Al, please know that I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for you. I also greatly respect and understand your decision to step away. I've been there, and done that myself.
Certainly the forum flavor has been different for awhile now. Am I to blame for that? I really don't know. Have my actions contributed to the off flavor? Most likely. There have been discussions, debates, and arguments, and sometimes the separating line gets pretty blurred between the trilogy. However I don't think that's reason enough to dispense with the exchange of opinions and/or information. As I see it, it comes down to respect. Respect for opinions other than our own. We don't have to agree, but we should be able to discuss intelligently without resorting to nastiness. In my opinion, that's been a sticking point as of late.
You know, we've been packing up around the house here lately, boxing up the incredible amount of stuff one accumulates after some years. This past weekend I tackled my bookshelves...thousands of books and magazines. I came across an old issue of PondBoss, from way back. I vaguely remember ordering this particular back issue years ago, long before I joined the forum. It was something to see, just a few pages folded over and stapled together, not so much a magazine as a pamphlet. I think it was black and white, maybe grayscale. Comparing it to the glossy, much thicker and professional-looking current issue was like the difference between night and day. They were both certainly PondBoss, but the evolutionary journey was undeniable. Somewhere along the way, change was deemed necessary. The risks were evaluated, and a chance was taken. Tentatively perhaps, and probably not all at once, but gradually and carefully.
I guess that's where I see this forum. To be sure I don't have any financial stake in this place, nor do I bear the burdens associated with maintaining the thing. I'm simply a member trying to help out when I can, peering in from the edge. But what I see, or what I think I see anyway, is that same, inescapable evolution that shaped the magazine, occurring here.
I know that some probably view the forum as a respite from the rigors of daily life, and I get that. Certainly I hope that fish, family and fun will always be central to the success of PB. And I believe it will. But the world is changing quickly around us. If we choose to remain static, are we actually becoming stagnant instead? Should we ask the hard questions, discuss the difficult issues, debate the volatile decisions that have the potential to affect our ponds and our way of life? I absolutely think so, but recognize the necessity of maintaining respect for all opinions, not just our own viewpoint.
That's where I think we need to focus our efforts. Tolerance.
