I was afraid that it was going to be a striptease.
I was HOPING. 
me too. 
Well, I'd settle for one by you. 
same here.
Can you imagine what it felt like for little children, first, second, third and fourth graders to be bullied by high school students, who were all teenagers?
i was bullied at school. but it made me stronger. and you know what i did when i felt threatened? i fought back. i don't like to hurt people but if someone threatens me i don't have any problem hitting back. my bully's big sister came with her friends and threatened me, might as well have been a teenager group. to me all the older kids were the same, big and scary. it's hazy but i remember i had a pen and i stabbed her in the hand with it, she was shocked and i ran away. one time i slammed a door on her little sister's foot, because she was trying to get inside my home and sticking her foot between the door. later we became friends. if i could choose to go back in time to stop the bullying i wouldn't. it taught me some lessons without creating any bad trauma. just like some avatar changes are not very harmful. there are worse things in life, believe me. and i know you've been through worse things.
i get constant avatar changes and name changes are annoying and irritating and stressful but i wouldn't compare it to bullying. you can always leave a message board or get used to the avatar changes, but we all had to go to school.
I do agree that when an admin makes some kind of blunt statement that could be interpreted as some kind of declaration or carries out an action, such as the posting of 'improved' polls it does seem to be official in some way (even though the staff member in question didn't mean it that way). I think the solution may be that such things are clearly labeled as 'unofficial' just so that people can distinguish between actions carried out as an ordinary member and the more official actions/statements a staff member sometimes has to make.
i hope nothing i say is taken like that. i think the responsibility lies on the receiver to not assume anything until proven otherwise. cuz if i have to put an unofficial disclaimer into every post just because i'm an admin i'd rather not be an admin. i think it's unfair to assume that an admin is using their position, and i don't see how it could be use that way anyway. there are no rules and admins are caretaker admins, that means they don't get to decide anything.
Yeah it probably would be easier- but I think it will take a lot of time for people to get that ingrained in their thinking, since official announcements are so rare. I think its just human nature for people to assume, often incorrectly, that those in power are trying to assert their authority and since a fair few of us almost automatically think 'fuck authority' it can irritate people even if there's no real reason to be irritated.
assuming is unfair. if it's ingrained in their thinking they ought to change it. should a person start limping instead of fixing their leg just cuz it takes time and effort for the leg to heal? no. this needs to be fixed. people need to stop assuming. it's not logical. god, what kinds of aspies are we if we let this shit go on?
