So, I'm a member of this really terrific site by the name of Dreamcaps. It's a site where you can go and see pix of gorgeous men - celebrities mostly - add comments, play games, meet people, etc. Sort of like a bar, but the pictures are better. I've been a member for a while, and really enjoyed all of the postings and comments - if not the attitude exhibited by some of the members. You know, I figured the pay-off was greater than the challenges.
So, tonight, I'm back at the site and attempting to contribute - adding some pictures of cutie-patootie Maroon 5 lead singer and hunk-a-hunk-a-musical love, Adam Levine,
and I've got all eight pictures uploaded and the message complete and I send it and it doesn't go. Says some necessary files are missing, blah, blah, blah. Then I notice that there's a message in my inbox - which is rare, because NOone from the site ever writes to me (hell, they hardly respond to my postings...) - so I open the message and it's from Val, one of the moderators, and he says something to the effect of "STOP POSTING IN CAPS...CAN'T YOU TAKE A HINT?" or something equally confrontational. Needless to say, I was aghast at the rudeness.
Now, granted, I didn't reat the fine print when I started to post to the group, so it might have been Rule #1, Regulation B-26, Subsection 25 that said, in clear and concise language, that posting in caps was VERBOTTEN! I admit it - I didn't read it. Bad boy...bad, bad, bad boy. But is that a reason to come back at me so harshly. Couldn't dear and precious Val simply have said, "Hey, buddy....could you not post in caps anymore?" I would have gotten the hint, loud and clear. But instead of the higher path, Val opted for the baser one - the one followed by every demigogue and asshole ever created that thought because they moderated a website that they were somehow possessed of such magical powers that they could transend this life and dictate to those remaining. How sad!
I find it especially disconcerting at this point in time and space because there is
so much else going on in the world that is so much more important than whether or not I post in caps or lower case. That poor woman in Florida; her husband; her family; the Iraqi people; the American people; people with AIDS....there is so much stuff that deserves so much more of our attention - but all Val can worry about is whether or not I can take a hint about posting in caps?
It seems that the entire world has gone completely nutso. There's no civility left...no one cares...no one gives a rat's ass about anyone or anything else, other than themselves and what's important to them, and the hell with the rest of us. Salespeople are surly, co-workers bitter, friends about to pull their hair out by the roots and family - well, if they weren't all dead, I'm sure they'd be pretty out-of-sorts, as well.
What do you suppose is causing it? Is it the planets that are all aligned against us poor mortals? Is it the compassionate conservatism of the Bush troika? Is it just the end times, wreaking havoc on the planet to avenge our evil ways?
You know what the real pisser in all of this is? I tried to cancel my membership to the site - and there was no place to do that! Can you believe it? My posting privileges have been revoked, but I can't even exit the group. It's like AA or the Republican Party - once they've got you in their clutches, you can never leave. They can treat you like shit, beat-up on you, ignore you and your efforts to fit in - and you are still a member!
Oh, and see...I forgot to tell you how poorly they treated me while I was a member. I tried to fit in. I tried to add wit and wisdom to the commentary...tried to give people reasons to like me. And they ignored me. Never responded to my comments, nor replied to my e-mails. I'd post something with hot photos, and get maybe 5 people to even read my message. Someone else would post tired re-posts of tired people - and there'd be 40 or 50 messages.
Why bother, you ask?
Because if I walk into a room full of people - say a thousand - and only one person dislikes me, that's the person that I'll focus on. Forget the other 999 - it's that damn one person that doesn't like me that I'm going to pay attention to. It's just like the Dreamcaps site. It was the one site that I never felt at home with. So, rather than following my gut instinct and ending my patronage - I held on, hoping that they would eventually see what a great guy I am. And you know what? It wasn't ever going to happen. I'll never be straight, or Republican or popular at Dreamcaps.
And that's that....



