Starise


 I enjoy coming here and I even like most of the kidding that goes on. I made the comment about a few ruining it for the rest of us because I really felt like John was not being taken the least bit seriously.

Think what you will about John and his less than stellar way of saying what he thought about the CH...I think the man has a very valid complaint. IMO to collectively attack the entire CH was off base as IMO there are only a few who seem to be perpetuating posts for the sake of posts and it does trivialize another poster and can be taken offensively when someone posts another post and changes a few words or letters. This is uncouth IMO.

To me the whole thing comes off as a kind of bully(s) who for some reason needs to be one post ahead of everyone else and doesn't like new folks on the block. If this is someones idea of fun I missed out on it. What adds even more to it is giving these characters support and kudos. If you want different kinds of discussions on the CH then we need to stop affirming this type of behavior....

If I'm the odd guy out here I can accept that. If you are indeed a cliche then by all means, continue to do what you have always done.I could care less how many posts I have compared to someone else. If someone comes into the group you don't like then by all means post a half dozen posts over them to bury their post or change a few words in their post and post your own. These tactics are not invisible. I'll take my cue and it will be no loss for me.

I don't need to be king of the hill nor do I need to challenge the king of the hill.I don't think there should be a king of the hill.

So while I like the CH, I do get tired of the junk, however it's a free world here and if it doesn't violate the TOS ,keep at it but I won't be replying to it. If I come here I'll still need to sort through the inane tripe.

I'm not preaching here really. I know it looks that way. I'm merely saying that if you want collective constructive input and comments from more than a half dozen people locked into the same boring attempts at humor,then try getting out of the rut you are in.Don't support or feed into the individuals who continue to perpetuate boredom and uselessness.

Some of you have met and have great relationships off of the CH. That's great! I hope to some day meet a few of you myself. Even the people I mention who seem to go on ad nausium are good people...you are just in a serious rutt IMO.

I don't make the rules and I don't really expect my comments to change much of anything...but at least you will know where I'm coming from.

If you want newcomers to feel welcome you need to change your tack.

Steve FWIW...I appreciate your sensitivity toward my comments. That's a lot more than I frankly expected from the CH. You are not one of the ones I was thinking about.

Who the h e double hockey sticks are you talking about?

My heads been spinning the last few days trying to figure who these imaginary people are that are involved in this imaginary situation a few have been imaginatively talking about.

Did I do something wrong? Did Beagle, Bapu, Spacey, Space Cowboy, Jonbouy, Danny, Mike, Me, Old55 or a host of others? I'm just rattling off random names there. Don't read anything in to it. I'm truly stumped by the complaints I've seen posted lately. I have a warped sense of humor, if I've offended anyone, I do apologize.

In fighter squadrons in which I have been a member, when general behaviour needed minor correction, and some goof decided excessive steps were needed to do so, we used to call it "pole vaulting over mouse turds".  There's a danger here, in doing that.  I hope we don't. 

I have found the CH generally friendly, compassionate, irreverent, and occasionally stepping very slightly over an unseen line, that I wouldn't step over.  On extremey rare occasions, there has been bizarre behaviour - name calling, and even threats of violence or inferred death threats.  When someone steps over that line (in all cases it has been against another person), I simply refuse to interact with them in any way from then on.  Otherwise, I ignore behaviour that is across my threshold.  I can't recall ever getting overly angry over anyone's post here.  But, I think I have pretty thick skin in that regard.  Maybe some others don't...
 
Having said that, there's decidedly a good old boys and girls club here.  If you're a senior member, you could burp in the mic, as the saying goes, and get a standing ovation.  If not, you sometimes get ignored.  Getting razzed or parodied, of course, is an honor, and a rite of passage.  Odd though, tenure doesn't matter, rather post count... :-)
 
I can live with that.  I remember when the media was Compuserve.  I remember when there was the earlier CH.  Then none.  Then this one.  It's all good...