grandmere brought up another good point. Sometimes it is difficult to acknowledge all the posters who have responded to my query. If I acknowledge X but not Y, Y may feel slighted. If I come back and said I've decided to take A's suggestion, B may feel left out. Why is everyone here so darn sensitive?

When I first joined, I was somewhat taken back with the flippiness of some answers I got. Not that I didn't like their answers, but though some were on the rude side, Correcting my spelling of a town, etc. I stayed away for awhile,

Then again, there are a lot of posters who DO come back and a nice dialog is had by all. And there are lots of wonderful trip reports out there that aren't for self-aggrandizement, but serve as informational fonts for others who are planning a trip to that location(s) as well as being entertaining to read.

It's hard to generalize, but the better, more positive threads far exceed the negative threads.

There are only three things that peeve me:

1) The OP thanks only one/two posters while ignoring all the other responses. What are we? Chopped liver?

2) Responders to an OP's thread who don't really respond to the OP but start talking to one another, making it like it's their private dialog and ignoring the OP altogether. What's the OP? Chopped liver?

3) And number 3 is ... I've already forgotten number 3. :)

daveesl: you get the prize for most original answer! ((*))

maitaitom: you get the prize for the most intriguing answer! ((*))

Quite apart from posters who never let us know their outcomes, what about the ones who post and clearly never come back at all? Those who never answer fundamental questions like, "Did you mean Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine?" or "Will you be visiting that location in summer or winter?" so that nobody can even begin to formulate an answer.

Maybe it's because of all the political answers one gets on almost any subject one posts. Would I dare ask about the Bush, Sr. Library or how to get to (God forbid) the Reagan Library? I know would get lots of abuse calling me a
right-wing wacho" and how stupid I am.

And if I asked about restauants, say in Duluth, ( I love that City ) I'd be told there aren't any worthwhile places and I should go somewhere else.

Am I wrong in my assumptions?

M.

I think suze hit the nail on the head.

I think many people are on here looking for clarification, not answers. & when things don't go their way (which in most cases, they don't) they just go away. Take the German lady who wanted to take her kid to Vegas as an example. She ended up arguing w/everyone on here, still took her kid to Vegas & (surprise) had a pretty miserable time. But, at least she did come back & tell us about it. Kudos to her.

I posted a thread in regard to Vegas restaurants on the US forum and was lectured on how much we spend on dining out. We ended up not going to Vegas and I don't remember if I came back and said as much. I probably didn't simply because I didn't think to.

I think there are many people who hear about this site or find it by googling some topic. They come here and decide it might be a good place to ask their question, so they figure out how to register and ask. But a few days pass and they either forget where that site was they posted or even the name of it, or if they come back at all, they scroll around a bit and can't even find their question. So that ends that.

Here a few reasons why I've bowed out when asking for advice;
I once had someone on the Latin board obsess so much about my use of my usage of an 'a' instead of an 'o' in one of these long Hispanic location names. When I pointed out that there wasn't a location that contained the 'o' she ruined the thread by her rantings.
I decided to research elsewhere.

I also find that some posters use your question to brag about themselves or where they visited despite the fact that it has nothing to do with the question.

Lastly, as easytraveler stated, sometimes the threads turns into a social excursion for people to catch up. After about the twelfth time that Mary has to say hello to BettySue, or Evelyn has to tell Franklin that he's wonderful, I depart.

That aside, I do find excellent and extremely helpful info. and posters on the African forum.

I also find that some posters use your question to brag about themselves or where they visited despite the fact that it has nothing to do with the question.

Lastly, as easytraveler stated, sometimes the threads turns into a social excursion for people to catch up. After about the twelfth time that Mary has to say hello to BettySue, or Evelyn has to tell Franklin that he's wonderful, I depart.
___
Good insight cybor.

Some people around here have real issues and feel the need to be the moral conscious for others or brow beat people because of those issues. Don't ya think that can be a big turnoff?

Some responses to travel advice are in trip reports rather than the original thread so some answered questions may appear unanswered. I don't mind seeing a response both places. What the OP decided to do in the original thread, and how it turned out in the trip report. It's nice to thank everybody, sometimes you want to especially thank regulars who are patient enough to advise on itineraries and knowledgeable enough to advise on train schedules. And finally, it's interesting that even the people with issues often write interesting trip reports.

<i>When I first joined, I was somewhat taken back with the flippiness of some answers I got. Not that I didn't like their answers, but though some were on the rude side, Correcting my spelling of a town, etc. I stayed away for awhile,</i>

Same here. It is hard to break in as a new poster here on some threads. So many suspect ulterior motives.

Just one thought, when a poster spells the name of a location incorrectly many Fodorites give them the correct spelling with the idea of being helpful. Sienna is spelled Siena for example. Of course posting the correct spelling should be done in a polite manner.

It <is> useful to know the spelling-- just last week, browsing through travel books at Barnes and Nobles, I wasted quite some time looking in vain for info on "Compiègne," wondering why it wasn't in the indices of any of the books, before realizing that I was spelling it wrong. Why are people so sensitive!

(sorry, typo on the italics).

The person that corrected my spelling wasn't being helpful or nice, when you start a response off with, "For Christs sake,"
I tend to back off. That's only my experience, I'm sure it's not the norm.

I have no clue. But I pointed that out recently to one of these posters and he/she was miffed :-(

There is some etiquette behind everything - even in a forum ;-)

SV

I don't care if you come back to thank me or not but I do love to hear how you liked my little town (unless you call it fake and then I get a little to'd). I love to different opinions about restaurants and activities.