Kayaker,
While I agree, the thing is not everyone knows the situation, so they get caught up in it thinking its a bit more "legitimate". Your post/link was precious! I cracked up when I read it! It was so typical of the twisted logic I have seen, but can never understand. I was most amused to see that TF is not the only place where this is happening!
At this point, I can understand people's aggravation. At that age I would have
never had the nerve to do the things we are seeing here. Especially in dealing with adults! (My "old man" would have killed me!) You don't make promises you don't even intend to keep (except in your own inner fantasy world), especially on a regular basis! Things like that
are gonna upset people! And to reprimand these people for getting upset is not being very reasonable. They are only reacting to what they have encountered.
I have heard elsewhere about "oh, don't hurt his feelings or get upset with him! The poor little kid!"
Well, I don't think letting this "poor little kid" keep doing this, is a good thing for him or anyone else! He's already old enough to know better, and obviously hasn't been reprimanded at home for it. Well, if he doesn't get criticized or told off now, then some day he is gonna pull this crap on someone and they are going to haul off and hit him one! Would that be better?
Pandering to his immature behavior isn't going to get him to stop! (And I know he is only a kid, but there are a lot of kids on TF and other forums who are not behaving like this! And I have respect for them!)
It is especially difficult on a forum like this, because we cannot see the people we are talking to. If we were at a gathering, and some little "pest" kept behaving inappropriately, I certainly wouldn't expect guests to sit there and put up with it! And like a fly buzzing around, you can only ignore it for so long.
I myself have finally "gotten it", and realize the situation to a good enough degree, to not get too involved with it... but a lot of people "just arrived" into this situation and don't realize that it is not a "normal interaction". There are a lot of people here who are around his age, and we don't see them acting this way. It is not about his age, it is about the behavior we are seeing. And indeed, it is inappropriate. (If I do get involved at times, it is sometimes just to "stir things up"!)
I now look in on these posts, just to see the chaos that is being created. I feel sorry for the people who are still getting caught up in it all, because they are assuming things are normal, and as we have all seen, they are not!
Oh yea, when I saw the posting by "No-A" naich, I first thought oh-no!... Not another inept person who doesn't bother to spell like a normal human being! When I read the end however, about there being no "A", I could actually look it over again and read it easier!
People who don't bother spelling right or using any punctuation don't realize that it makes them look disrespectful, lazy and ignorant (un-dependable), and so when I first saw naich's post I thought "Oh jeez!" Another moron! (Or drunk as someone mentioned!)
(Sorry naich, but it would have helped to know about the "no A" right off the bat!) Anyway, it did add to the hilarity of this thread!
Have a good day all!
PS: sorry Cole, you just beat my post by moments!