[BeautifulBurnout]

Never say "never again".

I've flounced off in my time for a variety of reasons and come back again.

Holden is right - the internet is a place where people shoot from the hip because they don't have to be face-to-face with the person they are corresponding with. I don't think anyone here has ever said you don't have the right to have the opinions you do. But it is important to accept that resorting to name-calling is never going to make the person on the receiving end of it happy to read it.

There is a great french saying: "Les paroles s'en volent, les ecrits restent"- spoken words fly away, but written words stay. And that is part of the problem, because someone who has been insulted or humiliated or offended by something posted is likely to feel far worse about it than if it had been a throwaway remark face-to-face or on the phone, because it is here to stay, for all the world to see. And, irrespective of anonymity, people are still people. They still have feelings. Sometimes they will discard it with a shrug and a smile. Other times they will feel injured by it. One can never tell which, no matter what the intention was when one was writing the post.

If you think you can't participate here any more that is entirely up to you. But don't think that people don't want you around, because for my part that is certainly not true.