I think there’s probably a lot of truth in this. Not specifically in regards to Caught@Work, but to quite a few posters in general.
Well, I read Payne’s thread, and said nothing. I didn’t know what to post that wouldn’t seem trite or contrived… especially in light of the fact that others had already expressed sympathy and encouragement much more eloquently than I would have been able to.
I empathize the hell out of Payne’s situation, I’ve been there myself (or close enough to count), but if I get hit by a car, I imagine that people leaning over me saying “Dude! That’s gotta hurt!” over and over might become annoying.
So I remained silent… as did others.
Based on his posting history I would say both. Post here long enough and a few people just get lumped into the “asshole” folder. Never doing enough to get banned, nor ever enough to contribute.
Often you will see them starting some whiny Pit about a Mod or another respected poster and have it blow-up in their face. They then either: (a) ignore the thread or posts, (b) launch even more delusional attacks, © claim they are being discriminated against (even if their own post was racist/sexistor homophobic) (d) declare themselves the “winner”, (e) bitterly claim the Clique is ganging up on them, or (f) meltdown and get Banned.
So far we have mostly (a) and (b), and a dose of ©.