Per padseeker&#x27;s sibling comment, asking random strangers for help at a gym is not an analogy because there&#x27;s no social expectation that you&#x27;ll be asked for help or that you&#x27;ll provide such help just by going to the gym, whereas forums <i>are</i> places where you&#x27;re expected to ask for help.<p>The relevant comparison would be to the gym&#x27;s front desk.  So, extending the metaphor:<p>1) Yes, it would be offputting if you asked them about lifts there and they just scoffed.<p>2) Yes, I have asked for help like this before (&quot;where&#x27;s the first aid kit, I&#x27;m bleeding?&quot;) and had that treatment, and it sucked.<p>3) But being pointed to the appropriate resource is a very reasonable response, and it&#x27;s analogous to (a precise variant of) RTFM. It would be like:<p>&quot;How do I lift?&quot; -&gt; &quot;Oh, ask one of the people in red shirts.&quot;<p>&quot;What are the rules?&quot; -&gt; &quot;Oh, it&#x27;s on that sign over there.&quot;<p>Not much different from:<p>&quot;How do I make a website?&quot; -&gt; &quot;start from this link&quot;<p>&quot;How do I make my DB queries faster?&quot; -&gt; &quot;search for database index&quot;