... in response to so did mark! ........., posted by joe on Oct 14, 2002No doubt... hehehe
It should be noted, however, that I am not affecting a Martyr complex, Joe...
Actually what drew me here initially weren't the fights, it was the trip reports, and the sharing of experiences.
That is a lot less these days, I admit. What has happened is that a lot less guys are posting their experiences now, because no one LIKES being flamed.
FWIW, I think this is in part because of the lack of Trolls. When trolls attacked once a week, it kind of drew us all together. Without the trolls, everyone on here becomes a lot more selective of who they think is "OK". Kind of like there was no talk of Black/White relations right after 9/11...
And, what happened was the "Old Guard" became selective and exclusive. If you had posted for over a year, you were (generally) OK. (except for a few of the on-going feuds...) If you were a new guy (like Oscar) then anything you said was open to debate.
Personally, I thought that diminished the board. But, the fact that when I came back after my hiatus, I was readily accepted back into the "old-timers" club, made me hesitate to say anything at first.
I mean... I was sitting at the "cool kids" table. Why make waves?
But then after I started thinking about it, I decided that the cool kids weren't so cool after all. In fact, most of them are just punks with bad table manners.
So... I was "kicked out of the club" and now I'm public enemy number one.
So what?
Frankly, I would have left a long time ago, except I keep getting emails from newbies after some of the posts here. And, some of the guys on here (and many of the guys no longer here) DID help me out when I started so I like to share what little I know, as a way of paying back the debt.
I have never claimed to be an expert.
My experiences are all anecdotal.
I haven't made as many trips as Dan, I haven't bedded as many women as LP, and I haven't made as much money as Jack...
All I can tell guys is what worked for me. And that's all I do.
The rest of it be dammed...