I am leaving the board, for the reasons stated at the end of my post of four days ago (link below). Thank you.

http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?
Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=52618&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&vc=1#Post52618

I am deeply sorry for your upset, and that you did not find what you expected here, my friend.

What she said. Precisely.

BTW, has anyone seen WW lately? The air is getting stale around here.

Dear Consuelo and Everybody (just about),

I am leaving, too. I have made some good friends here who will remain my good friends through emails. But the viciousness and acid I have felt from someone here has simply proven to be too much and I do not want that person to be privy to my thoughts here any longer. To sense someone's unfair judgment has been unknown to me before joining this board. I've been active on a music board for years, and never did anyone attack me. I see no sense in my offering myself up as a sacrifice so this person can jab at me in nasty ways. This was a place of joy to me--much friendly wit--and terrific exchange of information that so often delighted me. So many of you have been kind to me and encouraging--as I see your kindness extended to others on this board.

I'm afraid I'm one of those sensitive types--emotional, perhaps thin-skinned (heaven knows the people in my life know I'm strong!!)--but words do hurt--even a single very sarcastic word wrapped in a veil of cruelty--and I will not submit myself to this kind of treatment ever again.

I fear that sometimes what's written on this board--in a guise of superior humor--is not conducive to the good of the board. But I'm not a knight, as I wrote to Keiva--I do not know how to fight this without the board's becoming a place of flaming, and that categorically is not good for the health of a board.

I'm happy to be leaving as an "Old Hand"!!! It's been great being here--other than the nasty PM's--and I wish all of you great fun in your exploration of language, good-willed humor (please read here clearly: good-willed), and joy.

Truly, best regards,
Wordwind, who will now take her leave like the wind

PS: I do want to offer one easy suggestion. To those of you who write in foreign languages, it would be an act of kindness to show translations in white. We seek to understand each other here, and it has been frustrating for me sometimes not to know all the languages that are presented here. Just a suggestion--but I believe it would be good for all the readers. Edit: I want to add here that I, too, have been guilty of dropping the foreign phrase without translation. This suggestion comes from a new awareness that I believe would benefit all.

I now know that it was the same person who sent both Wordwind and Geoff the PM's that caused them to leave. I was not surprised when I found out it was you. I cried every day for six weeks over what you said to me last summer, and still do if I think about it too much. I don't know whether your intention is to be cruel, but I'm telling you now, your words come across as cruel. I hadn't been hurt that badly in years. Years. Maybe you are a person who can "take it" and assume everybody else can, or ought to be able to. But a great many of us can't. I noticed early on that a lot of us are artistic in various ways, and I think perhaps a lot of artistic folk are extra sensitive, somehow. So I am asking you to please restrain your words somehow--to my knowledge, you alone have caused this board to lose two fine contributors. And more importantly, they are two lovely people who did not deserve to be hurt in that way. And if your intent was to be cruel to these people, then I am telling you flat-out to stop it.

I am saddened and bemused by what I have read here.

I trust that this is a hard won lesson for those of us that remain - in the absence of sticks and stones, words can harm.

stales

wow. I am both stunned and surprised at these developments. I second Max's thoughts of course

But I find it difficult to believe any regular contributor has achieved these results by malice. We see so much good will here, it simply does not square. I trust the result will be persuasion to more care, whoever is involved now, and in the future.

It is my understanding that the Reader's Digest will soon be publishing an article about AWAD. Many new people, eager to participate, will be showing up here, board names in hand. Are we to give the impression that posters are not welcome here? Also, consider this, if you will:
To the person or people who are responsible for the unwelcome PMs,
Do you see how all the people you have hurt and run off the board are still protecting your identity? These are some of the kindest people I have ever met. They don't deserve to be made to feel less. Not by you, not by anyone else. Please, think before you post or PM.
If care is not taken now, when the impending influx begins, it will most likely turn into a flame war and destroy what we have come to love. We must consider what we want this board to become. Newcomers have ever been welcome here. Some understand, some do not. Those that don't understand what this board is about usually move on, with no pushing or meaness of spirit required. We cannot say "You cannot play". We all play on this board. We also all love words. It is the tongue in cheek, the puns, both bad and excellent, the marvelous sense of play to be found here that brings me joy. I like the pedantry as well. It's another form of play. Let's keep informing each other, laughing together and enjoying this board. Let no one take matters into their own hands by sending hurtful PMs.
I would also counsel all to take a long look at the information they have included on their user profile page. Now might be a good time to trim any information that might attract unsavory and unwanted attention. Better to be thought paranoid now than rue the day later. I hope no one misunderstands the intent of this post.

Who are you Jeepers?

You have evidently been around for a while since you know how we interact on this Board, you know how we kid around and you know how we welcome strangers. YET you post under a stranger's title and name.

For some reason I am very uncomfortable with that.

Everybody here knows me as belMarduk. I am who I am, and I will always stand up and be counted as such. It doesn't matter if I ever have an argument with someone or if someone attacks me in a PM. No-one will take my name away and I will not let them. If I ever leave and come back I will come back as belMarduk. I will not hide and I will stand up as myself.

Why do you not?

Dear all,

Firstly. It was not me who sent these PMs to those noted above. They are unknown to me and Jackie is a close personal friend of mine so I would never think about offending her.

I write the above sentence to put in context my explanation of the following. I left the forum twice as a reult of the petty bickering that began and persisted over the past few months. Some bad eggs still exist on the forum and it is quite obvious, from reading the posts, who they are.

I have been quite a hot head in the past few months and have berated, some say unjustifiably, some members of the board. For this I am completely and unreservedly sorry. I will personally contact these members soon about this.

My return is both as a result of personal pleads by members whom I met in person and a growing urge to continue the good fun which I experienced almost two years ago when the forum first kicked and screamed itself into life.

The things that unite us irrevocably are words. Not necessarily English words but those words with which we can communicate and have fun with be they Latin, Italian, Spanish, Greek or whatever. If we delve beyond language into the horrific relams of politics, cultural differences (of a negative persuasion), petty and gross racial differences, differences in educational levels or supremists attitudes then we have defeated the purpose of the forum.

This forum is about words!! Words, language and discussion about such. Leave everything else out. We are a global community!! What irks someone in a political field on one side of the world matters not to most of us on the other side and vice versa. Lets keep it down to words, and no more. Blood boils at a low temperature and there is no need to encourage ot to this state. If you can't be nice, discuss the above the topics on the board with good humour and decency then maybe you should consider the reasons you are contributing to this forum.

Maybe a lot of you are wondering why I, of all people, am 'preaching' after my lack of decorum but I am aware that I made a mistake and I am spelling out the reasons why I was so blatantly nasty.

The board is 99% educational, pleasant and fun!! Will that 1% please STOP! Stop being nasty and give the rest of us a chance to continue on the good work started by Anu, Tsuwm, Jackie, AnnaS, jmh, et al.

BTW. I have stated before that I know who that 'bad egg' is. I haven't received a PM from 'them' yet but I intend to send them one soon if they don't desist with their 'behind the scenes' nastiness. Especially now that they've been far from nice with Jackie. And nobody does that - nobody.

Sticks and stones may break your ones but words will never hurt you. But don't forget your sticks and stones.

I must say that I'm shocked at the recent passings. Three of our valued friends have left, and certainly there is now a gaping hole in the board.

I think that these lyrics from the Chumbawumba song One by One are strangely apt:

One by one
The ships come sailing in
One by one
The ships go sailing out

We live for words and die for words
Principles we can afford
When all our Brothers turn to Lord
Whose side are you on?

You tell the world your hands are tied
History three times denied
A sea of changes three miles wide
Whose side are you on?

One by one
The ships come sailing in
One by one
The ships go sailing out

This conspiracy of shame
Murder by some other name
Play up and play the game
Whose side are you on?

If any ask us why we died
We tell them that our leaders lied
Sold us out down the riverside
Whose side are you on?

One by one
The ships come sailing in
One by one
The ships go sailing out

Dear Rubrick: Thank you for your welcome words. Particularly your stress on words.

Dear Jazz: Let us see more sails coming in, and fewer leaving, not planning to return.

I feel uncomfortable with this:
a lot of us like and love and respect someone , and desire he/ she stays with us at the Board..
and just ONE DOES something in the shadow, and HE/SHE WILL WIN !
I will send by an e-mail this post to the three leaving persons.

But I also have to add that I personally am deeply uncomfortable with this process of hidden shaming going on - none of us know who or exactly what was involved, certainly know nothing of the context or the tone of the 2 messages to which offence was taken.... yet we risk making the whole atmosphere of the board one of suspicion, recrimination, and splits between cliques & factions.

Can we please all draw back? If anyone of our regular contributors to this unique forum has caused great personal hurt I *know it must have been unwittingly. It is otherwise completely inconsistent with all that umpteen friends have shared here. Let us all breathe deeply, and stop all tendencies to start lobbing rocks - I say this as an old lag who has both caused and been given serious offence, sometimes without any such intention. We need to all recognise the difficulties inherent in an 'airless' medium, which sometimes distorts the message sent and received.

Draw back - cool down. No one died. yet...