First of all, what my intent is NOT about. This is not about Administrator, the great things he has done. This is not a “tribute” thread. Leave direct references to him out of it, if possible.
WHAT PROMPTED ME TO START THIS THREAD
To a lesser degree, this post from a newbie, Alan McCracken:
“I wanted to drop a note before I deleted your blog from my favorites for good. I’m taking advice from the Silver Shield and am dumping toxic people and things . I agreed with virtually everything that you wrote about financially and politically. I was willing to overlook the racist crap because it didn’t directly affect me. Then comes the gays and other fringe freaks comment. When you attack people for who they are and not what they do or say, YOU LOOSE ALL CREDIBILITY. We are around you at most times. Be careful since we might “convert” you, asshole.”
To a much, much greater degree, this comment from Big Dog, Muck About.
“My conclusion, maybe it’s time I moved along and leave the arguing and bickering and stupidity to the late Boomers, tattoo’d Millenniums and just bow out.”
What we have here are two people fed up with TBP; one left for sure, another might. Both are just too fed up with the bullshit; the name calling, the slurs, the bickering and stupidity.
Admin’s general stance has been that if you want to leave, then do it and don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out, no one cares. But, I know he does care, not always, but often. He was sad when Smokey and I left at the same time. I’ll bet he’s at least a little sad Howard doesn’t post here anymore. I know he’ll be sad if Muck About leaves, as will I. I don’t care much when a Newbie leaves. I am almost always sad when a Big Dog leaves, even if I didn’t agree with their views. People leave for all kinds of reasons. I just hope we can stop or slow down the reason being …. us.
WHO and WHAT THIS IS ABOUT
This is about all of you, and me. Long timers, often known as Big Dogs, and newbies alike. It’s mostly about We, the People; what we post, how we post, how we interact. What turns you on. What turns you off. It’s pretty wide open.
You can be general; “I hate dopplegangers.” Or, you can be specific; “I hate Stucky’s doppleganging habits”. I do realize naming names can turn this thread into a real shitfest. But, we like that too! Or, don’t we? Anyway, let’s be real. If you simply say, “I hate dopplegangers”, we all can figure out that it’s mostly Stucky we’re talking about. Might as well be specific in the first place.
This can also be about policies. Some might say there are no policies here, that it’s wide open. Well, “wide open” is a policy, is it not? I don’t want to make more work for Admin, and he may not even have the time or inclination to implement new policies. And that’s fine. Policy comments are a good way to “get things off my chest”. For example, I think we need a Banning Policy. Posters who attack a family member should be banned. It doesn’t need to be permanent; maybe 1 week, 1 month, or such.
WHAT I HOPE THIS ACCOMPLISHES
1)- “laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.”
Metaphorically speaking, I think a lot of us here are “crying alone”. I am hoping there some catharsis if we can cry together. Get things off our chest.
2)- If nothing else, to restore sanity to my TBP life. The level of shit flinging has been unreal this past week, especially the tone, which has traversed from “fun” to downright vile and mean. I’ve been throwing around words I normally abhor; cunt and nigger, and even wishing people were aborted. I wrote (but won’t submit) something called’ Stucky’s Grand Apology and Fuck You Tour” — about using the power of hate to thrive and motivate.
Ms Freud rarely reads this site, but I forgot to close the TBP window when I went to bed. The “Should we be Optimistic / Pessimistic” shitfest thread was open. She gets up earlier than I do. She read it. I get up, do my thing in the bathroom, go to the kitchen, say “Good Morning”, and she responds, “What the fuck has gotten into you?” She only uses the f-word every 6 months, so she was a bit overdue. She was aghast, asked me to explain myself. I told her about Stucky 2.0, how I was going to fling shit nonstop, fight hate with hate, that I was joining the Dark Side, that being nice was just to fucking hard. She laughed, literally, and said, “What a crock of bullshit.” She was overdue on that word too. But, she’s also correct. It just isn’t me. I can count on one hand the number of enemies I’ve made in my real life. I tried real hard to be something I’m not. I just can’t continue down that road.
3)- I am hoping for better understanding and maybe some changes in behavior.
No, I’m not so dumb to believe we’ll all be holding hands around the campfire singing Kumbaya. I honestly don’t want to hate SAH. I let my emotions get the better of me. I should have done a MUCH better job trying to understand her, to find some common ground, instead of only differences. If people say they really hate doppleganging, I doubt I’ll cut it out altogether. But, I’m will to curtail it, if it means TBP will be a better place. That kind of thing.
4) – To stress that for us TBPers there is more that unites us, than divides us. The 3 shitfest threads I participated in the past week — Boomers, Creation, Truthers — don’t amount to a pimple on an elephant’s ass in the big scheme of things. We are so fucked as a people and nation, and we’re (me) getting too sidetracked by the incidentals.
5)- I hope no more Big Dogs leave.
6)- To issue a sincere and heartfelt apology. To SAH for calling you a despicable name and wishing you dead. I was wrong. To Colma for calling you a despicable name, and shitting all over your post. I was wrong. (I might even try to like Bad Religion). To everyone else who was turned off by my bullshit and whom I may have offended, I’m sorry. I hope we have a “Do Over” button.
