A sincere question re: policy and practice on this forum

Poverty Pete


Al, either that, or you could just marry them off to lleechef. That seems to have remarkable effects on people's personalities.

Now wait just a cotton pickin' minute......I have my hands full already!!
 

"You seem to be suggesting your posts have been "rejected"?
 
Not at all. I have no rejection issues. It was an observation after reading this site for well over a year and seeing the changes in the interaction of posters.
 
The thread title said A sincere question so I gave a sincere answer.
As to not posting about the stated topic "Roadfood". I don't post much at all. But I do believe this is Off Topic & "Lighter Fare"
 
"I think I qualify as an "Old Timer" here (hell, I qualify as one anywhere) and I haven't noticed anyone being unaccepting of you or other posters. Unaccepting of an idea, sure. But this is a discussion board."
 
Not seeing the forest is sometimes the trees getting in the way.
 
" But there's nothing personal about that."
I totaly agree and never take any if this personally and hope no one else does.
 
 
"I agree with Tony about the difference between 'out of line' posts, and personality conflicts."
 
I really don't give a damn about them. Sometimes they can be really funny.
I only mentioned the spam flagging because it's been so abused. If it was used to flag spam fine but when it's used to silence it's annoying. You Mods are doing a fine job but you have said you have on control over it. It takes away from the site. Ya really should just can the feature.
 
"Regarding Zagut's point over the "Old Boys", I think it would be helpful if the longer-standing members would stop using "insider talk" and code that newbies would have idea what it means."
Not exactly where I was going but it wouldn't hurt.
I will admit trying to figure out the seceret code can be fun at times.
I've seen it said here that this site is losing posters and isn't what it used to be because of the newer social media's like facebook etc.
I just see it as it needing to take a sincere look at itself.
 
 
It's a good site and I'll continue to visit.
Enjoy,
Z.
 
 
 

I do believe that The Mayor would be the best person to explain about the Glee Club, and probably Mr. Roadhouse could handle the question about the Contingent.

Zagut



Not seeing the forest is sometimes the trees getting in the way. 

Oh, I can see the forest quite well. Perhaps you're having a problem with the understory.

The contingent is a group of people, between Milwaukee and Chicago that meet often for food tours. Everyone is welcome.I have no idea why my favorite people call their group the Glee club, and never asked. But everyone is welcome, as well. Some of us have known each other for years, and have formed wonderful friendships. Thats it, no big deal.

A small group of gentlemen met in 2004 to do a tour of Middle Tennessee's BBQ locations (6 stops in one day) We had a fine day, but over-estimated our ability to absorb BBQ at the rate necessary to meet our goals. 
 
The group decided that an appropriate name for our activity would be desirable...And thus was born "The Western Tennessee BBQ Appreciation Society", later ammended to include "and Glee Club" as an appendage to the original title.
  After a period of time the original title was shortened to the Glee Club. There are no membership requirements, although wearing  vivid-colored oversized Hawaiian Shirt as a symbol of respect to the founder of that uniform apparel (Mr BUSHIE) will be encouraged.  The group meets, usually on Presidents Day weekend for it's annual dinner and other  foodie activities. The location has not been set for the 2013 meeting, but hopefully it will be someplace 'Warm" . Mobile,AL or Pensacola,FL  has been suggested, but has not been finalized.
At the last Glee club gathering, the original members were joined by 25 or so other RF members who shared in some or all of the interesting food stops in the Nashville area.
If you are at all interested in meeting other RF members and sharing a rather fun social experience, consider yourself a Member of the Glee-Club, Hawaiian Shirt or not...and join us at the next meeting if you can.  If we let Hoffman attend, the admission standards can't be all that high !!
 
Other members are encouraged to edit this post, as my memory for historic detail is fading a bit.  Except that I will never forget out stop at My 3 Sons BBQ, and meeting Larry, Darryl and Darryl that day.

ADD-
I received info this morning that will confirm Mobile, Alabama as the base of the Annual Glee Club meeting for the Presidents Day weekend in 2013.
Specific dates will follow, but the tradition has been a Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday morning gathering. All are welcome for ANY or ALL of the meal stops.  more details follw.
Anyone know when Mardi Gras falls in 2013. That could be a conflict as Mobile has a huge celebration of that event???

Mardi Gras is February 13, 2013. President's Day is a week later, IIRC, so y'all should be fine.

Felix, If you are South again during the winter, consider coming over if possible. it would be great to see you .

I would LOVE to! Unfortunately, at this point I am car-less, mostly job-less, and recovering from surgery. I just don't see it happening.

I've been thinking about this thread for a couple days, wondering if I should get into it at all.  I will because I like Roadfood, and value it highly.  
 
And that's it.  We all value it highly, that is very clear. We don't want to lose it, we want it to thrive.  Everybody.  That's really great.
 
This thread started out real good, but seemed to dwindle to the end, and has a satisfactory solution been suggested?
 
To tell the truth, I LIKE political commentary, and can find it many places, don't have to come here.  But I want to come here, for all our sakes.
 
There didn't used to be a Fast Food thread, did there, or Restaurant Professionals, or Hot Dog Vendors?  And it sems there was controversy about getting them added.
 
This is the forum for miscellaneous stuff.  Would be worthwhile to at least give a shot to some type of political thread?  One great thing about this site is everybody (most everybody) are friends or at least friendly, and I think a high respect level might be honored among the posters.  If not, well, shut it right down.
 
But we could add a lot of hits, and we would spend more time here, which would be good for us all. 
 
And I KNOW I could learn a lot from the experienced and talented people here. And it could be a lot of fun.  And we would surely get to know each other better, which would hopefully lead to more cohesiveness, instead of division.  Hopefully.
 
Any shot at it at all?  Grow or die!

Regarding the old boys club, and welcomingof  newcomers, well, big boys, don't deny it.  It's been that way since I've been coming here, and I've experienced it too.
 
This is not a gripe, it's an example.  I'm a big boy too, and don't get my feelings ruffled by such as this.
 
Everybody in the area loves Fred's in Burlington WI.  Me too.  I used to work the for railroad that runs right behind the building, and have had many a fine burger there.  One time King T (great posts, always) started a thread in which Fred's was prominent, and everybody enjoyed the thread.
 
Having spent a lot of time in Burlington, I might know more about it than other Roadfooders.
 
All the Roadfood regulars were back-and-forthing about the food, and I added what I at least thought was informative and maybe entertaining post.  I discussed the well-known Burlington liars club, which in humorous fashion publishes the best whopper of the year.  That comes out I think in January.  The city even has a plaque to them on a main drag in town.  You can get a membership card for a buck, and I still carry mine to show off.  It's always good for a laugh..
 
http://burlingtonliarsclub.com/
 
I discussed the Sun Ray Hills nudist camp, where I met the owner (nice lady) by accident, and she told me about the square dances in their barn, which image I have still not been able to get out of my head.
 
http://www.sunrayhills.com/
 
And I discussed how enamoured my railroaders are with Fred's burgers, to the point they would sometimes use their cell phones to place an order from the trains, and if the train was short enough to fit between the crossings, they were very willing to stop and get it.
 
Not trying to pat myself on the back, but I thought I was adding to the conversation, and wanted to get into the gang.
 
The response?  Zero.  Nary a word.  The good buddies just kep chattering right along to each other, and ignored my interruption entirely.
 
I'm not complaining, I'm not a child.  But don't say it doesn't happen, or didn't before, because it did and it does.  A lot of the new people, maybe all of them, see it.
 
Now...why would I take all the time to write this, if I didn't care a lot about the site?  I could be doing almost anything else, but I want this to be good for us all.
 

As far as the older members not making the newcomers feel welcome...that is true of every message board on every website ever. It's also true of situations in real life. Anyone ever been the new kid in school, or started a new job? Everybody else already knows each other, so you have to butt in and try to find a place for yourself in what is already an established pecking order, as it were. I don't think anybody really means anything by it (obviously there are exceptions; there always are), it's just how it happens.
 
I will say that when I was new and didn't know anybody except my ex (who has moved on from here, near as I can tell), I was made to feel welcome by some and unwelcome by others. So I tended to mostly ignore the ones that ignored me, and chatted with the ones who chatted back. And one of my favourite memories is having dinner with Mayor Al and his lovely wife on my way through Indiana on a trip to the Gulf Coast a few years back.

easydoesit


All the Roadfood regulars were back-and-forthing about the food, and I added what I at least thought was informative and maybe entertaining post.  I discussed the well-known Burlington liars club, which in humorous fashion publishes the best whopper of the year.  That comes out I think in January.  The city even has a plaque to them on a main drag in town.  You can get a membership card for a buck, and I still carry mine to show off.  It's always good for a laugh..

http://burlingtonliarsclub.com/

I discussed the Sun Ray Hills nudist camp, where I met the owner (nice lady) by accident, and she told me about the square dances in their barn, which image I have still not been able to get out of my head.

http://www.sunrayhills.com/

And I discussed how enamoured my railroaders are with Fred's burgers, to the point they would sometimes use their cell phones to place an order from the trains, and if the train was short enough to fit between the crossings, they were very willing to stop and get it.

Not trying to pat myself on the back, but I thought I was adding to the conversation, and wanted to get into the gang.

The response?  Zero.  Nary a word.  The good buddies just kep chattering right along to each other, and ignored my interruption entirely.

 
Here is the thread you are referring to:
 
http://www.roadfood.com/F...ington-WI-m463572.aspx
 
Now, I hate to be picky, but what I see here is very different from what you described. Someone posted about their visit to an establishment, which was followed by one comment. ONE COMMENT. You characterize this as "All the Roadfood regulars were back-and-forthing about the food,". Really? There was one reply before you made your post. "All the regulars" were not involved. You then wrote "The good buddies just kep chattering right along to each other, and ignored my interruption entirely.".  There were two posts after yours, then a couple more added a month later. Your portrayal sounds very different than the reality of the situation, making it seem there was some massive effort on the part of these mysterious "regulars" to cast you and your comment aside. That simply didn't happen and I am not sure why you would want to make it seem like it did.
 
I understand that it is unpleasant when you take the time to write something and don't get the reply you may have anticipated. It has happened to me as well and I didn't like it any more than you, but sometimes people just don't share your interest in an area or subject or they really have nothing to add to the discussion. I read a lot of great reviews and add nothing because just writing "great review, thanks" seems lame to me. You can't take it personally as most of us don't know anything about each other as actual people. 
 

Tony, in the future, if you choose not to say "great review, thanks," perhaps you can just wish them a Merry Christmas.
 
Oh wait....that might be TOO inside. See...sometimes, when people wish other people a Merry Christmas, they're really not wishing them a Merry Christmas.

Happy Chanukah?

I just want to add, I don't mean to pick on you easydoesit. Many cite a lack of response to their on topic posts as a reason they post less, so the problem certainly exists. There are also many other things one could fairly complain about in these forums. The only reason I checked back is because contrary to popular opinion, the moderators do try to root out bad behavior and eliminate posts where people are mean and disrespectful of others, even if they have been here a while. Heck I had Michael Hoffman on speed ban for a while there, and they don't get any more old-timer than him!

We found a way to rehabilitate MH...and so far it seems to be working !!! Thank God for Lleechef !
 
Perhaps we should all just try to get along. 
 
I do find it interesting that the source of much of the concern has remained aloof and has not desended from near the throne to deride the peasants in their feeble attempts to find a solution to these issues.

If Taco Bell had a Brisket and Latkes burrito, I'd be in, Mr. Mayor.

I withdrew my suggestion BBQ- but I like your response anyway !!

1bbqboy

Happy Chanukah?

 
I hear TTM converted to Catholicism.  Some say for a college football team, I hear he did it for the jokes.

Yeah he really likes BYU football !

This will definitely be the first time I have ever rooted for 
Notre Dame in anything at anytime, but if it deflates the vaunted SEC God Bless the Irish.
Now back to your regular programming.

Some posts and posters generate more responses. 
Write a detailed trip report with pictures and you might get 3 posters commenting or several pages of responses.
 
It doesn't mean we all don't like or enjoy those posts.
 
I tend to post on trip reports where I'm familiar with the places mentioned.  That makes sense to "me". 
 
What I'm saying is we all have our own posting style and responding style. 
 
I try to add to the board with my comments or threads.  Some just expect to be entertained.
 
If no one comments on something I write, no big deal. 
 
Because I make a presence on this board, more people are aware of my posts and because of that I think I get more interaction with others,
 
Give and take!

We do not deign to bother with the lower classes squabbling about the nothingness of being.

The Scarecrow at Sun Ray Hills wears clothes.

The horn blows at Mid-night.

mayor al


The horn blows at Mid-night.

Ah, Jack Benny and Alexis Smith.

CCinNJ


The Scarecrow at Sun Ray Hills wears clothes.

It's a darned good thing!

Tony Bad
 

...  as we have many people here with interesting backgrounds and life history's, and hearing what they think about these forbidden topics would probably be interesting or at least eye opening. Sadly, intolerance of the views of others seems to trump both the rules of the forum and, many times, the basic rules of socially acceptable discourse and we are usually left with a big mess. Often, the threads get so polluted they become too hard to clean up and are deleted in their entirety. This is a shame, but when there are quotes of bad posts, comments responding to deleted posts, etc trying to leave portions of the thread becomes impossible as what is left will be incoherent.

(The underline of the sentence above is mine).
 
Thank you.  That is a reasonable explanation.
 
Still, that thread about the Senator's speech advocating the storage of electric power generated by wind turbines off the Atlantic shore in the the batteries of USPS vehicles from which it might later be released "to fire the grid" was far more about the Laws of Physics than politics. 
 
Frankly, I thought all of us, including you as an active participant, were just having some good, clean, informative fun discussing this proposal which I considered to be an absolutely risible, phusically impossible, and Rube Goldberg-esque.  Some disagreed with me and some fun mayhem ensued.  I could be wrong, but it seemed to me that the thread was excised after one side started feeling cornered by reality - especially by (as I recall) PLB who is an electrical engineer. 
 
Oh, well - as Albee had George saying to Martha, "That's all jut blood under the dam", ...  I hope your home electric project is going well; it is soundly based in what really is possible.
 
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!