dwoodliff

Travdog -- I hope this hasn't been mentioned already ... I just kind of skimmed through the posts ...

I remember seeing a post from you the other day, where it seemed you may have been mistaken for "travdis", a well-known Fodors troll, who originates lots of generic threads, and who has apparently been posting for some time under a number of screen names.

Keep that in mind when you post, as it is easy to be mistaken for another poster, when your screen names are similar. I know when I started posting, I was mistaken for 2 other posters whose names were very close to mine.

On the subject of rude replies, if they are directed at me, I just ignore them, unless I "know" the source. Some people are just trying to show how clever they are.

A few months ago, I got totally "bawled out" for agreeing with someone else's observation. I didn't respond, and the know-it-all went away.

Donna

Tandoori_Girl

Donna, is there something else you wanted to say? Or did you censor yourself?

Marilyn

I suspect the cat walked across the space bar, or else Donna fell asleep on the keyboard.

Oops, now I've going to get creamed for hijacking the thread.

hugglynn

My only response to this post is that some things I have observed on this forum have been posted here in the written word, and accurately so. I'm just glad to know those by some of the statements written here that it wasn't just me.

dwoodliff

T-Girl: I hate it when that happens. I was hoping people would think I was just giving them a chance to pause and reflect on my statements.

Marilyn: Do I know you? Rather, do you know me? Both of the possibilities you mentioned are highly likely ... actually, I believe one of the cats did walk across the keyboard while I was posting. Little devil ... (insert cat and/or devil smiley) ...

Donna

Tandoori_Girl

and
>

Marilyn

LOL Donna, I'm just psychic.

Tandoori_Girl

yikes. what happened to my smileys?

cher_cher

I thought this thread was going to be about "Altitudes."

dwoodliff

Cher-cher: It is. We are talking about a few posters who have hit an all-time high in delivering low blows. :-"

Donna

HuisClos

I just cringe and try to ignore the thread, which gets really hard when it's your own question. Seriously, when the conversation goes south, I don't bother to offer advice, because I think I'll be getting the same wrath.

For example, the Versailles question on the Europe board that Patrick got blasted on, I just wonder how many others were confused, like me, by the response by the original poster to the answer -- Patrick, you were right -- it didn't make sense to me either -- and I let it go because Patrick was slammed by this innocent and I think helpful comment.

While we all get periodically "slap happy" and try to inject a little humor in the mix, sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between a dry sense of humor and rudeness. Ah, the chase of wit.

Cher

There's a lot of good information available at this site ... Just ignore the posters with "attitudes" ... way too much time on their hands, and really, "so what" if they say something negative ... just don't pay any attention (since that's what they want; to hook you into a debate). For the most part, I've gained valuable information for my travel plans and have also got lots of ideas for future trips. I've gone on many trips based on info from this site. I try to offer advice whenever I can, which I think represents the majority of folks on this board ... Just don't even pay attention to the rude or negative stuff.

sognatrice2

Cher-Agree that's a good approach to take, and it was the way I looked at things until my incident with the threatening email. This was a lesson learned, and showed that at least one of these people is perfectly willing to cross the line at their own whim.

It's so much easier to ignore when the arrow isn't aimed at you.

Fortunately, the posters who promote this kind of attitude are less numerous than others.

As gracieb pointed out, clearly many of the nastier posts come from those who have alot of time on their hands, and this the best way they can come up with to keep busy. And they are under the illusion that they sound clever and witty. It looks sad, because most of the nastier comments aren't really that witty, considering the time that obviously goes into writing them. It's just boring.

Then there are the ones who use the forums as a sort of text messaging tool. They go back and forth with little personal one liners between a couple of people and send threads off in a useless direction.
This is similar to people who talk loudly on a cellphone while the rest of the audience is trying to enjoy a movie.

For these kinds of posts, AIM or ichat can do a much better job, and the boards would be alot less cluttered. The beauty of that is, with AIM, you can really get down and let all those nastiness urges out without pestering the boards.You can gossip about everyone to your heart's content without harming anyone else. And you can be absolutely sure that the recipient wants to hear what you have to say!

Alot of it just drains the best life out of these forums-it's the least useful aspect. If I want the nasty edge, I can always find it riding the subway each morning at rush hour. I don't think it's needed on Fodor's one bit.

Thankfully, I have found my way back to the threads that have an exchange of travel information, or where I can give concrete suggestions.
That is where the interesting stuff is.

travdog-you've posted a good thread, and there are obviously several others out there who wanted to voice their thoughts on this topic, so thanks for bringing it up!

dcespedes

Hi travdog--this is a good thread

If you need a good laugh, check out travdog's reply to "Your funniest travel experience" on the European board--it's a hoot!

Marilyn

sognatrice, I hope you reported the unsolicited threatening email to the editors. They will at the very least warn the person that their behavior is unacceptable. I believe people are sometimes barred from the forum for a period of time when they get too out of line, or even permanently if they continue to misbehave.

travdog

I am glad so many of you are enjoying this thread.

I agree with reporting the e-mail. Maybe you did that already, though. I think anyone who sends you a personal email threatening you should be banned (but, then, I suppose they can just re-register, right?) That's just taking things waaaay too far. And, who on earth would get that upset about a travel site???

Dcespedes, that was pretty funny, especially when it was actually happening. If you think THAT was funny, I am going to post another little gem on that thread JUST for you! Check it out!!

snowrooster

I have to say that compared to other online bb's I've visited, folks here are pretty nice (though I haven't spent any time of the Europe board). Even when there are differing opinions, it stays pretty tame. I had a situation once when the quality of my thread was insulted (I was told my question was "common sense") and I admittedly got pretty upset and childish about it. I don't mind differing opinions, but there is no need to insult the quality of someone elses thread. That said, I have since posted and responded very nicely to the individual who insulted me. It seems that even when people do have differences here they are able to move on and forget about little spats within a day or two. Happy posting!!

Patrick

Sometimes I wonder if we all don't get a little too sensitive. This morning on the Europe board someone posted looking for the name of a "spring" in Italy. Several of us offered names of possibilities. When one person mentioned a place and I responded that "No, that doesn't describe it at all", that person responded "sorry for trying." Now I'm sitting here thinking did they think I was being nasty at telling them they were wrong? And now am I supposed to get upset because this person responded "sorry for trying" to me? I think we all need to relax a bit and not take things too personally here.

snowrooster

I've found that sometimes if I spend time on a nastier board (slate politics) my attitude is nasty and it carries over here. I jump from one to the other and forget that folks here are so nice and well intentioned. I think bad attitudes here are just carry overs from being in a bad mood due to things outside this bb. Kind of taking out pent up hostility on someone who doesn't deserve it just to get it out.

However this board never gets out of hand as the fodor watchdogs don't let that happen. Personally I think they are sometimes a bit overzealous in their censoring. I hope I don't get banned again for saying that!!

OO

Everyone--we must always keep in mind the saying, "there are two sides to every story". There always are...so we shouldn't leap to judgment too quickly. One of the Fodors Grand Mal Events which upset me and plenty of others so badly at the time it happened, as it turned out DID have another side. I had so much sympathy at the time for the one I believed to be the victim, but as it turned out, he was the "perp".

I don't get some of the rude/mocking here either--it sometimes seems as if those involved are taking out their own bad day on an unsuspecting bystander. Getting smacked around hurts--I envy anyone who can truly shrug it off, and would love some lessons in doing the same.