Re: I came in pease. Board is testy lately
Peas would be nice, whirled peas even better, but don't count on it - especially on the internet.
Given we are a microcosm of society or even the work place, you'll find all the people you left behind when you retired, or endure now if you have not ER'ed. I spent a fair number of years working closely with a staff numbering anywhere from 15 to 25 folks.
![:-\](https://www.early-retirement.org/sk/forums/images/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
Hanging out on this board is like a flashback to those many, many days we'd spend in a well appointed conference room doing business or doing personal. Yup, there were some great friendships formed, and there was the guy who always managed to get around to each of us and offer some criticism about what we were involved in. He always seemed to be the least talented, and the least aware of it so the criticism could hardly be considered constructive. There was guy who could tell you to go to hell and make you look forward to the trip. One of my most admired. We all made about the same salary, but someone always found it necessary to let the rest of us know that his investing prowess burdened him with a higher tax bracket.
The faces changed fairly regularly so it was to be expected that an occasional jerk would slip into the circle. Somehow we always seemed to find a solution to that.
So it is on the internet, except that on the internet you've got personalities on steroids due to the anonymity we enjoy (or believe we enjoy)
Anonymous= courage at a level many people never enjoyed before.
No doubt when the phone was invented some loser found courage for the first time and invented the obscene phone call. It's like a court case I observed many years ago. A young hothead had gotten himself in some minor trouble due to his habit of flipping off other drivers. One of the interesting and humorus things about these guys was the fact that the flip-or was a tiny little guy likely 90 lbs and the flip-ee could have played football for any pro team. So the judge fined the flip-or and then gave him this admonition- - -Son, if you're going to flip off people 3 times your size, than I highly recommend you get tinted, no, deep tinted windows on that car of yours. Anonymous = power without penalty.
So you mix anonymity with this group- - from my short stay here I see older people who are pissed about the hand they've been dealt, younger people who can't seem to get dealt anything, and lots of happy people young and old who are having the time of their lives. You want diversity? Check the God thread. Probably my greatest eye opener about this group.
SO you want peas?
It's possible, but at the end of the day there will always be a couple of folks that won't be breaking bread with me and who knows how many that feel the same about me. So long as this is the internet and the appropriate folks have deep tinted windows we should be alright.
Sorry to be so long, if you finished this I probably owe you a Corona. Well, most of you.
