so, as a member of the "in-group", you too revolt against any club that
would have you as its member (so to speak, of course)

jeff (enjoying his purity as a prick whilst it lasts)

riverman wrote:

"Willi" wrote in message
...


riverman wrote:



But when some total stranger spamming newbie comes in here and starts
soapboxing about something, well, thats when the dolt discovers that the
rules for the locals aren't the rules for the milkman. When a newbie

walks

in the door, they better be talking about fishing. And they damn well

better

be very tender about how they join in on conversations that are OffT for
them, but OnT for the cardholders.




In the past I felt that some people were just waiting for a new person
to make any sort of Roffian faux pas so they could toy with the person.
Your analogy was often used to justify it. IMO, it always seemed
specious especially when paired with the denial that there is an "in
group" here at ROFF.

I do think that the general response toward "newbies" at ROFF has gotten
better. IMO, most of the new people that have gotten blasted here
recently are those that have been assholes.




I've seen both things here, too, Willi: the gleeful pigpile when its time to
play 'Thwap the Newbie' and also the sense that the general response towards
newbies is pretty good. But in almost every case, IIRC, the newbies who are
gently recieved come in with fishing questions, and a definate lack of
attitude. Offhand, I can't remember any newbies who have jumped into
off-topic jousts with strong opinions and won any friends, or have stuck
around long enough to.

The claim that here isn't an 'in-group' is ludicrous. Every usenet group
(except maybe alt.test) has an in-group. The names that appear most
commonly, and those that get the occasional vote of support from a
common-poster, are definately them (they, whatever..) It might be more
accurate to say that there is no well-defined method to make your way into
the in-group, or that there is no flame-protection from being in it. Some
folks seem to slip right in with good timing and intelligent remarks that
are well-recieved. Others gnaw their way in with frequent and unrelenting
posts....I'd even go so far as to say Muskie (and his various aliases) is a
card-carrying member, as we all sure know who he is, although he seems to be
ROM, and I'm not sure he is a flyfisherman. It would be just as strange to
claim that Bruiser, Wolfie, yourself, Cyli, Asadi, Frank, Jeff, Alan, Tim,
Scott, etc etc were NOT some sort of collective in-group. And the assholes
among us (as determined by whatever topic is being bashed around) get
blasted as much as anyone, but the local assholes stick around, while the
newbie assholes go away.

--riverman
(just my opinion. And we know about opinions....)