[Colin]

Nobody. I think your imagination is getting the better of you.....time to take a deep breath.

[wadino]

I don't care if I get kicked off this message board, and I don't care if this gets deleted.

I have always liked you, Colin, and think you ride great and have a nice horse. I also think you're really funny most of the time.

BUT

Right now you are one being one big b****.

Go ahead and flame me.

[This message was edited by Portia on Nov. 27, 2002 at 02:56 PM.]

[VTrider]

the sister I never had. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Canter]

How the pot loves to be stirred.
How quickly the BBers will use any excuse to use foul language and flame each other. Some community huh?

[rockstarr]

"For those who worry that they will become discussion forums for sick kids, they won't."

* * *

But, in all seriousness, why not? What makes one situation so much more worthy than another of, say, a lesser-known BBer?

I think the whole paradigm has shifted. What will happen if/when someone else needs help? Case by case basis? Based on what?

It's a hornets nest. And therein lies one of the reasons I have thought, and obviously still think, it was a bad move that chips away at (albeit with good intentions) the integrity of the BB.

[CourtneyLiz]

edited to say: oops. in the time in took me to write this, Portia said it far more eloquently.

I just want to reiterate a point Hitch made in passing.

RolexH _never_ came on these boards and said "hey, lets have an auction for my sick kid." She was a member of these boards before Aiden's birth, and when she wasn't around after her pregnancy, other COTHers started asking where she was. So she explained what she was going through. COTHers, being incredibly kind and generous people, have organized everything that has happened for Aiden, just like people organized donations and a memorial for CactusKate. This is not some random person trying to hit up COTH for money, and we're not setting up auctions for everyone who knows someone with a cold. COTH members have a history of picking good causes and going all out (horse rescues too) I'm consistently impressed by the generosity of those on these boads.

I think Aiden has a place on this board, just like I think Willem and helmets and va clique postings have a place on this board. I find the Sea Urchin threads amusing, even if I'm not in on the joke. When I'm bored or disinterested, I just don't read. It's pretty easy to not click on things (though with a 25 page unfinished paper looming over my head, I'm reading more and more). I'm pretty sure everyone else is capable of doing the same.

I may have my COTH history wrong, but didn't the junior clique make their own board when they wanted a moderator-free place to play? Perhaps that would be a good solution for those that are dissatisfied.

Courtney

[This message was edited by CourtneyLiz on Nov. 27, 2002 at 03:02 PM.]

[Canter]

...or a Willem Forum. Or even a helmet question forum for pete's sake! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

There. A solution. Not to add to the problem [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Goodyfourshoes!]

I'm trying to think of something nice to say. It's hard. Really hard.

I don't read the Willem posts, I find them hard to decipher. But my computer comes with a wonderful tool - the ability to scroll past them.

The Baby Aiden thing, well, geez, I feel awful that this board has become such a pillar of support for the Hawk family, and now she is going to come on here and read this.

We all have opinions - how you express them and the thought of who you are going to hurt should contribute to the method in which they are expressed. In other words, we get the point. It maybe could just have been worded better.

In light of all the other crud that gets posted here and is barely horse related (many already mentioned), I find the singling out of one particular innocent little child quite sickening. I realize the intent was not to harm him or his family - but words have very sharp edges, you know.

And did I miss something - are there really 20 Aiden threads? That would fill my computer screen, don't you think? If the Aiden threads were really SO intrusive, I would be bitter that my honest horse-related questions were being ignored in favour of them - and I don't think anyone is noticing that happening, are they?

[Britney]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Canter:
...or a Willem Forum. Or even a helmet question forum for pete's sake! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

There. A solution. Not to add to the problem [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not all that funny.

--------------------
Britney L. Pelletier
~*Rush Hour*~
*Children's Jumper Clique*Thoroughbred Clique*NH Clique*

[rockstarr]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Goodyfourshoes!:
And did I miss something - are there really _20_ Aiden threads? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

More, probably.

I counted 7 on Page One of off course one day. That makes them tough to ignore.

[HN73]

I can't believe I typed out a sane, well thought out reply, clicked to post, was told the thread was locked and now it's open again.

That's enough to make me crazy.

"Its not the years, its the mileage." -Indiana Jones

[Portia]

Stop the personal sniping at each other, or this thread gets closed permanently. That means all of you, no matter which side of this issue you are on.

[Erin]

Do you people have any idea how many emails I get complaining about the content of the forums?

Someone wants all the Paul Valliere threads saved in the Reference forum. Someone else wants them all locked.

Someone else wants an entire forum devoted to safety issues and helmets. Someone else wants them all locked.

Someone else wants Willem to have his own forum. Someone else wants him to stop posting.

Someone else wants an entire Baby Aiden forum. Someone else wants them all gone.

Do we see a pattern here? [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

No way, no how, is this forum ever going to be everything for everybody. For every single solitary decision the moderators make about what will or will not be allowed, there are people who get disagree and get pissed off at us. And then go gripe on the BB.

Well, la-de-freakin'-da. So you don't like it. Who the hell cares?

I haven't been on the BB in two days because I just drove to Chicago for my family's first Thanksgiving since my 26-year-old brother died in July. (What a joy this weekend will be.) Unless a dozen baby Aiden threads cropped up in my absence, I don't think they're a huge problem. We asked the posters intrested in him to confine their posts to one or two threads, and for the most part, they have complied. Will will continue to ask that they do so.

And let's remember that all of the interest in Aiden was spurred by BB members. Both auctions were the results of BB members' ideas. There are obviously many, many people here who are interested in him and his family. And I'm sure there are some who aren't. Again... what do you expect us to do? Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

I think it's extremely childish to come out here and claim 40-50 emails in support of whatever cause you're stumping... so what? Would you like to read my email on a daily basis? Would you like to know how many threads I've gotten complaining about certain little groups of people on this BB?

If you have a concern, the proper thing to do is to discuss it with the moderators. Not to gossip in back corners and then burst forth on the BB trashing it and the people who moderate it because they're "ignoring" the issues of people WHO HAVE NEVER TAKEN THE TIME TO DISCUSS THEIR CONCERNS WITH ANYONE WHO CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

We try to make this BB a pleasant place for anyone. We set up BB rules and guidelines so that everyone has an idea of what is allowed. We try NOT to rule with an iron fist, and allow people to share news of their engagements, their new jobs, their goats, whatever... as long as it doesn't become excessive.

This whole thread is ugly. I've corresponded with several of you in private on many occasions, and there's no reason you couldn't have emailed me or any of the moderators and simply expressed a concern. I suspect some of you are pissed off at me because I had the nerve to tell one of your little group that he was acting like a kindergartener last week and dared to hold him to a promise he made me. I suspect others of you simply think you're somehow discriminated against (as evidenced by the comments of your snotty alters) -- get a life. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Things change. Some of you only like this BB as a method to come hang out with your friends. Well, guess what kids... with over 6,000 members, it's a little bit unrealistic to expect that to continue.

Things change -- not because of what the moderators do or don't do, just because things change. If you can't deal with it, and want to whine and complain and stir up trouble to get some sort of satisfaction, just do everyone a favor and go the hell away.

That's it. Enough. I'm closing this thread, and the other threads, and moderators, please close any other thread that pops up in this vein at any point this weekend. I'm not going to be online enough to deal with it, and frankly, I don't want to.

I can deal with people who can express constructive opinions and criticism. That's not what this is.

I suspect there will be a few of you who decide to quit the BB in a huff. Please, don't let us drag you down with the horrible atmosphere here... by all means, move on the better BB you surely deserve. I'm sure there's some other online place out there JUST for you. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]