The Ugly American Mod

For all of us:

When I first signed on as a moderator, I suggested UK as a suitable forum in addition to other subforums, after all, I lurk about here enough as I enjoy the camaraderie, and as such, it increases odds there will be someone online who can assist where and when need be.

Well, that didn't happen, but, neither did Other: Off-Topic, where I lurk about, too.

I may be a Yank, but I'm proud of my Genealogy... I bleed Clan MacDonald.

Of my own volition, today (yesterday, to you) I reiterated that request to be a moderator in UK Section. Why? Because you're far prouder of your Ancestry.

So, I dove headfirst into the shall*ow* Colorado River, which carried me into the Gulf of California. From there, I swam thru the locks of the Panama Canal into the Gulf of Mexico, where the S. Equatorial current swept me up into the Florida current that thrust me down into the Gulf Stream, where I missed the North Atlantic cutoff and got spun right around by the Canary into the North Equatorial and back to the Gulf Stream and caught the North Atlantic Current and here I am... The Ugly American.

In the book, The Ugly American, a fictional Burmese journalist wrote:

"For some reason, the people I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States. A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land. They isolate themselves socially. They live pretentiously. They're loud and ostentatious. Perhaps they're frightened and defensive, or maybe they're not properly trained and make mistakes out of ignorance."

For all the societal mores and lesses which exist, no one likes to be painted by a broad brush. At best, it's embarrassing. At worst, it turns to anger. But anger subsides.

The actual title character in The Ugly American was ugly, all right, but he did things the way the locals needed them to be done. Rebuild a burned bridge? Let's use local materials.

I'd venture a guess that what was true on one side of the pond was as true on the other side of the pond, too. Biblically speaking, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I've seen these things happen before on 2 different forums. Almost to the letter. Like war in heaven. Similarly offended parties may or may not have kissed, but they certainly made up when they realized...

Life is too damn short.

There's a certain measure of pride at stake, so various plans are afoot to go hither or thither with much cheerleading, let alone torches and pitchforks. But, I assure you, there is a treasure trove here and you are part and parcel of it. Sometimes you have to dig deep within yourselves to offer a hand to someone, even if it pains you to do so for the time being. But pain is a temporary thing. It pains me to see the strife, but I believe the strife is short-lived. I don't cry over spilled beer, I offer my hand in sincerest friendship, in hopes that friendship in this accidental community of ours is long-lived.

So, you may paraphrase me, and state "Life is too damn short, so I'm staying away," but, I assure you, this is the greatest FCUKing pub on the planet, bar none.

Sure, the landlord may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if the tea's bitter... what do you do?

Sweeten it.

Depending on what one cares to believe:
The message(s) got lost somewhere between various senders and receivers on this giant ham radio that lit up the night sky when it overheated, then landed on the bridge which caught fire.

Or

The bridge got torched.

It doesn't matter who lit the match, nor who fanned the flames or threw gas on it, or whose face the gas can blew up in, or who or how many are trying to save face.

I want to help rebuild that bridge using local materials. After all, I'm in the FCUKing pub. In so doing, let's use common tools we have. There is not only the board to go on about our business to relieve ourselves of the simple burdens of the outside world, but a Private Message system in place which you can use to contact any of the capable moderators who breathe your air or the site owner and gripe a little about this world or clue some self-styled moderator (notice I use lowercase?) in on how to do this.

In advance of that, I want to share with you with some words of wisdom a well-travelled friend shared with me when we were both going through difficult times, but handling it slightly differently.

Let me tell you something about this man... at one time... hell, for a long time... he was the very embodiment of war. War with himself and his "superiors" and all those who knew him. After he realized the secret to life, he changed his name, which is now, legally "Peace."

After I'd said to him, "Years from now, we'll laugh about this." He said, "Why wait? Laugh now."

He was right, then, and he's right, now. Because, I can assure you, the (mythical) Gods have been laughing their arses off for the last few days while this "now, look what you made me do" melodrama has played out.

4 words, 4 more words and 4 more words:

Time heals all wounds.

The sooner, the better.

For all of us.

 

...hello mullah, hello fatwa...