What in the hell...

all's good here. Some may notice I don't post at all that many threads, mainly, as self learned from many years at old ASP, if the "header" don't look interesting, scroll on down. Main reason cause if I have nothin' to contribute worth bothering others with...why waste their time/effort. Guess helps at my ^*()__ age, to not cram both feet in mouth at same time. Hope I never guilty of same

Ed Duncan, 78
Batavia, NY

It just goes to show you..What we have here is a failure to communicate.

Boy does that sound oddly familiar..😁

Funny thing is religion, anti-religion and politics etc., did not find a sponsor in the disruptions. In reality religious, anti-religious and political thought are simply flash points that serve to illustrate how un-evolved we really are. Civil conversation is possible. However many people rarely if ever realise the truth of serious mature dialogue because they either love to force feed others and/or get butt hurt.

PS The biggest distraction came when one of our members went off the rails, claiming drug abuse and other issues were at least partially responsible. Many wished him well, including myself, though I cannot blame the other members for being a bit more upset by his shenanigans. Another thread I read that was blocked, had devolved into a few jokes about Kentucky, Given the replies to Ted's follow up apology thread, it appeared that our Kentuckian and everyone else knew the comments were said in jest and were taken that way like men not boys. It was concluded the supposed offense was not an offense at all. Legend Lover interpreted the thread in a more sensitive way than need be. Not to say, that I disagree about his monitoring role. I could not pick a better man myself.


Frankly, I am not sure how the blocked threads above, could have been avoided. This is one reason why, one should not lump all blocked threads into one big collective but examine them individually. Find the things you can correct, acknowledge the ideas you cannot and pray for the wisdom to know the difference. It is also wise not to blame the audience (You and/or your lieutenants can always point out trouble cases to be worked with, spoken to or maybe suspended or dismissed.). Often the members themselves jump in to change the tone successfully, without the hall monitors calling the home room teacher. Those brave foot soldiers of the patch should be applauded not chastised. This is not an us vs them type of group, unless you support the FDA's recent actions, like the one who smells hats (just kidding smellthehatfirst 😁).

There it goes again, déjà vu, something in the last statements sounds oddly familiar.😁

Daddy used to say "any drunk can take sides in a bar room brawl." I have found this advice useful more than once in my life....

Glad to hear that things are going well, Justin. Still smoking that Burley?

I must have missed the controversial post. Just my luck!

Glad all is going well Justin.

It appears that things have settled down. It must have been thr moon.

"Cant we all just get along?"

I'm here to celebrate pipes and tobacco for the most part. My biggest objections in the past have been foul language and this site veering into areas that seem more like Facebook etc.

Part of the problem, for me, is that a few members seem to enjoy starting threads that are essentially for bitching about and criticizing others. These threads seem to assume that there is some standard acceptable type of pipe smoker, all with the same fashion, culture, beliefs, and social attitudes. I mean the threads about manliness vs wussies and wimps, about how horrible hip-hop is, about how lame hipsters are, the stupidity of women in the metoo movement, criticism of types of clothes, facial hair styles, etc. etc. If you give an opposing viewpoint, it quickly turns into tired cliche' attacks or ridicule, like "Find a safe space, snowflake!" and links to websites on how to grow a manbun. These posts are judgmental, intolerant, obnoxious, and to be honest keep me from participating here as much as I'd like to. I get tired of all the negativity and judgment.

Those posts are also not very welcoming to new members, especially pipe smokers do not conform to the acceptable standard of macho conservative white male gun-carrying country music fan, or whatever. Pipe smokers are as diverse as human beings, and a few members seem to forget that. Or maybe they don't, but they just don't care.

Apologies for my role in escalating the drama in some of these threads, but these are my reasons why.

But many times one comment is all it takes to feed the fire.

I think I am offended by the picture that those who might disagree are all macho,conservative, white, male, gun carrying, country music loving people. It appears we all have our judgements😁

The question is can we respect the differences and have a dialogue. If one disagrees and no more civil words are forthcoming simply stop and build on the commonalities. Tolerance is not saying you have to agree and accept my beliefs nor does it mean that you cannot question beliefs and ideas. In my opinion it means truly respecting another's right to have a different opinion, his or her own mind,ability to express and deciding their path in life etc. Ridicule is not respect yet not seeing one's own limitations is also folly.

I just wish people could try more to stick to the title /topic to a specific thread. One second you're reading about a special tobacco and then the next it all becomes about someones pet orangutan..

This ^^^^^^^^

Totally get what you're saying; however, I've never been part of a forum about anything which swings that way once people get to know each other over time. It's both a blessing and curse which comes with success and growth.