Yeah, this place isn't perfect, but what place is. If someone was just rude to her, shame on them. I have never liked the abuse that is dumped on a new poster when they ask an old question. I would prefer we just direct them to supersearch and help them learn. But very few people are abusive.

I share Amos' view that if I knew the question that was asked, I would like the opportunity to answer it.

Of course, some folks are deserving of abuse, based on the old "what goes around, comes around" rule. But that is rarely a new person.

I think it is instructive for regular Mudcatters to pay attention to how we affect and appear to others. Somehow many of us have become very close and it can appear to be a closed group. We all know that isn't the case, but it can appear that way to others. A good example of this is the Getaway. In the first couple of years some of the FSGW folks thought that we were holding ourselves apart. They didn't realize that we just assumed that folks knew that they were welcome in whatever sessions we had going. When they saw the "late night in the Mudcat" session going on, they thought we were being cliquish (sp?). And we didn't realize that they didn't know that all were welcome in that gathering, in fact we wanted them to come sing together. The point is that sometimes, because this is an extraordinarily close knit group, we don't realize how we appear and we should all keep that in mind.

The offshoot of that is that FSGW folks now know that we are a very inclusive group that only gets to see one another once a year. And they join right in, to the point that there almost isn't any distinction.

All the best,

Mick