What I am still astounded by is that peope think they can make some kind of accurate assessement of one anothers' motives from whether there is a name indicated or not. Yes, I KNOW there have been problems in the past. But ya know... that was THE PAST. People with entirely aboveboard reasons for posting as guests get treated like they are the ones who did some horrible unspecified past harm... the message is, WE KNOW WHY YOU DID THAT.

You don't! You can't! I don't care how smart you are, people can't even really know what others are thinking and feeling in 3D. HERE??? Are you kidding???

You don't know when my computer is on the fritz, or when I forgot to sign in and haven't noticed the name missing in the From line, or when I might have used a name as a guest in one post and then just was so eager to say something later that I forgot to stop and tag on a name... or when I might have a hundred other reasons.

And does anyone remember that in some cultures, to give one's name is to grant an earned privilege? Some days, the tone of this place (and the posting habits of some who start threads or invade perfectly civil ones to derail positive engagement) says to me quite loudly that the privilege of addressing me by name has not been earned. On those days, I wonder why the regular Mudcatters aren't all dropping cookie for the day (like drop trou) just to indicate their distaste!

But the reality is so much simpler than all the assumed reasons. The reality is, IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS why there's no name sometimes n a post. You can't control what someone else does, and you can't pin your discomfort on them and expect them to take responsibility for it.

One day I was cruising around without a cookie and a McGrath thread caught my interest. I posted and submitted, engaged in his topic, before realizing I had not even said hi to him, and he's a freind. And I had forgotten too that he has a policy of not responding to unnamed guests. But what I wrote attracted him to reply, and his graciousness caused me to go on to say why I had been cruising namelessly. And that was all there was to it.

The things some people read into what others do.... you just don't have to WORK so hard. Take a post, or leave it. So what!!

~Susan