Because this place is always good for a laugh?
Ok, ok… you ask a legitimate question.
I come back because a) this was the first, and only, message board I ever felt compelled enough to join, because b) the people here were, and are, intelligent, witty, and bright, without (often) becoming smarmy, condescending, or rude. When I joined, or became a part of this place, message boards on the internet consisted nothing more than, ‘…d00d, you rok! dont pay no attension to fag boy ther!’.
There’s only so much of that you can take without going goofy in the head.
Don’t get me wrong, those places are still out there, but I get the feeling it’s changing. Thank god others have picked up on the idea the intelligent, and often simply fun, exchange is better than glurge and nonsense.
So, when I joined, this place filled the void. It provided a refuge, or a getaway, from the rest of the bullshit that pervaded and permeated the rest of the 'net. Face it, it was one of a kind.
But today (and only in my opinion, obviously), perusing these boards, I get the feeling that what was once gripping and insightful discourse, with witticism and intelligence thrown in, has become almost has-been, tired, and old.
Moderators lash out at newbies, ignoring rules they, themselves, were apparently a party to making. Others are so tunnel vision they can’t seem to see an inquiry for what it is, an inquiry. Others, still, are so removed from this place that whenever they ever venture in it’s only to tiddy up the messes and try to regain calm and sensibility. All the while, mind you, missing whatever context things were said in, becoming almost a joke in and of themselves and their role.
And others, obviously, who do the job in a yeomen’s way. They are to be commended. Unfortunately, I guess, that’s never the way things happen, telling people they’re doing a good job. Call it an unfortunate part of life, or what-have-you, but that’s how it is. I never go up to a cop and say, ‘Good job, you rock’. We, and I, admittedly, are more focussed on the bad-eggs, those who make the rest look bad. Again, it’s not acceptable, or really right, but it’s the way people are. And, what can I say, but I’m one of them.
But you ask why I come back. Why, if I dislike, or am displeased with where things are heading, do I continue to post and continue to comment. Well, it’s simple: it’s compelling to watch and be apart of.
Seriously, call me a masochist, call me an asshole, call me what-have-you, but the arrogance and self-righteousness; the superiority while mired in ignorance; the bureaucracy… the ever stifling bureaucracy and legalese… it’s compelling. It makes for a good read, especially when you’ve been apart of it. It’s a train-wreck. A sad, pathetic, almost heart wrenching, train-wreck. But, god help me, I can’t help but watch.
Sad? Absolutely. Unfortunate? To be sure. Something I gotta watch? What can I say.
I find it ironic, and almost foreshadowing, in a sense, that the prevailing view around here, and a post shortly after yours, essentially says, ‘shut up and leave if you don’t like. We don’t need you’.
I have a feeling people are taking you, and others exposing that view, up on that offer, sadly, making this place… well, what it is today.
Forgive me, but I can’t tear myself from seeing it all happen.
