[Oiler41]

Thank you for posting this. Pup and I have had a very similar discussion on more than one occasion. I think we have all seen the negative result of someone new to this site (or any other similar site) or the dynamic (and sometimes someone not so new that is trying to understand a component of our community that they may not have really considered before), use the wrong identifier and get blasted for it; or say something that seems ID insensitive, and get blasted for it and/or labeled as intolerant of this or that and discounted from that moment forward. It's not pretty, it's not very fair and it can be quite divisive. I for one don't like or want to see the division of our community along such a boundary. In my opinion, the collective "we" are already a microcosm within a microcosm. As such, good debate is healthy; division is not.

I really do appreciate the stance, wisdom and tolerance of the admins and most of the community here in their desire to create a positive space in which everyone should feel welcome to a space that provides us with a place to play, learn, share, debate and best of all, connect with our community; our online family that we often have the luxury of meeting in person along the way. Every single one of us is at a different point in our own personal journey and knowledge, and that often is reflected in what we say, how we say it; what we view as humorous or distasteful. Tolerance and understanding cannot be forced. Many of us have seen the result of that premise. It must instead be nurtured through dialogue, information exchange and patience. Many thanks for reminding us all to engage our brains and our hearts before engaging our keyboards.

Didn't want to get on a soapbox, but hey, it's 3:30 in the morning and this thread certainly hit on a point that I feel pretty strongly about but never took the time to vocalize. Thanks for the prompt, thanks for the space and thank you for the reminder to us all to help keep this place healthy across the board!

Glynn