"Frank Reid" wrote in message
...

Yeah, maudlin - sue me.

Ditto the sentiment. When we had the sniper down here in DC, I had people
from Mass to Montana offering a place for my family to stay. This place,
for all its failings and flames, is a family.


To pitch in on the maudlin side, it IS a family for me. Unlike you guys,
who get the luxury of having conversations with any number of compatriots
any day of the year, I get to speak English to only about 20 other adults
daily, and almost never get to talk at length about the things I really
love, like ff'ing. Hell, I barely even get to GO ff'ing! The discussions
here, the mental extensions of meeting IRL (about 15 roffians and counting),
and the continuances of conversations in the past are all much more real
life for me than I pretend they are. I'm not sitting here typing at my
compter, I'm taking to several dozen people I 'know' in a manner that we all
are acquainted and comfortable with. When I post my "they're shooting up the
place" posts and got dozens of "keep your head down"s, I really appreciated
the sentiments; exactly as if I was leaning over the backyard fence talking
to the neighbor. When I post my 'anyone know about xxx' questions, its
pretty equivalent to what any of you might say to the buddy next to you at
the bar offhandedly one day. I don't get to do that....its all smalltalk
with Embassy folks, or professional bitching with colleagues, so shallow
noun-verb conversations in French with someone who just sees a big walking
wallet. It took several years before I felt comfortable enough to let it
hang out here, and I appreciate having this place to hang out in. Its a
virtual Cheer's barroom.

So when I see this virtual barroom becoming a brawl, and outside its all
snowy and cold and miserable, I take it rather personally. This place is a
bit more than 'just entertainment' to me. And I bet I'm not the only one.

--riverman
(next round is on me, guys (and gals))