Posted by scarybarry on May 04, 2004 at 11:06:21:
In Reply to: MHK posted by Ralph on May 03, 2004 at 18:00:39:
I found this board first through random Google searches, then this board was also suggested to me by someone from a dive club that I contacted. My reason for coming here was because, as a new and excited diver I was anxious to get a glimpse inside the diving community, to get a first-hand look at all the happenings and goings-on in California diving.
That was last October. Yes I am a lurker.
My naive excitement is quickly turning sour as I read all the nit-picky childish name-calling and "he-said she-said" arguments, coming from all sides, including some of the admins.
Seriously, some of you are behaving as children and the things you say to each other on this board you would NEVER say to that person's face in polite conversation. You chuckle and say to yourself "yeah I would" but I highly doubt it. No one really wants the hassle of an argument unless they can do it from the relative calm of their computer.
I don't know if any of you care or not, but if this board's purpose is to encourage mature discussion of diving issues or as a place for novice divers to ask questions and get educated by the more seasoned divers amongst us, then you are failing miserably. The environment here more often than not devolves into some childish slap-fight, oftentimes over an issue that really is immaterial. This board reeks of a playground clique with all of the childish fighting and if this place is indicative of the type of people I'm going to be meeting as I pursue my passion for diving, well all I can say is I'm considering going solo.
This board is a turn-off for diving.
Now I suppose some of you may be about to type "Hey go somewhere else then." My point is I WANT to enjoy this board, which I guess means that I CARE...there aren't many boards devoted to CA diving and I want this place to be a place for fun, light-hearted discussion of diving issues, as I'm sure most others do as well. The rest of you , if you care about growing the community here rather than building the walls of your clique even higher, should keep that in mind before you pollute the board with some random rant that leaves most of us out in the cold, wondering what all you old-timers are getting your knickers so bunched-up for.