Empathy, Compassion, and "Walking in Another's Shoes" on A2K

This reminds me of the time that I partook of a particularly strong form of vegetation. I think one of the most fun things in the world is to listen to the blood flowing through your veins. Makes ya feel one with the universe, man!

I always repay my debts, my dear. You are a proud possessor of an Ace in the hole.
(That was a dozen pages ago... dumb luck I bumped into it... I sweep for occom and o'bill once every couple weeks or so, but bill is too common of a word.)

My very first post was actually a PM to Craven (that was the reason I signed up)... just because I was awed by the way he incinerated a seemingly good, but nonetheless inferior argument about intelligence... and I thought he deserved to hear it. It wasn't till later I discovered this was his, and that his genius was no secret to him or anyone else.

As a Newbie; I hit the ground running, warmongering, and being quite over-opinionated politically. Much better now, though. :razz: By the end of day one, I was in several political brawls, and hooked. Hobbit, and Pistoff had ganged on me bad... and Setanta, of all people, stepped in to knock Hobbit back several paces...despite agreeing with Hobbit's take every bit as much as he disagreed with mine. Hell of nice gesture, that.

I do not think newbies are required to read first, and find the expectation laughable. I don't think it wise for the thin-skinned to go on rampage, mind you, but subject matter arguments that fall well within the TOS are quite acceptable in my book. The "old guard" is hardly of a single mind anyway. I do think it foolhardy of newbies to be too quick to judge older members as my own experience has frequently shown that people I didn't like at first grew on me… and A2K is excellent at weeding out the truly intolerable, so to some extent longevity is a sign of at least minimum respectability.

I'd also recommend to new members to not take offense when their posts are seemingly ignored. Part of that is just time... meaning if I'm multi-tasking I might only be reading the posts that correspond to avatars I already have a reasonable expectation of being interesting. Sometimes I'll read every post, sometimes about half (I seemingly know more than half of the posters on any given thread) and sometimes just the really interesting people like Nimh, Soz, Thomas etc. Also, since in politics I am somewhat combative; I'd rather attack the position of known poster so as not to be the bully to the newbie.

Overall, I think Dys was shamefully wronged from what I did see, AND ehBeth's right as well that the Old Guard is a bit too quick to circle the wagons. People should remember that being piled on ain't much fun... but I do think it was warranted this time... more of a display of common compassion than a piling on, really.

Now pass that ****.

I know not...but I do associate the genius of Acme with the shenanigans of the characters showcased within that mighty opus.