Post #120918 by hanford_lemoore on Thu, Oct 21, 2004 3:57 PM

To Bong:

Bong, if I wanted you off the forum, I would have banned you. Of course I don't want you banned! I’ve said publicly and privately that you’re an important member to Tiki Central and that I want you around! This request here is not an attempt to get you banned. No, this is an attempt to get you to take my requests seriously.

To everyone:

I have not hidden the fact that I want TC to be a friendly place where everyone is welcome. The House Rules and the Code of Conduct reflect the type of goals I’d like to achieve with TC. This isn’t simply about the “complainers”. This is about a simple set of rules that I ask everyone to abide by.

Bong does not respect my rules, or my requests. This is a fact. Although he wanted to donate money to TC, he didn’t want to become a Grand Member because of the Code of Conduct that everyone is required to agree to. That’s insulting to me.

The only thing he has ever really responded to in any semi-permanent sort of way were the temporary bans on his account. The first was only for a few days, and it triggered a series of emails between Bong and I that showed the Bong really cared about TC and didn’t want to cause trouble. And I believed it. He got better. For a while. But it wasn’t too long before I banned him again. In fact, the last time I banned Bong it was for seven days. I never kept count of the number of times I’ve banned him.

I don’t ask much of TC members and the everyone’s first warning is often nothing more than a “don’t do it again” in a PM. To think that Bong has consistently gone against what I’ve asked him to the point of me banning him for a week is pretty absurd.

A few months ago I issued a private ultimatum of sorts to him. I told Bong to steer well clear of controversy, complaints, and new users, or I would permanently ban him. It was the first time I ever suggested a permanent ban to him, and I thought he would take me seriously. But that didn’t happen.

I should have just banned him and be done with it. But I decided to issue this final public warning, in the hopes the Bong would realize how serious I am about this: I want him to steer well clear of insulting our members. I want him to take my reasonable requests seriously, and not just for a few weeks. I don’t know of any other way to deal with it.

I want to address some people’s thoughts (I’m paraphrasing them here since most of them have been asked a number of times):

*“Can’t people be less sensitive?” *

When problems occur, I fix them on both sides of the fence. When I go and set Bong straight, I also tell the other members involved to ignore Bong, don’t take him seriously, and try to read Tiki Central with an open mind. Mostly, the other members hold up their part of the deal, but I don’t feel Bong does. He’s consistently broken it. That isn’t fair.

“If people have a problem with Bong they should just take it up with Bong directly. The complainers are the problem.”

Bong himself has complained to me about other members and posts on a number of occasions, which further insults me. It’s hypocritical.

• “Anyone who’s got it out for Bong can complain and he’s gone?” *

Well, he/she has to have something to complain about that relates to him/her. If Bong provides nothing for someone to complain about, he’ll have nothing to worry about. Surely he can do that.

• “Warning Bong in public like this isn’t fair, it’s making it open season on him”*

Asking him in private didn’t work. I decided to air his “parole terms” publicly in a last-ditch effort to get him to take me seriously .

“People should be allowed to joke and kid without the fear of being banned”

Everyone except Bong can. He’s squandered the leeway that everyone else on TC enjoys. He’s had 2 years worth of constant warnings. He has to be on better-than-best-behavior now.

Please remember that all viewpoints are welcome on TC as long as they are expressed with respect and integrity for everyone else.

~Hanford