as far as I'm concerned, these posters are just *fine*. :p

I also think that no matter how many neatly-set up threads a board may have, there will also be lots of excited newbies with the same old questions. Let whichever experienced boardmember who happens to be feeling fresh that day answer the question politely and direct the poster to appropriate thread(s). If it's not your day/week/month/year/decade to be feeling fresh, take a pass. :p IMO.

I agree on both points! I love it when the OP prefaces her comments with, "I wanted to give Cherry Garcia another chance since last round I was so distracted by the chanting." or some other comment that reminds me of her previous opinion of that group. This saves me from going back - which I rarely do unless I am really really curious.

Also, I appreciate the "elder statesmen" on here (not by age, but by GC experience and Greeklife experience!) who tirelessly and patiently repeat information and point newbies in the right direction with links to helpful stickies and threads. It seems the best display of panhellenic spirit, IMO.