Rancor here on Whiteblaze

[Nean]

Steve, while I'll give you that some of the posts in respose to her were harsh and not necessarily called for in the manner they were delivered, I fail to see what happened in that thread as a pounding. I've seen much worse on this site honestly and unfortunately.

Don't recall the thread but know how those angel haters can be. Opinions are like (_*_) Sometimes they can be unnecessarlly unneighborly.

I'm amused when a jerk gets his due, but I've noticed a couple of times when new, young (is it ok to say female?)members ask an innocent question and suffer the venom of a few thick skined WB vets. Not trying to pass judgement (I may have been an angel.... but I was never no saint) but I do think there are times when we all are capable of going a little over the top.

[STEVEM]

Steve, while I'll give you that some of the posts in respose to her were harsh and not necessarily called for in the manner they were delivered, I fail to see what happened in that thread as a pounding. I've seen much worse on this site honestly and unfortunately.

Maybe my choice of the word POUNDED was wrong. I would gladly change it to "made to feel unwelcome". The result is exactly the same, a potential new friend to WB and AT is gone.

As far as other threads being worse, I wonder how a often a member has been lost as a result of a heated discussion between equals. I am sure these dicsussions can lead to better understanding and respect.

The thread in question did not involve a discussion among equals. Others saw the same thing and commented, (review the thread).

I suspect that sandra was simply looking for a way to meet other young people like herself, who she viewed to be off on a "great adventure".

I think I probably have beaten this one to death, so I'll go away and shut-up. Indeed, the whole point of my original post is the last sentence:

Before I submit a post, I read it carefully and consider how I would feel if I had asked the question. Just a few words can make a big difference yet say the same thing.

[saimyoji]

A pounding? Huh. Why don't you all go pound some dirt.

[Panzer1]

I have met a lot of people in my life. Some were so nice that they would give you the shirt off their back, others were mean and nasty.

WB is no different. There are many wonderful people who post here and a very few who are mean spirited individuals.


Panzer

[Sly]

Then there's some that appear mean and nasty that would also give you the shirt off their back.

[dixicritter]

That's so true.

Another thought I had recently was that I think sometimes some of us get so wrapped up in folks not feeling welcome here at WB that we get bent out of shape in the wrong way. We then start venting and ranting making the situation far worse, instead of realizing the only person's actions we can control are our own. Maybe if each of us exercises control over our own actions and posts then it'll become contagious and others will start doing the same. In other words lead by example instead of following the pack.

It's worth a try don't you think?

[TOW]

i hear ya Mowgli and SGT and i think there are a lot of interesting newbies coming to WB that have good input that even the older "trail legends" can learn from...like how to treat a newbie to WB.

I second that motion..........

Maybe a good thing to do is first to say "Welcome to Whiteblaze, we are glad you joined" or something to the effect before offering any thought on a particular subject that has been laid on the table by a newcomer?

[TOW]

This is the only one I can think of:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=16590

And I don't think she was pounded.

As to comments about people not feeling comfortable on gear questions, I find that interesting because most of them are answered pretty straight forward. The ones that incite passion the most here and are likely to cause someone to get beaten up on verbally are on cell phones, dogs, guns, etc. And that discussion is forbidden on Trailplace.com

I remember the girl from Dapper, Virginia who got on here two to three weeks ago and asked about doing some trail angel work that seemed to take offense immediately over a straight forward reply. I say if your that sensitive, then you need first to take a hike and then come on here and aske questions and that ain't gonna happen likely.

So maybe a good starting point for a newcomer is saying "Howdy" or something to that effect and then get straight forward?

[SGT Rock]

Seems I had a conversation just last night with someone about this. My take was you cannot make everyone happy all the time, so why try? If someone gets offended because you answered them with a straight forward answer then how can you ever make such a person happy?

I really don't want this to become some sort of softy, feel good, group encounter site. To paraphrase:

Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BACKPACKING!

Lone Wolf called me a talking pile of pig****. And that was when my family drove all the way up from Tennessee to see me hike the trail. And did I cry?

NO. NO. And do you know why?

Because there's no crying in backpacking. THERE'S NO CRYING IN BACKPACKING! No crying!

[TOW]

This could be the "trail angel" thread. I don't think LW was particulary hard on her, just honest and LW like!

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...ht=trail+angel

That's the one I was thinking about and Mingo came on there and stirred the pot that eventually that girls feelings got hurt by...........That dang Mingo knows how to get the water a boiling under ny skin and it's hilarious....

[TOW]

I have found that I enjoy reading WhiteBlaze a lot more since I started using the "ignore" feature. There are certain individuals who tend to post only political posts. I don't come to WhiteBlaze for political discussions so I have placed those individuals on my "ignore" list. I no longer even see their posts.

I am more than likely at the top of this guys list...........

[TOW]

I've been PM'ed once or twice and have PM'ed some once or twice. It usually settles the score quickly, sometimes. When this usually happens I put it on the back burner and know that it is on that burner just in case it comes to my front door and then I will have to back up what I say whether I was right or not. Not a pretty scenario to think of sometimes, but that may be the case for at least a few here who get their feelings hurt easily.

I did have one encounter one time with a guy from another site, a local town web site that I posted on. We agreed to meet and battle it out. This guy didn't know me and I never heard orf him either. Man, we ended up getting drunker than wavy gravy and laughing our butts off. Then we picked up where we left off on the thread the next day.............

[TOW]

Then there's some that appear mean and nasty that would also give you the shirt off their back.

That's true, and I know one or two of them..........

[TOW]

Because there's no crying in backpacking. THERE'S NO CRYING IN BACKPACKING! No crying!

Horsecrappy pal! I disagree with you! Your an !#@%^$! Understand? I have met plenty of crybaby's out there and especially a few on the trail as well, I have even sniveled once or twice myself.

I don't know where you got your info from soldier boy but I happen to be an expert on these kind of things, want to argue about that?

Oh yeah, I forgot> your

[SGT Rock]

That's so true.

Another thought I had recently was that I think sometimes some of us get so wrapped up in folks not feeling welcome here at WB that we get bent out of shape in the wrong way. We then start venting and ranting making the situation far worse, instead of realizing the only person's actions we can control are our own. Maybe if each of us exercises control over our own actions and posts then it'll become contagious and others will start doing the same. In other words lead by example instead of following the pack.

It's worth a try don't you think?

This is so true. Everyone complaining about rancor ought to read this and think about it. You can complain about everyone else or you can try to be the guy/gal that is level headed and helpful. The others that you are worrying about are probably more likely to follow you to it than to be harassed into it.

[Just Jeff]

A pounding? Huh. Why don't you all go pound some dirt.

Keep it up and I'm gonna pound those stupid bananas flat...

[TOW]

Keep it up and I'm gonna pound those stupid bananas flat...

i'll help ya..............

[saimyoji]

Keep it up and I'm gonna pound those stupid bananas flat...

Didn't you post earlier that you disabled the bananas? Must have been someone else because you can obviously see these .

And just for good measure:
http://www.funfilesandsmiles.com/smileys/banana.htm

[TOW]

Didn't you post earlier that you disabled the bananas? Must have been someone else because you can obviously see these .

And just for good measure:
http://www.funfilesandsmiles.com/smileys/banana.htm

.......................

[Just Jeff]

And just for good measure:
http://www.funfilesandsmiles.com/smileys/banana.htm

I don't like you anymore.