Ok, so I think we should have this out

It's a hard no IMHO and I stick around because there are many, many people here who have become friends that I truly care about.
 
I think the taste doesn't doesn't over ride the blandness they bring to the plate. IMHO of course. Who wants to eat more beige? 

I am on a mission to get more people eating kohlrabi. It has a fun, funky shape and great taste & texture. 


 I'm still showing up, reading and posting but walk past a few that I know will raise the old BP.


 And people will post whatever they want even if the OP tries to lay down rules for who or what can be posted in their thread. 

I think we are all feeling a bit more tense because we are in a global pandemic. We are also in an election year, which has always made this board more combative. ALWAYS.

The world is different and kind of terrifying and some of that is running over onto the board.

I think this place overall is much kinder than the original bucket, but for sure feelings have been more heightened this year than they were in the Before Times. That’s natural. We have literally never been in this situation before.

I think some of the posters (I’m thinking of one in particular) that are particularly challenging are lacking social awareness and don’t necessarily intend to be abrasive. I don’t know... I have a lot of people like this in my life and they can be very blunt when delivering information. They don’t generally intend harm but are very, very literal and are compelled to correct what they view as misinformation.

I don't think anyone would ever call me a "shut the fuck up" pea and I expect people to be able to back up their assertions. Tell me why you think Trump is a good President; tell me why you hate Hamilton; tell me why you won't ever eat an olive. Whatever - if you don't want to back it up, then ignore the flak you get. Leone has figured that out. She posts her Trump stuff and then leaves. She doesn't seem to care about the reaction. So, you either back up your assertions or grow a thick skin.

And "educated and informed" means a lot of things - not just about politics. There are people here who are way more informed about a myriad of topics that I know nothing about. So, I'm not going to jump in a quilting thread and say "quilting is such a waste of time - all that effort and you end up with a stitched blanket?" and not expect that people will push back to explain myself. I can either do that and try to justify saying something like that or move on. But you have to expect that people will have a difference of opinion and be open to backing up your side. Or ignore the pushback - but you can't expect that people aren't going to ask you to defend your opinion. 

I see nothing wrong with her wording, she is spot on. No one wants to hear hear “opinions” that have no reason and logic behind them.

Yes.

I see a lot more animosity and derogatory comments to people on other forums, on Facebook, local news sites, etc.

I don't like when people get mean or really obnoxious, but I don't block anyone here. I do appreciate when people go too far and recognize that (maybe because they get called on it) and apologize. We are all under new and different stresses, and as much as is shared here, we don't know what other people are going through personally and how that affects their postings. A little grace to everyone goes a long way.

For me personally, I don't always post on threads that I read - but that doesn't mean I am not thinking about what was said, by everyone. I know that I've had some uncomfortable awakenings because someone has posted a perspective different than my own. But that's part of why I come here - to read the experiences and perspectives of people other than myself, people with different belief systems and political leanings, people who live in other states and countries, people who live with challenges I don't have. I learn from it all.

Sometimes I buy things I never knew I needed, but that's a different issue.

Fine by me. 🤷‍♀️ I actually liked the politics board. A lot of people seemed to.

The pandemic hasn't bothered me at all. Quite the contrary. I have enjoyed no obligations to socialize and getting to spend all of my time with my husband uninterrupted. The only thing I miss is going out to eat.

Having a complete criminal, con and his disgusting crotch waving wife in the White House is shameful and has put me in a very bad mood when I am confronted by that crap daily. I see the danger and can see that in the years to come the citizens of this country and their children are going to pay very dearly for what is being done to our democracy. The fact that there are people who refuse to see that, and actually support what is going on puts me in a very bad mood.

It is mostly the political threads that are contentious and like those who enjoy the vent threads, I enjoy bashing trump and those who support him. It relieves some of my stress to know that not everyone I this country that I love has lost their minds. If you don't like that stay off of the political threads and you'll be fine.

I also have little tolerance for those who flounce and then sneak back under a new screen name. It is so spineless and slimy.

I read the old board but never joined until this one started up. I am also a member of another board and have been for twenty years. This board is tame. I think there are a lot of people who need thicker skin.

You can't expect someone, in a group of how many hundred women, isn't going to take an issue with an opinion. It's not going to happen. So you can either 1. have a thick skin and say "eh, I just don't like red. Whatever." or you can 2. explain it. 

I guess I don't get why people are so defensive about their opinions - just explain yourself. I honestly feel that sometimes people haven't thought that much about why they feel the way they do and then don't like getting pushback on it because it forces them to really think about it. 

My main point is defend yourself or don't, but don't complain when people ask you to. You're in a community of a lot of different people - it can't be unexpected when people ask others to support their opinions. 

YOU ARE WRONG! PARSNIPS ARE THE BEST ROOT VEGETABLE THERE IS. I CAN'T BELIEVE ANYONE COULD BE SO FOOLISH AS TO NOT KNOW THAT.

No, I like it here. That isn't to say that I haven't had some criticism and at least once it was really severe and uncalled for imo.

I think we are more frank than we would be in person which is fine with me. I have plenty of friends/acquaintances who will tip toe around things or walk just to the edge of a subject without saying how they really feel. Better to just know. I like the variety of opinions. I love having people who share my political leanings to discuss politics with. Even then though we are all different. There is still a wide range of views.

That said, if I were to ever leave shopping cart in the middle of a parking lot - which I don't believe I've ever done and would not do unless confronted by an active shooter - I would not confess.

thin-skinned wrongling

I have to go to work, but I do want to say that you caught a lot of flak in a few recent threads (was one about Amy Klobuchar?) and you very calmly stated your thoughts and opinions and I remember thinking "good for her for sticking it out." 

The bias here is heavily skewed towards the American system, be it socially, culturally, politically or economically. As a non-US Pea from a far more "socialist" country, I sometimes don't "get it" (fully, anyway) or am not understood. That's fine. It's part of the price you pay for being in a global sphere where you're in the definite minority. 

The pandemic is not a simple matter. It's mixed up in everything: science, politics, social values, etc. It has also made some people experience the minority position on such a heavy, (everyday) life-altering topic for the first time. That's led to some proverbial blood being shed on the board from what I can tell. Unfortunately, there's no easy fix for this just like there's no easy fix for the pandemic or the general state of the world that is regressing back to nationalistic, insular ways (don't @ me that your country has avoided the extreme right upswing so far - I'm talking general global trends and not specifics here   ). The board, in a way, is both an exercise in learning how to deal with people's differing opinions in a shifting world and cathartic expression (which can come at the cost of the comfort and 2PR well-being of other members). It's a learning exercise in which, granted, some don't appear to learn much. But it remains fascinating and clearly a necessary stop for those who login regularly. 

Some prefer to walk away altogether. Some use the block function. Some delete their account and then reappear when they feel like it. Some resume lurking (or never come out of lurkdom). We're all dealing with hurt feels differently. Online boards remain an interesting place to be. This one is no exception. 

That is always the response when you are trying to blame someone else. It is their fault because their skin isn't thick enough.