
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Looking at the virtual carnage in some of the threads here, it's amazing to me that people who engage in racist behavior and language, and who constantly cross the lines of personal respect, can still get on a Zoom meeting like nothing ever happened. Hey, I'm all for forgive and forget but.... on a daily, flip-flopping basis? C'mon man.
Before anyone brings up throwing stones from a glass house, yes... I've engaged in my share of insult-hurling and yes... it's been personal in nature. But if anything, I'm pretty steadfast in my views and preferences. I don't go calling someone the scum of the earth and worse... and then go tip-toeing through the tulips hand in hand immediately after. Maybe it's due to culture... maybe it's due to character... maybe it's due to some combination of those. It just doesn't seem right to me.
I've noticed others on here who, without coming out and saying so, share the views I've just stated. They're just a bit more reserved and, seeing the eternal fireworks in the forum over a good number of years, who can blame them.
Racist views and comments are a constant topic here. I don't believe there are any outwardly racists here. They wouldn't have lasted too long. But racist views, to the keen observer, will lead to subtle slips of the keyboard, and provide a glimpse of how some people really feel. The clichéd line of "some of my best friends are (blank)" is so pathetically transparent and well known in society, it's incredible it would be used here by anyone with reasonable intelligence. And yet it has.
We all possess diametrically opposed views on any number of topics here. Problem is we have this frustrating inability to express those without eventually getting personal.
I'm not espousing holding onto a grudge forever. I just think when you've crossed certain lines.... scratch that... when you've stomped all over those lines with both feet until they're all but gone... it takes more than "oh hey, let's talk about the upcoming boxing card", to repair the damage.
To me, the biggest thing is trust. Even if I don't share your views... if I can trust you to be the same person today that you were yesterday... and that you'll be tomorrow... I can usually find common ground and go from there. The also clichéd line of "agree to disagree" has to be one of the biggest crocks of shit in history. Sounds wise when you say it... but the implementation sucks.
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