[Buffalo Jim]

As I suggested there is a disaffected , discouraged and some times emotionally hurt population who are afraid to post or who have given up on this site .
I have received many PMs .
Below I have cut and pasted but one . Please read it very closely and consider how many feel uninvited and rejected and frankly people who could well benefit from a kind word and some encouragement to participate .
I carefully edited out anything that might reveal her identity . Please read it a couple of times and give my thoughts some broader consideration . Some of you actually do damage to fragile lonely people .

The Body of But One PM in response to the question " Why the animus on this site " ?

You can bet your bottom dollar that there are a whole lot of us that you can add to that 11 count. I've stopped posting quite a bit because of what you speak of and a whole lot more. Beyond what you've brought up:
I've been personally and nastily attacked. i.e. for simply defending a poster's right to post a simple announcement of an upcoming meeting. Ironically, I wasn't attacked when previously I did similarly regarding a different political club meeting.
Been hurt, depressed and even brought to tears by multiple rude and insensitive comments about obese people like me. i.e. "Obese people shouldn't be allowed to have health insurance." Guess we should just die in addition to the suffering we already endure.
Have put myself on hiatus from posting, sometimes more than a month, when things start affecting me medically. I've been diagnosed subject to anxiety attacks in the past and prescribed medication to deal with it when necessary.
I now post mostly with humor or where I feel I can answer question or provide information and little else. Even then I've still had inappropriate responses.
There's more but will hold it here before I start having one of those depressing attacks. But before I finish I do want to say thank you for speaking up where many of us can't easily do so!

[njbchbum]

I hope you have the permission of the author to post that here. Any and all of the private message was private for a reason - was it not?

[Buffalo Jim]

Do you see anything that could identify a particular individual . Could be anyone male or female .
And as usual you missed the point completely --- rudeness HURTS some people . Get it SARCASM is NOT Funny and cool . It is a form of bullying .
This person shared with me the pain that they experience from being treated caustically and rudely on this site . Get it .

[rdhdleo]

Originally Posted by Buffalo Jim

Do you see anything that could identify a particular individual . Could be anyone male or female .
And as usual you missed the point completely --- rudeness HURTS some people . Get it SARCASM is NOT Funny and cool . It is a form of bullying .
This person shared with me the pain that they experience from being treated caustically and rudely on this site . Get it .

I totally agree!! Many people do not read back what they have written before posting and look at it as others might. The internet is wonderful but many people do not realize how they come across to others. Hopefully no one intentionally is mean. I for one learned a log time ago that if a person says something and I don't know them and they have not yet earned my respect I can easily let what they roll off me. Hopefully everyone can play nice!

[aframe]

Jim, These people are not worth your time.

[OBXNana]

Why is it necessary to make personal attacks? We can comment on the content of a post, but not the person making the post. Personal attacks when you're hiding behind your computer can't help the community grow and learn. Why doesn't the moderator remove the derogatory comments about contributors be removed? Or, comments that are negative against any group of people?

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

Eleanor Roosevelt

[LndLocked]

Originally Posted by Buffalo Jim

Do you see anything that could identify a particular individual . Could be anyone male or female .
And as usual you missed the point completely --- rudeness HURTS some people . Get it SARCASM is NOT Funny and cool . It is a form of bullying .
This person shared with me the pain that they experience from being treated caustically and rudely on this site . Get it .

some might say that your response to a post you do not agree with is no less sarcastic than what you are accusing others of.

[ajbrown]

Originally Posted by Buffalo Jim

Do you see anything that could identify a particular individual . Could be anyone male or female .
And as usual you missed the point completely --- rudeness HURTS some people . Get it SARCASM is NOT Funny and cool . It is a form of bullying .
This person shared with me the pain that they experience from being treated caustically and rudely on this site . Get it .

I think folks get it. I think the point that was being made by njbchbum is you shared something private*** without asking that person. Having read posts on TOTV for years, I suspect I could narrow this person down to about five folks based on the PM. Did they expect this info shared?

My post is not about the premise of your threads. it is fun to read, just the fact I personally would be disappointed if I sent someone a PM and it was used like this...


*** I get the fact nothing is private on the Internet but still......

[BettyCrocked]

"Me thinks thou dost protest too much."
That quote has great relevance, Jim. But I think you've already figured that out.

[Doctommft]

Originally Posted by LndLocked

some might say that your response to a post you do not agree with is no less sarcastic than what you are accusing others of.

It is hard to believe that the person affected is a mature adult. While rude and hatred remarks are out of order, an adult usually knows that we cannot control others, only ourselves. Any adult is sensitive but our maturity helps us ignore others without affecting our health.

As a conservative who lived 28 years in liberal CT, I know what it is like to be called a racist, misogynist, and warmonger. Understanding takes courage. Many people take refuge in ignorance.

[Buffalo Jim]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

I think folks get it. I think the point that was being made by njbchbum is you shared something private*** without asking that person. Having read posts on TOTV for years, I suspect I could narrow this person down to about five folks based on the PM. Did they expect this info shared?

My post is not about the premise of your threads. it is fun to read, just the fact I personally would be disappointed if I sent someone a PM and it was used like this...


*** I get the fact nothing is private on the Internet but still......

I avoided using anything that could by any reason or logic be tied back to any individual . Again this is but another example of attacking the intent of the writer and failing to understand that many people who might like to become active here just happen to be fragile .
And just how does anyone know that I did not obtain permission to share their pain to illustrate the very meaningful and important point that I am seeking to make .
You are changing the subject to avoid the reality of the valuable point which I seek to make to hopefully cause one to think before they jump all over someone or seek to dismiss their attempts to make a point . This is the well honed tactic of professional politicians .
A very good friend of mine actually took his life over a series of ugly emails from people hiding behind a handle .

[BettyCrocked]

Originally Posted by Doctommft

It is hard to believe that the person affected is a mature adult. While rude and hatred remarks are out of order, an adult usually knows that we cannot control others, only ourselves. Any adult is sensitive but our maturity helps us ignore others without affecting our health.

As a conservative who lived 28 years in liberal CT, I know what it is like to be called a racist, misogynist, and warmonger. Understanding takes courage. Many people take refuse in ignorance.

That's a big part of the problem. Many consider that age makes one more mature, more empathetic, more wise, more ethical... Age is a number. That's all. And those who think a number makes them any of the above are probably far from it. There are numerous threads on that topic that will confirm that.

[Happydaz]

Help me out here. Didn't we discuss this topic on another thread? One thread per subject is interesting, more than that gets to be a little too much, in my opinion.

[billethkid]

[Jaggy]

Originally Posted by billethkid

This site sooooo needs a like button... Ho Hum.. Someone is bored