I'm going to go

Wait, I thought we were still operating under the Rule of Patio Law: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/forum-rules-welcome-to-the-party/104340/page1/

In my 16 years on the GRM forums I've seen plenty of shiny happy people come and go. It hasn't always been a happy "coombaya" kind of place, but it was usually a neutral ground that people respected each other's opinions. Letting the same few people piss all over everything isn't freedom of speech, it is poisoning the well.

In reply to docwyte :

Are you a ginger too?

In reply to bobzilla :

Think of a religious group who's been persecuted for millennia and almost wiped off the planet ~60 years ago.

In reply to docwyte :

I think I already knew but was trying for a lighter touch. I try....

In reply to docwyte :

Nearest I can tell- there's been a few threads around here lately of some pretty grim material due to the nature of society at large. Ideally these threads were just to make sure kith and kin were safe, like checking in during a hurricane. However, there has been a very small percentage that has actively chosen to flout the previously stated and well established rule of NO berkeleyING POLITICS. any attempts to tell these people nicely they should probably just be cool has been met with further vitriol, devolving into name calling and other teenage troll behavior. Then we got to the point of simply going NO U and everyone is gonna end up on the naughty step because some people can't just shut the berkeley up and talk about broken miatas or something. 

There has also been some negative response to the choices that Motorsports marketing has made in response to the current pandemic of asshattery going around the country, and much gnashing of teeth when it was discovered that maybe they don't agree with everyone and holy E36 M3 it's a free country and they can do that, especially when they own this forum. 

This has caused several members that would much rather avoid the noise to simply elect to peace out as opposed to get dragged under with the rest of the ne'er do wells, which only serves to drive up the noise ratio, as the signal drops due to less broadcast. It's really a very vicious cycle. 

In reply to Mndsm :

+1 Well said.

In reply to Mndsm :

That's it, you're my write-in candidate for president this year. 

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Mndsm :

That's it, you're my write-in candidate for president this year. 

I do believe the presidency would be best served by someone with a beard. 

In reply to Mndsm :

Are you even old enough to be president? 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to Mndsm :

Are you even old enough to be president? 

Yes! You only need to be 35 to serve as us President- my first eligible election would have been 2016, shortly after my 37th birthday. 

In reply to Mndsm :

I would have put you at 33 tops. You're aging well for such a weirdo. 

Mndsm said:

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to Mndsm :

Are you even old enough to be president? 

Yes! You only need to be 35 to serve as us President- my first eligible election would have been 2016, shortly after my 37th birthday. 

But you also can't be a felon so... 

RX Reven' said:

Mndsm said:

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to Mndsm :

Are you even old enough to be president? 

Yes! You only need to be 35 to serve as us President- my first eligible election would have been 2016, shortly after my 37th birthday. 

But you also can't be a felon so... 

Never convicted thankuverymuch.

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I would have put you at 33 tops. You're aging well for such a weirdo. 

Turned 40 the day after challenge last year. I'll take it as a compliment m 

Mndsm said:

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I would have put you at 33 tops. You're aging well for such a weirdo. 

Turned 40 the day after challenge last year. I'll take it as a compliment m 

I think it's because of the red beard thing. I don't know anyone who is over 35 and has a red beard that isn't showing quite a lot of white. Every last red hair I had in my beard was white by the time I was 40. All of them. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Yeah, I've got like 15 gray hairs in it total. I've been blessed I suppose. 

In reply to Mndsm :

How the hell do you have fewer grays than I do? I'm calling shenanigans. 

In reply to Jordan Rimpela (Forum Unterstützer) :

I agree. I just got done watching the whole Twilight saga with my teenage girls and I might have some theories about mndsm. I can't remember if he sparkles or not. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to Jordan Rimpela (Forum Unterstützer) :

I agree. I just got done watching the whole Twilight saga with my teenage girls and I might have some theories about mndsm. I can't remember if he sparkles or not. 

I worked retail many moons ago. It is entirely possible there's still glitter. 

I have a friend who is about 10 years older than me. Full head of hair and very little of it grey. I'll be 50 next month and what little hair I have left is almost entirely grey.

Deleted it. Edit: I meant that as a "funny".

In reply to Mndsm :

Shouldn't the moderators given those few people a time out then?

Before I shaved my beard I was beginning to resemble Methuselah, I'll be 55 soon and salt and pepper all over.  At least what's left of my hair is still hanging around.

docwyte said:

In reply to Mndsm :

Shouldn't the moderators given those few people a time out then?

Ideally, yes. Especially after repeat warnings. However-one of the things I've noticed is they would rather earn people and give them a chance to change their own actions before helping them change them. I have seen VERY few people banned in my.....however many years here. They've been extremely gracious in allowing freedom of thought as long as it doesn't start a E36 M3 show. 

My sense of it is the moderators and staff generally allow us to police ourselves, anticipating that we're going to act like adults and at least carry on cordially even if we don't agree. The problem in this particular scenario is the simple fact that so many people have chosen this hill to plant their flags on. Like cops, don't like cops, whatever, people are absolutely ready to fight to the death over this. This has a horrible tendency to cloud people's judgement and create the situation we now face. 

The unfortunate situation with all of that is, if we as a society at large, and more immediately here want to get past this, we all have to be able to sit down and listen with an open mind to both sides. All sides really because it's a very gray area. And there are several out there that just refuse to settle down and maybe be open to other ideas.....which ironically is a large part of why we're here in the first place. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Mndsm said:

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I would have put you at 33 tops. You're aging well for such a weirdo. 

Turned 40 the day after challenge last year. I'll take it as a compliment m 

I think it's because of the red beard thing. I don't know anyone who is over 35 and has a red beard that isn't showing quite a lot of white. Every last red hair I had in my beard was white by the time I was 40. All of them. 

I'm a 35yo ginger and I don't have male pattern baldness, but I do have a white patch starting there and a patch in my beard under my chin.  Ugh.

Main point for the thread, when you get this worked up, it's a good time to set internet and social media aside for awhile and reflect. These are rough times in all aspects.