I think, frankly, that I've had it with being told that when I write white, I'm writing black, and when I write round, I'm writing square. There wasn't a single statement in my last post that was read by you, @Curdis, to mean anything near what I wrote in it--not even my final emoticon, which was quoted as a smile, despite being rolled eyes.
Far from trying to ingratiate myself with you, I actually went back over my post last night and removed all evidence where I responded to anger with anger. It's amusing you think I would try to rectify the situation by merely being *nice,* one of the most unproductive methods of dealing with problems that exists, instead of by trying to explain calmly why you're missing everything I've said. But that's your problem, not mine. Maybe you'll discover that, some day, when you actually get whatever's in your system out of it.
My problem, on the other hand, is that I've actually believed far too long that people can and should reasonably discuss matters while having differences of opinion. Because in the end, we were all human, and that the only way we could see that was getting around the anger and the bull, and seeing ourselves in one another. So it actually mattered to put out brush fires, because people really *did* want to argue in order to understand better each other's POV. Which explains why my PM box has become, over the years, a daily message drop for every complaint about why SYM has too many spam threads, or far too little, or how X is being deliberately provocative and insulting, or why Y is stupid and dense, or why Z shouldn't be allowed to post because he or she takes "the Lord's Name in vain," or why X, Y and Z desire me to personally edit their posts ahead of time and make suggestions so there are no flames on the board, and no warnings, and everybody lives together with a modicum of respect.
If that sounds like self-pity, yeah, maybe it is. But hell, you have to find some medal to reasonably award yourself, when the only slaps on the back you get are repeatedly in private. Because out on the boards, you can best expect to get kicked around by anyone who's had a bad day or week and decided to ignore what you write.
Guys, I'm beginning to think maybe at99 was correct, after all, that people are always in every situation going to refuse to understand one another, and the only thing is to sit back and laugh at them. Though in his case, it involved making things deliberately worse, because he found that even funnier. I haven't gotten that bad, yet, but clearly this forum hasn't helped.
So, as of now, I'm resigning as both a member and moderator of this forum. This will please you, Curdis: I will not read, write, post, or, most importantly, moderate your (meaning anybody's) arguments behind the scenes or up front, again. When you want a hand held because somebody doesn't understand you--I don't want to hear about it. When you feel a grave injustice has been done to your POV--write to T, or Mah, or Buck. I'll be moderating the BG2 and KotoR forums, and that's it. I'm fed up with being a sympathy sounding board and getting kicked in public. As Mark Twain once said of the man being tarred and feathered and written out of town on a rail, "I'd forego it, if it wasn't for the honor of the thing." Well, the honor of the thing was never my object, here, but clearly I've failed in getting even my most basic points across if I periodically get savaged for things I haven't said by people I formerly counted as friends.
@Curdis, as you haven't PM'd me to date, don't start, now. I have too much respect for Buck's board to tell you even in private what I think of your personal habits and ancestry after that last completely undeserved flame of yours.
Enough of the grand drama.
I'm out of here. To all those who enjoyed the conversation and offered thanks for the support, it's been fun. Maybe we'll see one another in another place--only *this* time, *you* get to play project manager to a herd of cats.
