I have been absent from the board for the past month or so. I have decided that I will no longer participate in this particular forum. I have been here for the past 5 years fairly regularly. There were times in the past when I was a very active poster. In recent years, I have continued to be a “regular,” while not as active as many other “regulars.”

I have debated whether I should offer my reasons for leaving, and have decided that I want to say something about it. For me, the forum has changed. It now feels more like a “clique” than it has in the past. I don’t use that word in the full negative sense that if often is meant to convey. Yet, it does feel as if there is a kind of “in” group. I fell that I was part of that group in the past, and now feel very much on the outside and periphery. So, it may be that the forum has not really changed, but just my place in it. And that may have a lot to do with my posting activity. Clearly, when I was posting a lot more, I did not feel the way I do now.

I believe that there are some areas where I have considerable knowledge and skills, as a result of my professional career and personal life events. On a number of occasions, I have posted at length in these areas. Not only were my contributions not acknowledged, but in some cases, members were told by a “regular” which posters really knew the subject at hand. At times it appears as though these “recommendations” are made because of friendships rather than direct knowledge of the particular area. Oh – by the way – I should make it very clear that I am NOT at all talking about the computer-related discussions/arguments that had some high visibility for awhile. The issues that I am talking are directly relevant to folks with PN (not that computer usage is not, but I think you know what I mean).

A recent incident . . . a “regular” posted an off-base, out of context snide criticism . . . didn’t leave me any way to respond. I was surprised and disappointed by this immature attack.

I had really felt disconnected before these incidents and had basically decided to leave before the most recent event. So it is not fair to blame these things for my leaving. But overall I now just feel very disinclined to post. There are other specific incidents that were disturbing to me, and perhaps play some part in the way I feel. But none of them are the “cause” of my decision to leave. I do want to mention one other particular event. It happened about 6 months back. In a thread, a poster (infrequent member) wrote an anti-Semitic reply, out of the blue, and just stuck it in a thread. I was disgusted by the trash that was posted and immediately contacted a mod and filed a protest.

However, what was more disturbing to me was that a few of the “regulars” responded to the original thread as if nothing was wrong. In other words, they just kept posting while ignoring the anti-Semitic garbage. I remember discussing the whole incident over Chemar, who ended up as the mod in charge. She also expressed surprise about the continued posts by forum members. In any event, she quickly removed the offensive post. She also had to remove my reply, so a search will not turn up any record of the thread.

I want to wish every individual forum member nothing but good wishes for improving health as well as fun in life. I do not feel negative towards anyone here. And I hope that the forum continues to be active and that it meets the needs of those who participate. I have gotten quite a lot over the years, in terms of knowledge, advice, and support. I will always remember my being a member in this group as a positive thing that made some very significant contributions towards helping me find a healthier path in life.

At this point, I have no plans to participate in any other forum here. I will not remove my member name or profile – so that if anyone needs to contact me, they will be able to do so. I plan to be available, by private message, should someone need to seek me out for any reason.

rfinney