Posted by Yoke and Annemarie (212.238.33.13) on August 06, 2001 at 16:08:05:
Yoke mailed me about this and asked if I didn't agree with her, and if so, would I put together a post for the MB, since words are my speciality.
So okay. It has been said here before - but so often in a very offensive way. The last thing Yoke and I want to be is offensive. We deeply appreciate the "family feeling" on this board. We both know how good it feels when a clustersis or clustercousin goes out of their way to cheer us up when the going gets rough.
BUT - intentionally or not, new people who come up against "the family in full spate" will sometimes get the feeling they are being dealt out. Something of this I found in Paco's "long post" and in Margi's recent message. Sometimes it IS better to e-mail if things are getting very personal.
Now I wondered, but never got around to ask until Yoke jogged my memory, are there people who regularly react to the entries in the guest book? I know Yoke has done so sometimes, I know I have. But are more people doing this, and on a regular basis? Is there in fact, a self appointed welcoming committee?
And if there isn't, isn't it time we had one? To make newbies feel welcome and introduce them more or less painlessly to the cooky community of this clusterboard? Instead of dunking them in it...
We're not talking formal stuff here. We're just thinking how good it would be if all the affection and support that this board generates were to be applied on a more or less regular basis to the people who write in the guest book. Would be a great moment to tell them about OUCH too.
Or are we inventing the wheel all over again?
Love from Holland
Yoke and Annemarie