rustyroger

I have been checking out this forum regularly for a few years now, occasionally posting a request for help, an opinion about something or other, or responding to someone else's request for help.


But just lately several threads have degenerated into mutual flaming and sadly profanity on one occasion at least. mostly because there have been differences of opinion about the best way to tackle a job, or the merits of a particular car.
The moderators have in my view done a good job in letting us vent, stepping in to delete obscenities but not acting as the thought police.
I bet if we met some of the posters face to face instead of in cyberspace we would conduct ourselves in a much more dignified and polite manner.


We all have different viewpoints on a lot Oldsmobile related subjects. Sometimes our ideas about how to fix something may be wrong, or right, or quite often our way works but so do other ways of putting something right.
We might feel pissed because our advice is ignored, or we are told we are wrong, but if that is the case GET OFF THE THREAD, otherwise we risk a flame war or accusations of trolling. No one is helped by this and we risk being alienated from the good people here who try hard to offer help and advice to Oldsmobile enthusiasts.


Some of the people involved in this have been people whose opinions I value, and have given me useful help with fixing my car or broadening my knowledge about Oldsmobiles.
Sometimes a post may simply be misinterpreted, rarely a post might be a deliberate attempt to wind people up, often we don't have the full story behind a thread and our replies seem inappropriate to the OP.


But come on Oldsmobile fans, there is no need for this, is the summer heat getting to us, are we annoyed because our cars aren't running perfectly or our rebuilds have gone awry?.


This never used to be a problem, in the past I have taken part in frank exchanges of opinions with various other members, some agreeing with me, others not, and yet more agreeing partly and disagreeing partly. Yet these threads didn't end up with abusive and acrimonious posts.
Let us step back and chill before firing off posts concerning something we have strong views about, a few times I have written a post, read it through again, decided I was wrong or I was being childish or spiteful, and wiped it out having thought better.
Once we hit "Submit Post" it's there for all to see, warts and all, and we might regret our actions but too late.


Roger.

Professur

I think it might be the price of gas making it hard for some folks to really enjoy their cars.

citcapp

Well said Roger

jag1886

Bravo!!

Funkwagon455

I strongly agree with this post, thank you for posting Roger.

Nilsson

Your observation is right on, and the offenders seem to be a certain few.

aliensatemybuick

Not everyone. Same old idiots pretty much every time.

camshaw

lol........good point boss!.......everybody is really tough behind a keyboard!.........

some forums are a total blast!....some are stalked and patrolled by jerks and ruin it for many..........we all come to learn and help, so hopefully the punks will chill......Im new to this forum and have been treated nicely and appreciate all the help I've received by members....it only takes a few bad apples to ruin the batch.....sounds like our US congress eah folks? lmao

MDchanic

Not me, mate. In fact, I don' even know what you're talkin' about. You got a problem?



I agree, Roger. There have been a few more than usual looking to push silliness and unwilling to quit when it was obviously time to do so.

No matter. This board is fairly self-correcting, with the help of our able moderators and the self-restraint of our members (and, boy, it does take some restraint sometimes).
It takes a bit more work to be the best Oldsmobile board out there (possibly the best of any car site ), but it's worth it.

- Eric

Napoleon Solo

My anger management course is really pissing me off!!!

It's not just here - other forums I'm a member of have posts that degenerate into a verbal fistfight. The vast majority of us rise above that kind of thing.

Well said though, Roger.

oldcutlass

Some times it's entertaining and then sometimes people don't know when to quit. All in all we do have a very tame site compared to others. Over the years for one reason or another people get a wild hair and go off. Then you get the mob that keeps the pot stirred for umpteen pages of nonsense, you just let everyone vent or have their fun, and then it's over and locked away in history forever.

I agree, as sites go this is one of the best.

garys 68&72

Hmmm after reviewing my earlier posts, I've realized, there's a fine line between happy go lucky idiot and douschebag.

Macadoo

I do believe this is the best forum I have participated in and the folks here are friendly, helpful, and usually have a good sense of humor. But as the best forum, our expectations might be higher than usual so the slightest infraction seems amplified. I think we can keep our standards high without expecting perfection.
I think Eric and (other) Eric hit it on the head. If I see a thread heading south I just stay away from it. Ignorance is bliss.
Personally, I keep my expectations of myself quite low so I can more easily impress myself

Yellowstatue

^^^^Hear Hear

1971 442 convert

Thank You Roger for taking the time to say what most of us have been probably thinking. My Mom used to say if you can't find something nice to say don't say anything. Thanks to to the Mods for making this the best Oldsmobile site IMO. There is nothing wrong with having the highest aspirations so lets raise the bar a bit more. I worry sometimes what the new members must think when they see some of the threads that get off side a little. Personally, I have received some very nice comments and help from this site and I am proud to be a member.

Thanks Roger

Roger

Professur

My mother told me that too. Took a lot of discipline, but I spent an entire week completely silent. She was not amused (although my brother took a perverse delight in trying to get me to talk ... I took as much pleasure in denying him a win).

tru-blue 442

Some start earlier than others too. Ha ha...

coppercutlass

I'm probably one of the worst offenders but that's just my nature. But I have said this before if I run into anyone I have ever butted heads with id probably buy em a beer and have a few laughs. I'm not one to hold a grudge. I think the majority of the disputes are usually in the engine dept. I got a lot of help and learned how to rebuild differentials and transmissions on this sight and no one got nippy with me or gave me a hard time. I have given advice on the body side to as I'm a body man and never got into an argument there. Hp and testosterone go hand in hand and its only natural the arguments happen there.

tru-blue 442

Well put Copper.

Allan R

It is what it is.

70cutty

I don't really see what's the big deal. There will be disagreements and arguments, we are only human and it's our nature. The way I see it, it's just like everything else if you find it offensive just don't be a part of it.
JMO.

tru-blue 442

Agreed with both posts above.
Now we are raising the bar.

I will admit, I have had some 'fun' too.
A few that come to mind, poor Daniel
and his 69 H/O prospect and the 8253 carb
fiasco. Who's else is watching the one Chris
posted earlier on E-bay besides me? Ha ha.
I really enjoy visiting with you guys and Classic Olds...

jaunty75

The correct phrase is "hear, hear" which is short for "hear him, hear him"

"Here here," unless you're trying to get a cat to come to you, is meaningless.

z11375ss

What the **** is going on here! Who says i'm cranky!!! And the ******* video deoesn't work on my computer either!! Wth!!

jaunty75

Find a way to view it. It's Weird Al at his best.

If it won't work by just clicking on the video, try right-clicking on it, selecting "Copy video URL," and then pasting into the address bar on a new browser window.

If you still can't view it, you might need to install Adobe Flash Player.

Sampson

Cranky? Who the heck are you calling Cranky?.?? @&$k'm

Well said Roger! All in all these Peeing contests are a small percentage of the total number of posts. There are a lot of good folks here with good advise. I value the friendship and help I receive.

navvet

Some forget its a hobby...or at least should understand that many have these great cars for the enjoyment of tinkering. Not all are MIT engineers and are only looking for some basic help, direction and support, and maybe a "nice job" coment. I have found for the most part all seem to be helpful. For all to enjoy this passion one must remember when replying to a post..... know who is posting and examine the question or request with a tad more effort.

coppercutlass

although there is no such thing as stupid questions some are. What gets me going is these guys who fail to do research on relatively simple things which are on a repair manual ., im sorry but you have no business even touching your car if you dont even have a repair manual.

MDchanic

Don't want to turn this Kumbaya thread into a "Whos the bad guy" thread...
Awwww, what the heck...

+1, Copper. You've just listed my pet peeves #1 through #100.

But, yeah, Why can't we all just get along?

- Eric

Koda

The reason for the bickering is a lack of respect and an inclination to misunderstand the ambiguities of internet communication as being deliberately provocative. There's a couple guys on here who go after pretty much anything I say as being offensive. Fortunately, one or two of them hit me up with their ignore list, so I no longer have to worry about giving them a heart attack inadvertently. Add to that the cliquish nature of any community, and, if one guy doesn't like someone, then none of his friends do either.

This gets manifested in the rare pissing match, but is usually shown by people just screwing folks over on sales deals or just saying you're wrong anytime you try to help someone. There's one guy, whose name I will omit, if he catches you saying something wrong, he doesn't just say, "Actually, it's X, no big deal, easy to get confused, here's my source" but instead puts up tons of smiley faces and goes "Are you SUUUUUUUUUUUURE that's what it means??????" like it's some sort of victory for him to catch you being wrong.

People exist more happily together in person because there's nuance, a natural pecking order, and the ability to open up a can on he who insults you.

'69CutlassVert'

[QUOTE=coppercutlass;727768]I'm probably one of the worst offenders but that's just my nature. But I have said this before if I run into anyone I have ever butted heads with id probably buy em a beer and have a few laughs.

I don't remember ever butting heads with you, but if you're buyin......

Yellowstatue

I usually only hear the term and don't recall the last time I have seen it in print. Hear Hear...

boese1978

It's the fairly consistent condescension from a few that sucks the fun out of some of these threads......

m371961

To answer the OPs question, NO. Now STFU and go back to working on your Olds.
When I first came here, I thought some of the guys were kind of cranky and grouchy. I came to respect them for their knowledge and overlook what can be taken as an attitude. I can understand some of their frustration with repetitive questions, people not using the manual or searching for an answer first.
I always have to throw in my 2 cents, but for me, to argue over the net is pointless, and I have found that most of the time you are not going to change anothers' outlook anyway.

lshlsh2

Over the last couple of years I believe the site has really grown also. When you have move people more chance for disagreements. my .02

Larry

Hawghead

Your out of your mind! The saying was first coined by Joseph P. Flubutz during the 1695 session of the Continental Congress. It was to show support for a particular speaker by saying here, here (to cause the speaker to look in that direction and see the person that was supporting what he had to say) I hate it people just spout off things because they read it in a book somewhere instead doing some research first.

Scott

MDchanic

tru-blue 442

:d

jaunty75

It's YOU'RE out of your mind.

jaunty75

You guys do entertain easily.