I have met both Mal and Postie and they are both nice people. In fact I spent a large portion of a recent munch in Posties company and he is a top bloke.
Now I am not going to take sides in whatever is going on in the background as I have no idea what the hell it is. Maybe some things I heard relate to it, or are not true. I did get told some stuff at the munch which I kept to myself. (Not by postie, we were too busy watching the scenery) but obviously something is going on here and there that is ruffling feathers. Hey ho, shit happens and it will pass in time.
However I am going to respond to your post Mal, as another member. Posties original post did not mean anything underhand to me, and I saw what he was talking about in my own way. (Don't ask me to list posts, this far on I have no idea) The point is it was a throwaway, non personalised comment. He never targeted anyone, and it was most likely misread by everyone and meant different things to different people.
Now you say he should be able to back it up, but it was his opinion, nothing more. Look at his first words "I seem to be noticing". He is putting his opinion, and seeing if others agree. He may be wrong in his opinion, argue with him. However he is allowed to have one.
I might think that I can fly, and when I try it I will get a shock. However if I post I think I can fly, I might be wrong about my ability, but I am not lying posting in my belief that I can. Something like that anyway... After all that is what the steam room was for, rants, ideas, constructive or otherwise. The mods keep us safe from AUP breaking, and clear out if it gets too heated.
His post never said it was happening, only he felt it was. He may show you the same posts, and to you they do not lead you to the same belief. You are different people. If you disagree simply say so at the time and put your belief, such is debate.
I think the request to PM him was to ensure that anyone who thought he was talking about them and felt hurt could PM for reassurance that he was not talking about them. It is a hard thing to rant without naming names, everyone can panic so you have to PM a good few people to set minds at rest. I did after my rant about SarcySue being harassed at a munch, even the sweetest peeps thought I meant them...
At the end of the day Mal he did not personalise it, this left loose ends. However he had a belief and wanted to express it in the steam room. I wonder why you chose to personalise your own post at Postie and not let old ground be buried as the steam room is meant to do? Could you not have made your point without dragging postie into it?
Isn't it about time certain members on this site "Just let things go".....what is done is done,move on and just ignore each other if you have to,it's getting boring now!!
Sorry Red, was it not a mod (posting as a member) who started this latest spat with a personalised moan about a specific members actions in the steam room? Then again this is the steam room and if they want to rant a bit at each other in here in a public debate we should not be trying to stop them inside the AUP... thats what it is for I thought?
Sorry Jags, TE and Red,... and I agree with TnH.... this has been ignited by Mal, please don't let me not defend myself when a Mod writes a thread aimed directly at me.... after threatening in PM to write a "pointed " thread if i don't answer his questions... up till now I have kept quiet on this whole business, with the exception of my rant.
I have a suggestion that I have made before - and this seems to be the place to put it.
Is it time for the site-sanctioned munches to stop? It seems to me that policing and dealing with issues of security and all the rest is causing a lot of trouble for the mods in one way or another.
Maybe all meets whether they be social, parties or club meets should simply be organised as people see fit? There have been some very successful large social parties organised which didn't qualify as munches but seemed to be just as popular.
It seems at the moment the mods are trying to police the behavior of people in real-life and decide if this or that merits a site ban etc. I would have thought their job was to enforce the site's AUP - if people behave unacceptably in real-life we already have a real police force for that.
Roger the Dragon.
P.S. - I am not saying that the socials should stop - just that the site should no longer take responsibility for them.
Well now I am really confused, but let sleeping dogs lie... Polo I would never have thought the post was aimed at you, and you were not someone anyone has ever talked about in public or private to me... so I am off to be confused....
However to add light to my post the comment remains, why Mal did you rake this up? Has this made polo, postie, you, or anyone else involved feel better or has it made things worse. What a tangled web we weave... Deep breaths people please, a lot of you are my friends and I hate to see you fall out.
And lastly, before i go to bed after a completely shit day...
Can i just say this.... I aint often nasty...very very rarely do i post in haste.
Today has been crap as i heard about what was written while i was out on delivery.... I have had supportive PM's. Regular members and newbies don't understand why one post has solicited such a response from a Mod. When no other Mod has gone off at me like that in the weeks previous...
I am confused... a bit worried but you know what... I am chuffed to bits with the things people have said either in here, or in pm....
Thanks to all those who wrote... each one meant more than you can imagine!
Paul.
Personally I think the idea of official Munches is good as it offers the newbies and less experienceced members of the site the opportunity to dip their toes in the water in a supposedly safe and controlled manner. If the Mods are put-upon at these events that is wrong - it is up to the organisers to run the Munch event and let the Mods run the forum/chatroom.
Maybe Munch organisers need to be site approved? That way the conduct of the munch could be controlled.
If folk want to have non-munch meets aswell then why not? As far as I am concerned I would not even try to be invited to a private party unless I had met the persons previoulsy or thought I knew them well enough through the site (which to be honest in umlikely).
Consequently, I support the official munches and look forwrd to attending them in a controlled manner - after that who knows what I may or may not want to do?
McC
Well there you go. A time bomb that eventually went off.
Im pretty shocked that anyone would deliberately put this site and its munches under the spotlight from the local council, churches and press. I dont care what wrongs were done in whoever's eyes but this is not a way to go about seeking justice. Two wrongs dont make a right. It just seems pretty spiteful and bitter.
My main beef with this action by L+L is it affects totally unrelated people. Im new here really and reasonably nervous about going to my first munch next week. This amount of bad feeling is really not helping.. and if there was even the slightest chance that a feckin picket line of bible bashers was outside with a photographer from the local paper ..i'd be pretty mortified.
I personally am not ready yet to have my face splashed over the paper as a swinger and i'm really pissed off that anyone from here could have put anyone else in this potential situation.