We gotta be nuts.

That doesn't just include those I have been arguing with for the past few days -- it includes me as well.

I discovered FT in July and started posting because I wanted to share my Delta experiences. I got to know a lot of good people and that kept me on the boards.

A few months ago I went to Omni for the first time and found myself enjoying the exchanges.

Then I started letting things become TOO important to me. What I saw as unfair moderation really bothered me.

Some person, hiding behind a fake user name, made a libelous attack on me. I replied. Why? Do I really care what somebody I don't know, sitting at a public computer in a California Kinko's, thinks about me?

The Omni mods had pissed me off, so I posted pissing them off. Other people got involved, bringing in issues not even related to what was being discussed.

The mods became very defensive, talking about how they are sacrificing their time and effort for the forums. In turn, more charges were leveled against them.

All of this in connection with a board which should be a pleasant pastime for us -- posters and moderators alike.

Nobody is threatening our lives or livelihoods. It simply is not worth the aggravation. Not for me. Not for those who supported me. Not for those who opposed me. Not for the mods.

I announced that I would not post on Omni anymore. I am certain that came as a relief to some. Others wrote to me asking me to change my mind. I won't. Partly because of the reasons that I originally stated but even more because I won't take the chance of again letting a pastime become too important to me.

Folks, let me make this one suggestion: Relax. Don't let your pleasure turn into your problem.

As one former Omni poster wrote to me, "if a computer bulletin board makes you go to bed mad, it is not worth contributing."




[This message has been edited by Dovster (edited Jan 26, 2004).]