i think part of the reason for a continued failure to reach argreement (on almost any subject) is that i don't see us as a collective.
(THAT IS MY OPINION--notice i didn't presume others see things the same way)
i have met some (30%? 40%?) percent of the the current (by current, i mean people who have posted comments in the past 30 days) posters.
I didn't meet a group, i met individuals.
some i liked before for i met them, and i continued to like them afterwards.
some, didn't much care for, and didn't interact with except nominally. and after i met them, that remained unchanged.
some i liked until it met them, and then.. what i thought chatty or fun, came across in person as shallow, or hurtful.. and i began to disliked them
others, who came across as mean, or harsh, in person, became, wonderful, witty, sharp, but not biting wits.. (and me, being me, i managed to blurt out just how i had previously thought about them.--but as i said, they were witty, and of a much better nature than their online post had lead me to believe, and they laughed--both at my thoughts, and my clumsy blurting out of the truth, and at themselves! and i liked them even more!
but i still don't consider myself as a member of some sort of group, just because i have broken bread with some of the posters.
of the small percentage of users i met,
WE are
YOUNG
OLD
FAT
THIN
PRETTY
Posses a face only a mother could love
we are
educated
ignorant
nice people
horrid neighboors
we are
married
single
divorced
gay
straight
childless
parents
urban
rural
suburban
rich
poor
middle class
american (from both the US and canada)
europeans-- mostly UK, but by no means exclusively)
Other nationalities (oceania, mostly)
we are
starting careers
retired
unemployed
self employed
changing careers
mindless work grunges
teachers
blue collar workers
college professors
high school drop outs
high school students
i am some of those things, but not all of them. i don't see myself as having a shared collective quality or a collective set of shared values. about the only thing i have consistantly in common with other posters to AWAD, is, i too post comments at this place.
i don't see myself as part of group here, i come here for me. (its so very nice of all of you to show up and help to educate and entertain me!) i don't come here to be part of a group. i can (and do) join clubs if i want a group experience.
and i personally dislike post after post that make comments about what WE do here, or what WE think, or how WE behave.
i feel like someone it attempting to pidgeon hole me into a group, (and i am not a member of group here) and to be the spokeperson for the group--and i am quite capable of being a spokeperson for myself, thank you very much!
and every time someone does that to ME. I DISLIKE IT, and by extention the person who did it.
yes, i am a bit self centered. but that's ME.
