You know, I'm probably going to get jumped on for this as well- but as someone who has been dealing with a lot of pain in my "out of Chaz" life lately, I can resonate with what Iliamna's Quest was saying.
Jokes designed to hurt people, even done in a spirit of fun, *can* backfire. And while I figured it out pretty quick, it still sort of left a bad taste in my mouth- while the hurt didn't last long, this was the second time this week that I logged onto a website, only to find something disparaging written about myself (the other instance was unrelated to Chaz). And I *know* it was aimed at everyone- but if you could even for a *second* imagine how it felt for those few moments to see that- after seeing the *latest* nasty thing written about me somewhere else, well, all I can say is that eventually little things start to chip away at you.
Blue, I appreciate your humor and think you're a d@mn funny member of Chaz, but I found it kind of disheartening that you wouldn't even consider Melanie's post as having *any* sort of legitimacy. Rather, you chose to poke fun at her, and make her part of the joke as well. I wasn't going to write this until I realized, that maybe someone else on the board felt the same way I do- that after seeing multiple jokes on this board (some of which were imho sort of tasteless), and perhaps dealing with other issues in their life, might be saddened to see that their feelings were seen as illegitimate or "overly dramatic" simply because they didn't mirror that of the majority. I generally think of Chaz as a pretty accepting place...and one of those few message boards on the web where people do act as a family of sorts. Even just a nod to the idea that some people might have legitimately been upset by something like this (even if you believe they're too sensitive or what have you), would show a great deal of compassion. You can't know the scars that people carry on their hearts- so treating people with tenderness can really be a gift to them. Just a thought.
Thanks for giving this some consideration guys.