btw, you all crack me up!!
If I had to say I disagree with anything, it would be the term "small victory". Kind of an understatement, IMHO...
But at least reading that email (and the subsequent comments, of course!) started my day off with a good laugh!
I'm sure that there must be plenty of sites out there for that idiot to subscribe to.
I , for one, agree with TPI's management policy and believe that's why it's so popular.
The thing is, a lot of people speak their mind without thinking about what they're saying. Not everything is just black & white. The whole "freedom of speech" deal is completely misunderstood. It doesn't mean "I don't agree with this, so I'll trash them and get angry". It reminds me of this idiot who was "joking" before entering Disneyland, and when asked what he has in his bag, he says "oh just a bomb". Next thing you know, security is brought in along with the cops. And here goes his stupid kids saying "It's a free country, you can say whatever you want!"
Not being able to use a free e-mail account is fine with me. I understand the purpose, and it works for most part. Having a "real" e-mail account isn't 100% guaranteed to get less ignorant comments, but it sure does help!
Key thing is: I am actually a real person. I'm not getting paid by any theme parks or other big companies to be here. This website is a community of real people, too. It's not exactly a good idea to make your introduction to this community a rant about how you don't like the rules of the community.
I'm happy to explain rules, guidelines, practices and habits to anyone who asks politely. Sometimes, I make changes, especially if the request brings up something I hadn't considered. I really do want to make this site useful for everyone.
But someone who crashes in complaining about the work I've done for the site before saying anything else, well, I figure that person's probably gonna be rude in saying other things on the site, too. And I figure that you, like I, don't want to spend your free time reading that.
Constructive criticism. Helpful advice. Encouragement. A few moments of distraction from the grind of everyday life. Those are the things I want TPI to bring to its readers. And that I want its readers to bring to others.
They dug into Robert without knowing his reasoning. Real smart to start an argument with someone who knows more than you do.
Then again, I'm not a hit-and-run anonymous gasbag. I've been around for.. oh, hell, I don't even know how long on this website. I'm here for the discussions, the news. I love this place, and I'm glad to be a part of it.
If this were ten years ago, I might say to not assume that people are all like that, but these days, a lot of people think they're a wise guy on the internet. You'd be amazed.
It is difficult to take someone seriously when they complain passionately and aggressively over their inability to comment on a sandwich. And did they really anticipate that this approach would persuade Robert to bend the rules? My thought is that they were just complaining because they had excess time and energy, and nothing more productive to do with it.
When a person chooses to take a stand, WHAT they choose to stand up for speaks louder than words.
Oh good, you read my e-mail. Now I can vote on expensive sandwiches.