Over the last week, I’ve had a chance to realize how much I miss the people here and how much I enjoy being part of this community.
I was astonished to read the responses to my exit thread. I’m honored in the esteem my collegues and peers seem to hold me; I return the feeling wholeheartedly. I especially want to thank those who e-mailed me personally. I shall do my best to continue to be worthy of their good opinion.
I’m an odd person. It seems a pattern with me that I must distance myself from a group at least once before I can be fully comfortable with them. I didn’t leave to “make a point” or to try to pressure anyone. I left because I thought it was the right thing to do at the time. I return for the same reason.
I left because I saw factionalism overtake this community. Factionalism is the enemy of freedom. When people of good will and intelligence seek only to attain primacy of their faction, rather than seeking with a good heart for the best interest of the whole, no good will ensue. Reason and good will are the first casualties. I couldn’t bear to see such a civil war overtake this community.
But I was surprised when I checked back yesterday. The internecine warfare appears to have abated. I would be arrogant to believe such a change was due in any large part to my own departure, but I am relieved nonetheless.
We owe a lot to the administrators and moderators, and to Ed and the Chicago Reader for making this board possible. They do a great deal of work on our behalf, and we owe them gratitude and respect. To fail to show them such respect serves no purpose and diminishes us all.
But we owe much more to another man: Cecil Adams (yes, I understand the facts of life). Cecil makes this board what it is. It is his cachet, his aura, which gives this community its mandate: to fight ignorance. If to no one else, we owe it to him to make this community great and to further his work.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Geez, you’re surprised at how fast it blew over? How long have you been here, anyway? You should know by now, if you don’t like the SDMB weather, wait 15 minutes–it’ll change.
Welcome back. FYI: For every person who posted to “please come back”, there were at least 50 others who were rendered literally speechless by the idiotic weather.
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen
I am very glad to see you back, sir. I also hope to see you in chat from time-to-time as well.
I do, in the interest of fairness and accuracy, wish to impart some wisdom in response to your assertions about how the factions seem to have dissapated at this point.
They will be back, sir. They come back, things seem crazy, a few people get hurt, some of them go away for a spell, and then things go back to normal for a spell. Then, the next crisis comes in.
It’s really no different than a family, SingleDad. I’m sure you have some good days with your kids, and some lousy days with them! Some days everyone goes to bed smiling, others where people angrily toss and turn in their sleep because someone is pissed over someone else’s errors.
In a nutshell, you caught us at a good time, saw us at a bad time, and now we’re (hopefully) at a good time again. And I hope as the roller coaster ride continues, that we can count on your level-headedness the next time we go to DefCon 4!
TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
One week, one day, 21 hours, 45 minutes and 46 seconds.
356 cigarettes not smoked, saving $44.53.
Life saved: 1 day, 5 hours, 40 minutes.
SingleDad, thank you for reconsidering. While I am glad for your return, if you ever do that again, I will create documents that prove that you, Krispy, and CalifBoomer are identical triplets, and that were the one that originally posted the “-gry” question.
Do we have an understanding?
Eagles may soar free and proud, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.
I probably can’t say the nice things already said any better than the above erudite posters.
let me just say it is always a joy to have a valued poster decide to stick around. Makes some of the weirdness of this board easier to tolerate.
Coming soon to a sig line near you!
Relive the mundane highs, the flaming lows, and the pointless posts in between. Announcing the debut of the best of Mullinator.
(Just to keep this baby from being shoved off to MPSIMS)
Fuck you, SingleDad. Lame scrote. The nerve! Walking out on us, and now begging for positive attention by saying “Woohoo, I’m back, aren’t y’all glad?”.
(Welcome back mate. We can always use intelligent posters. God knows we have stupid ones aplenty, lately…)
You’ve learned a good lesson, NEVER EVER say you are leaving forever. Maybe take a break, but there is no escaping.
I’ll be the first to admit that I can get pretty brutal, but there comes a time and place to just shut the hell up, grow a thick skin, and let things move on.
“I knew ya’d be back fer more! Don’t know when ta quit, does ya? Weeellll then! Git on over here, roll up yer sleeves and git ta work!”
This place can occasionally get on your nerves; when it happens, turn off the computer, breathe deeply, count to ten, listen to some good music (I’m fond of Beethoven’s 9th for getting it all outta my system) go fishin’, drink a beer, count the clouds.
For the record, I write this having read your OP and nothing else on this thread.
Since I obviously can’t be the first to say it, let me just add my own hearty WOO-HOO!! to the chorus that I expect to be reading in about fifteen seconds.
Seriously, man. Just the title of this thread made my day.
:: looks around for Chief Scott, doesn’t see him ::
