Read this and then make jerky comments.

That is wholly and entirely unfair - there are so many of us that break our freaking backs trying to help people. just because we might have a bit of helpful knowledge does NOT mean we are part of the newbie-hating snarktastic group of people that are pissed there are new people on this site that dont know anything yet.

it really truly hurts that so many people think that those who are further along toward their goals are automatically shallow impatient intolerant people. Thats not fair.

This place is not the new vs the successful. Its the wild and you know what? Theres no barriers between the fit and the fat - we are all here together and just because we have a lower bf % or a higher BMI does NOT dictate our personality toward helping people.

WE ARE NOT THE LIBRARIANS.

We are just other people in the library - it is NOT our job, we're just volunteering because we cant stand by and just NOT help.

Beef jerky?

First, I'd like to state this is not a "OMG PPL ON MFP ARE SO MEAN AND I HATE IT! WAAAH" thread. Because I realize of course some people on here are going to be jerks, jerks are everywhere. I don't even involve myself with them. Also, a lot of the time, it's more funny than mean and some people can just be sensitive..etc.. Also, I'm a pretty big jerk sometimes, and it's kind of great.

But, something that really gets on my nerves is people complaining about people asking the same questions over and over. Who cares. Yes, every day there are new threads asking about water, eating back exercise calories, certain diet or fitness programs, etc. I realize this can seem annoying, but I would never complain about it or say something snarky to the question asker because

1) No one is forcing me to read any thread

2) Not everyone knows what you know. Not everyone has been here for weeks, months, years. Just because you've had the conversation before, doesn't mean they have. Sure, the could easily search the forum for old conversations...but they want to experience it themselves, speak to new people about it, make friends and find support not experience it second hand by reading month old threads that they can't contribute to.

I don't know the exact number, but let's say 80 kajillion new people join MFP each day, aren't they entitled to discover and experience and learn at their own rate?

Do you stand in the library and slap books out of peoples hands while screaming "DON'T READ THAT BOOK. I'VE ALREADY READ IT. LET ME SUMMARIZE IT FOR YOU!" Probably not. But if you do, I'd enjoy watching this. Please let me know.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people do not possess knowledge of things that many of us consider common knowledge. Examples (and yes, I have encountered these people myself...sad but true):

1. A lady who could not understand what "fats" were in her diet (and thus could not figure out what a low-fat diet consisted of).
2. MANY parents of babies/young children who do not even own a thermometer.
3. People who do not realize that tylenol, ibuprofen, and aspirin are completely different medications.
4. People who do not realize that many beverages contain sugar and then can't figure out why they aren't losing weight when they are drinking 6 or more cans of soda per day.
5. Many people simply do not know what a portion size is supposed to be. (Most of us were probably in this category when we started our MFP/weight loss/healthy lifestyle journey. I know I was!)
6. I knew a man who, upon waking in the morning with severe chest pain, proceeded to drink a cup of coffee and smoke a cigarette. Fortunately, when the pain didn't go away he called 911. Turned out he was having a massive heart attack.
7. (Probably TMI) A lady who, when asked if she had been having diarrhea, replied "I don't know." She wasn't joking--she had no clue what the term meant.
8. A lady who was not computer-savvy was trying to use her new computer. Keep in mind this conversation was over the phone. She was having multiple windows open on her screen and couldn't figure out how to make them go away. Every time she clicked on the "X" in the corner, another window would open. After much discussion (on my part) and tears (on her part), we determined that she was RIGHT clicking her mouse rather than LEFT clicking it. She just assumed that the right button was the correct one. (This person happens to be my mother-in-law, a very intelligent person. She is now much more tech-literate, and I love her to pieces. We laugh about this now).

The point is, you can't assume how much ANYONE knows about ANYTHING. Maybe people start new threads because the search function isn't bringing up anything that they feel speaks to their issue. Maybe they don't know what the push-pins and locks mean next to those topics at the top of the list (maybe they assume the lock means they are only accessible by certain people, or that they need a password to see those). Maybe they are new to discussion boards, or just don't have time to search through weeks and months of old posts. Who knows? If you don't feel like answering a particular question for the umpteenth time, don't. Move on to something else. If you find yourself responding the same way repeatedly and often to these kinds of posts, make a document you save on your computer. When you see that topic again, copy and paste it from your saved document rather than type it all out again. Either way, there's no need to bash people or be sarcastic (sarcasm doesn't always translate well, even when in person). What may seem obvious to one person is a brand-new revelation to someone else. Doesn't mean they are stupid, they just don't know. Let's try to be helpful, remember that we were once new to all of this too, and try to bring each other up rather than put each other down.