Whilst I have been on the UMW forum almost a year now after I moved here from the UK, I just wanna comment on some of the recent activities in the forum.....

First off all you guys really made me feel a part of the community...one which mirrored that of my experiences back on the UK S2K forum which I was a part of there. To that extent, it really made me love owning the S again. Owning the S really is heightened by the experience of being a part of a community of fellow owners - and for that I have to thank you all.

However - this winter season has really put a bad taste in my mouth as far as being a part of this community is concerned.

This has been my first winter season of S ownership here - and honestly - if this is what the board is like every year ill probably end up being a summer visitor to the UMW forum only.

What has happened to the close knit community that I knew of last spring????

I KNOW i am not the only one to feel this way. Just look at how many of the regular posters are no longer posting. I wont mention names but I can think of at least 10 people who I do not see participate on the forum recently. You wanna know why it appears there is a lot of drama on this forum??? thats because all the other posters are being pushed away and its turning into a "bitching about someone else forum"

I dont know what it is - too much at stress at work maybe??? Whatever it is - it's RUINING this place.

All I can say is if all those bitching and moaning directed the same amount of effort into something worthwhile and constructive - just think of the events we would have this year.

honestly i know i am getting turned off of these forums because of the same old shit...just think of what its doing to newcomers??

Charlie's "PLEASE BE PATIENT" thread alone is a great example of what I am talking about - Charlie posts something informative (and for the good of the community) and within a few posts it is degraded to a slanging match about something that HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ORIGINAL POST.

I hope you all get over it soon or else youll be the only ones left on the forum.

Great advertisement for the local community guys

[/rant over]

[I just want to make it expressly clear this that is NOT directed at any one person/thread/post/argument in particular - it is a general observation of the last few months]

 

It's definitely a side effect of the winter. There are many times in the summer where something gets under my skin and I'll just go take an hour long spin and forget all about it. In the winter, everything gets bottled up and we take out frustrations on other members who we may not care for. This is my 3rd winter on this board and it's happened each time.

 

Check that - 4th winter.

 

yea this bickering is a turn off.

 

Dude it snowed again tonight I am getting fed up with this shit, I don't think I will want to go through with this again another winter.

With that said it has to have some impact on peoples persona.

 

Yeah, I agree. Nice observation Lee!

I would like to see things ease up a bit too. And if you want to rant then open up your own thread and bitch in there....dont hijack other peoples threads. The main reason why I have not been posting is because I just have TOO MUCH going on right now (as I listed in the "Please be patient" thread). I had been off the board for a few days and when i came back I couldnt believe there were over 50 posts, most of which had nothing to do with the subject at hand.

 

Harry, I think the only thing is that the 'drama' tends to be personal issues with other people (often in the form of attacks on the person rather than on the results/plans) rather than issues affecting the community.

 

An UMW Winter does bring out the worst in some people, me included.

Maybe we should put together a Mid-Winter Cruise to the Caribbean for next winter to help break the cycle. It has worked for Kim and I for the last three Michigan Winters.

Ohhhh and Great News, Spring is just around the corner.

 

Actually, I don't want to read people bitching just to bitch. There is a big difference between constructive critisim, offering suggestions, and disagreeing with someone about somthing and straight up personal problems.

There have been WAYYYY too many threads that have gotten hijacked with crap where people feel attacked or attack or whatever.

I say if you have a problem with someone, talk to THEM. You don't need the make it a public discussion. The 'P' in PM stands for PRIVATE. Private things, should remain private.

I agree. However, I disagree with what many people here consider UMW-related.

[QUOTE]Ohhhh and Great News, Spring is just around the corner.

 

The bickering in here has definately been due to a couple of us and our disintegrating relationships due to various reasons...

I agree that many of these incidents should have been handled via pm, and I personally have attempted resolution via pm's on numerous occassions... and I thank those who have returned the courtesy and respect in replying. A couple of us, over the year have found resolution to the conflicts that began shortly after the Fall Colors Tour... (which can actually be traced to one EXACT thread... ). The rest of us... well we've been a little more stubborn to say the least.

It's unfortunate to think that most of this was burried until recently (when FWT 2005 became a topic of conversation and debate)... but sadly... some of those originally responsible for the "drama", who refused to handle this privately... again drew public attention towards last year's .

I for one apologize for my public posts regarding these topics... and I hope that many of you understand how someone can be motivated to defend themselves publicly when attacked pubicly.

The term "attacked" also has taken a whole new meaning. There have been many times where, yes- generalized comments have been misconstrued for direct attacks on someone's demeanor... It does become diffacult to distinguish between the intentional and unintentional when you're already in a "defensive" mind state due to the original issues. So for those of you that I personally may have misinterpreted... I apologize.

I as a whole... would like to apologize for anyone's unintentional involvement with the personal issues of just a few. It is sad that this all began at the foot of one... and erupted into involvement of all... and our community did not deserve it. I hope that you all understand that at one time... before ANYthing ever went down, or was organized in the past (ie- FWT2004)... I was a friend first... I still want to be everyone's friend... and I don't know how it happened, but someone/somehow turned me into just another, everyday vendor/sponsor/profit seeker... when I- no different than Urmil- (to requote someone's statement above) and merely VOLUNTEERED to create something everyone in our community could be proud of! ...disappointingly... the actions of 1 cascaded and NOW our community is torn apart... this... this all hurt me very bad. I was very disheartened and taken back by what had happened in that one thread... and I know if anyone else out of this community was on the lesser side of what I recieved after working so HARD and giving so much of myself... I'd like to think you all would have reacted the same way...

I will still (as I have on numerous occassions... until again someone publicly calls me out... forcing me to defend myself)... try to move on and forget the past....

....but I can tell you right now... this community will continue to be divided until another on this thread can do the same....