Well, it took a while but I finally arrive at my thousandth post. I thought that to commemorate this “achievment”, I would just post a few thoughts about my time here at the SDMB.
I initially went to the “Straight Dope” website because I was a huge fan of the books. Eventually, I noticed that there was a message board on the site and thought “What the heck, I’ll take a look”. Little did I know how much of my personal time this was going to eventually cost me. From the moment I saw the list of topics and started to read the posts, I was hooked. I couldn’t believe that there was a place like this, frequented by so many articulate, intelligent people. I had to be a part of it.
I blindly jumped right in, thinking “Hey, I’m no idiot. I got stuff to say too.” Bad idea. Lurking is very under-rated. For my first post, I chose to make a pretty ignorant remark in the pit that was very anti-religion. Looking back at it, it was very poorly thought out and it overflowed with ignorance. As you can imagine, the mighty flames erupted and in the end, I felt like a steak. Someone even posted “I wonder how long this guy is going to last around here.” I couldn’t believe it. My first post and everyone hated me, or so I perceived. I attacked back and that just made things worse. Then something odd started happening.
As I read the responses over and over again, I realized that my position was wrong. I realized that I sounded like an ass. These people weren’t attacking me, but rather my ideas, and those ideas were ignorant. As is my nature when I am wrong, I apologized. Much to my surprise, many people started to forgive me and treat me nicely. I realized that all the flaming had served a purpose. In the end, I was just a little less ignorant. The board had fulfilled its mission. Not to say that it cured me of ignorance. I still have a long way to go. But it made me a better person, a more informed person.
I also came to this board right after I came out about my sexuality. I was so in the dark and had never interacted with gay people in an intellectual setting before. I started reading the “Ask the gay guy” threads and learned so much about what it is to be gay. Quite honestly, I could never thank Esprix and all of the other gay contributers enough for not only opening my eyes on a lot of issues, but also making me feel so much better about myself. Up until this point, I still carried a very heavy burden of feeling that I was an outcast and a terrible person for being gay. But reading all of the thoughtful and thought-provoking posts by many of the gay (and straight) posters made me start to feel better about myself. I realized that I have a place in this world too and I am not alone. I also learned that there are plenty of straight people that respect gay people. A little more ignorance removed from my life.
As a result, I started coming out of my shell more, IRL. I started meeting gay people and forming friendships with them. I even got the courage to enter my first gay relationship. As a result, I have been with someone for over a year and am happier than I have ever been in my life. I am more centered in my life now than I have ever been. I am also more honest. I’m less afraid to tell people that I am gay now, realizing that there are many straight people that, given a chance, welcomed me with open arms and were on my side.
So, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to take a moment and thank a few people. I’m sure I will be leaving some people out and I sincerely apologize if I do. I would like to thank, in no particular order;
** Esprix, Polycarp, Matt, gobear, Mockingbird, Jay Jay, Homebrew, iampunha, ** and everyone else here who contributes to the fight against ignorance.
You folks have opened my eyes in so many ways, challenged my beliefs, and made me dig deeper to find out who I really am. Again, thank you so much for treating me kindly and yet forcing me to examine myself. I still have a long way to go but I feel like I make progress every day. I am humbled by how much you contribute and realize that I am not in the same league yet but I try. Hopefully, I haven’t offended too many people by my ignorance. That was never my intention.
In conclusion, I don’t think that any of my time at the SDMB has been wasted. I have learned so much from everyone here. This is a truly great place and I hope that I have many more years of enjoyment here. Thanks for reading this and best regards.
Eric
