Tiki ... is it or ain't it ...? - Bilge

J JanetMermaid Member Lockhart, TX Joined: Dec 31, 2007 Posts: 126	J JanetMermaid Posted posted on Mon, May 5, 2008 11:06 AM Semantics is EVERYTHING in language. There are polite and friendly ways to welcome a new person and guide them in the right direction, and there are ways to begin shooting them from both barrels of the "I'm the expert; you're an idiot" gun. Frequently, what happens on this board is the latter. I still have the bullet holes I got. I was a moderator for a long time on a couple of koi message boards. Yes, it got very tiring responding to the same seeming drivel over and over. But I tried to remember that although I may have seen the same mistakes, mis-assumptions, and downright scary "facts" many times, to that person it was all new. So I felt I had no right to shoot them down for their mistakes, just because 453 other people had made the same mistake. Instead, I welcomed them and then politely started the education and clarification process about good pond and koi habits and procedures. So, to those who are dedicated to preserving the tiki culture, I say, "Yay!" BUT... please try to remember that your snarky attitude comes from your own frustration with many previous "newbies" making the same mistakes, and should not be taken out on any one newbie. On 2008-05-05 09:35, GatorRob wrote: I haven't said anything on this thread til now. (Didn't know it existed til now.) And I don't want to offer any opinions here about what is or isn't tiki because it's all been rehashed SO MANY TIMES. All I want to say is I just don't understand why people who care about tiki deeply and see it as more than just a big care-free islandy party are labelled "rude","snobs","mean-spirited","koolkids","purists" or whatever. So to those who continually do throw out these labels, are you saying that this board should have no focus at all? It devolves more and more to that each year and those who are trying to keep it together are ridiculed as being [see labels above]. If I had just now discovered Tiki Central, it might not make much of an impression on me. But when I discovered it, it was heavily focused on mid-century Poly Pop and ways to preserve it, celebrate it, live it, etc. THAT'S the Tiki Central that drew me in. Why is it that the people who are trying to keep it on that trajectory are ridiculed? Is there another way they (I) should go about it? Okay, TikiLale, go for it. It's wide open for ya. Insert your favorite wise-ass comment here: __________________________. :wink: [ Edited by: GatorRob 2008-05-05 09:39 ]

Semantics is EVERYTHING in language. There are polite and friendly ways to welcome a new person and guide them in the right direction, and there are ways to begin shooting them from both barrels of the "I'm the expert; you're an idiot" gun. Frequently, what happens on this board is the latter. I still have the bullet holes I got.

I was a moderator for a long time on a couple of koi message boards. Yes, it got very tiring responding to the same seeming drivel over and over. But I tried to remember that although I may have seen the same mistakes, mis-assumptions, and downright scary "facts" many times, to that person it was all new. So I felt I had no right to shoot them down for their mistakes, just because 453 other people had made the same mistake. Instead, I welcomed them and then politely started the education and clarification process about good pond and koi habits and procedures.

So, to those who are dedicated to preserving the tiki culture, I say, "Yay!" BUT... please try to remember that your snarky attitude comes from your own frustration with many previous "newbies" making the same mistakes, and should not be taken out on any one newbie.

On 2008-05-05 09:35, GatorRob wrote:
I haven't said anything on this thread til now. (Didn't know it existed til now.) And I don't want to offer any opinions here about what is or isn't tiki because it's all been rehashed SO MANY TIMES. All I want to say is I just don't understand why people who care about tiki deeply and see it as more than just a big care-free islandy party are labelled "rude","snobs","mean-spirited","koolkids","purists" or whatever.

So to those who continually do throw out these labels, are you saying that this board should have no focus at all? It devolves more and more to that each year and those who are trying to keep it together are ridiculed as being [see labels above]. If I had just now discovered Tiki Central, it might not make much of an impression on me. But when I discovered it, it was heavily focused on mid-century Poly Pop and ways to preserve it, celebrate it, live it, etc. THAT'S the Tiki Central that drew me in. Why is it that the people who are trying to keep it on that trajectory are ridiculed? Is there another way they (I) should go about it?

Okay, TikiLale, go for it. It's wide open for ya. Insert your favorite wise-ass comment here: __________________________. :wink:

[ Edited by: GatorRob 2008-05-05 09:39 ]

Post #378181 by JanetMermaid on Mon, May 5, 2008 11:06 AM