satori001

So the WC site's not heavily regulated? What's "heavily regulated" mean then, if you can't say anything that might be provocative? How 1984 can you get? Compared with Richeson's homage site to Victor and Way Corps coven, Greasespot is pretty much laissez-faire and perfect. Ye who were without Hope, she went that-away (adios back-atcha sweetheart, and give Vic's portrait a big kiss for us). Know ye that The Way Corps delusion lives on at a website near you (but you can't join it! - and don't wonder why, peons, they know what they are about, and they don't want to hear about it from you).

You know? You found out? You are good. Okay. Yes I have. Yes indeedy. The freedom is refreshing, but hard to share, not like a forum.

John I for one really love flattery. About waist deep should be good, don't go overboard. Thanks man.

We're talking about these forums, dear.

It would be moot. If someone were to ask if GS had outlived its usefulness, should a "yes" or "no" be sufficient, or would you think some qualifying argument was in order? And, once again, the edit thing is about the autonomy of the participants. It's a little more than being able to correct your spelling. Can't stress that enough, apparently.

I think the "greater good" is far better served by maximum individual autonomy over his or her written "content." It's hard to imagine how the unraveling of a thread, as you describe it, is more important than that. How often would such a thing as blanket deletions happen? Count the times it happened at Greasespot. Did Greasespot somehow go on? A community can self-police, and the best of them do. The individual who abuses the feature would soon be dismissed from the dialogue.

Thanks so much George. What a saint you are.

You're on the money, Abbie, on all points above. And I rarely even read the threads any more, much less post, for the reasons you've given. I made this thread an exception because it seemed like the first open to discussing issues years in the making. I know others have attempted it, but the invitation really must have come from Pawtucket. And so it has, after lo these many seasons. By the way, Abigail. If someone had saved your My Story posts, and if he were to put them back up on Greasespot, how would you feel, now that you have your new perspective? Would that be alright with you, or not? Do you still feel some justifiable relief that you got while the getting was good? Did those early choices here reflect your vulnerability to The Way, and would effectively rubbing your face in a mistake have helped you find your better, wiser self? Or would you have just left? -- Whoever said I felt GS has outlived its usefulness only because of the edit thing has misunderstood my meaning. It exemplifies the attitude underlying that specific decision, and random but consistent day to day decisions, including the attitude and behavior of certain moderators in certain situations (some of whom may be friends, but who knows?), and the general permissiveness toward posts like Garth's taunt-filled garbage while forbidding the well-deserved, satisfaction of a slap-down he so richly and often deserves... and so on.

For the record WW, I have never called Pawtucket or anyone else regarding Greasespot at 3am, or at any time. If I've ever emailed Pawtucket, and I don't remember, I could count the times on one hand. Somebody on this thread, probably Shellon, mentioned 3am calls, and I imagined that someone desperate enough to remove or change their post might resort to that. And yes, much of my editing is cosmetic, but since I enjoy the process of writing, I take advantage of the opportunity to edit when it's there, to improve, clarify, distill... If I were a better writer, maybe I would get it right the first time, like everyone else here does. -- Abigail, As for the grow up and get over it mantra we love to chant here, that doesn't work for everyone affected by TWI. Some of us once joined the cult because it seemed like a great way to cut through the BS to a much improved spiritual life. But others joined because life had already dealt them very badly. Those people found out that TWI was a fraud and they were no better off than the very bad situation that brought them in the first place, seeking real help. Some of them are here. And what do they hear? "Grow up." "Get over it." As if TWI were the worst of their troubles, and not a metaphor for their own lives. If we think just for a moment, it's easy to realize these individuals may bear the crosses of a lifetime's worth of abuse, neglect, or pain. TWI is just the most recent chapter. And now Greasespot, for them, might become the icing on the cake, to satisfy somebody's sense of what? Propriety? Decency and order? Right. Nice. Yeah, we should all grow up. -- I mentioned earlier that the hypothetical poster might over-estimate the intelligence and sensitivity of respondents here. Garth's lack of concern or comprehension is an excellent case in point. Thank you Garth. Other than crapping up a perfectly good thread with his irrepressible and inane posing, and with huge, irrelevant posts, he doesn't really bother me. And now we can "ignore" whoever we want. I do make use of that now, and it's great! But Garth often leads the charge for a whole tribe of his kind of poster, and those other hypothetical posters will be (have been, no doubt) drowned out or shouted down, again and again. I dunno. I guess he likes telling himself that he stood up to me. Well done, Garth. Well done. Have a banana. Go find Tarzan.

There is never an adequate response to Garth, except that old, reliable, tried and true, vicious "personal attack." One reason GS has long since "moonwalked the mahi mahi," is because such "attacks" are no longer tolerated, despite being sorely, desperately needed, as Garth has so ably demonstrated just now. Consider yourself deeply insulted Garth. Slice, dice. Slice, dice. You know the routine.

Oh stop. Have you never written something that looked right and a day later thought of a better word, or example, or whatever? Well I do. All the time. I've never deleted a post because I was covering up for anything. I've only ever changed a post to make the statement stronger or clearer. But please remind me, who have I ever backed down from Abigail? (Boring me to death doesn't count.) When would I ever "cover my..." whatever? Greasespot was never that much fun unless there was a good argument going, all comers welcome, and when the wet-nurses started moderating the "Tics" forum, I was done. Thanks for the lecture, by the way. Cut and paste job? Sounds well-rehearsed. There's another side to this. I can "imagine" that some people who have deleted posts (when it was still possible, beyond the current time limit) were probably horrified by the ugliness of what they read in response to something deeply personal and regrettably confessional, and I sympathize with them, not for myself. Or maybe they revealed something confidential or hurtful in a weak or candid emotional moment and they wanted to limit the damage. In all cases, it's quite likely they over-estimated the intelligence and sensitivity of the respondents at Greasespot with an ill-advised post. It is cruel, in that circumstance, to prevent the person from modifying or deleting their words. And it disgusts me that they might have to go crawling to some anonymous moderator to request the official favor of editing or removing their own words, and possibly be turned down by some lightweight rule enforcer, who is without a legitimate clue to what's going on with that person, and may well have a personal axe to grind behind their anonymous pseudonym. Feels so much like how The Way handled people, arbitrary and distant. So the first "mod's" denial means what, another appeal, and another, and ultimately a 3am call to Pawtucket perhaps to beg? It's degrading. It's demeaning. It's humiliating. And how some of the nastier ones here seem to live for this @#$. GS is their little soap opera, and the human lives on display their afternoon's entertainment. Their only purpose was so they might sit back and enjoy the show, watching the so-called policy torment the poster while they could lift their dirty hands and say "not me, I'm over here... just, um, taking it all in." It's all hypothetical, of course. It's probably a great policy after all. By the way, dealing with trolls are something else entirely, and moderators are more than equipped to deal with them already. I do "get over" the truly small stuff, Abigail. But so often here, the devil is in the details. There is more to this than you appear to have time to consider. Doesn't matter. Nothing will change, will it?

Mostly, I just don't do GS much any more. (Only partly because of the edit thing.) -- "Get over it?" There's a peculiar choice of words.

A better question might be, does Greasespot "work?" Abigail's post might help. If Pawtucket wants a clear answer to his question, he should just print it out, and frame it. It's the only one that matters. It exemplifies Greasespot as a platform for an ex-TWI participant to realize growth, true independence, and self-sufficiency. Did Greasespot transform Abigail's life? No, not at all. Abigail did that. She learned what she needed to know about a bad choice (TWI). In discussions with others here, she found new interests and discovered hidden talents. She then made her own choices. She worked, and she worked hard, and achieved her own success. Greasespot was only a passive environment, Pawtucket was the facilitator, nothing more. But that made all the difference, right? It was enough. It should be enough. It MUST be enough. That's all there is, folks. Any further expectation is your personal delusion, projected upon Greasespot. To make any more of Greasespot then what it is, a provocative discussion board, and controversial information source, is to make much less of it. By some of the testimonials here, it's become a dysfunctional fantasy replacing that of The Way International, and -some of you- making Pawtucket into some kind of improvised Moses. (Remember, Moses didn't like being Moses at times either, for familiar reasons.) If you want information about Wierwille's cult, come to Greasespot. If you want to socialize with others who share TWI's experience, come to Greasespot. If you want your life to change, come to Greasespot, but realize you still must look within, make your own choices, and act. That's the only way it will happen. Some people will never be content until they're truly miserable. Maybe that's you. Sorry but Greasespot won't save you. Either choose to grow up, OR, if you're really committed to your fantasy, go back to TWI. (Professional help is a healthier third option, by the way.) If you do go back to Way World, it's probably like going back to sleep, but for the rest of your life. Sweet dreams, send my regards to Rosalie, but you will never be satisfied here.