| Oogie Wa Wa on Jul-27-2014 at 03:07 PM RST @ 50.51.28.144 (OogieWaWa) |
|
OK, here's my two cents worth. I've thought about this for a long,
long time. I know I'm sticking my dick out; might backfire on me, but
that's OK, I can handle it.
What are we becoming?? The BrewRats was The chat of Misfit Brewers. A loose bunch of independents, derelicts, rabble-rousers, troublemakers, defiant of the CharleyP army, we were the anti-Listertrolls, the un-Bill Pierce-s. Remember???? Send us your passionate brewers (perhaps assholes, but so what?) your loners, your folks that think their local hombrew clubs are a bunch of pussies and dicks. Come in and take your blast of shit; but then settle down and have fun, gain some good friends for life and maybe learn a little. Hmmm, too much Belushi? Go ahead though, tell me it's not true. Moderators? Screw that, Rats don't need fucking nannies. If someone is being a dick, just tell them they're being a dick, quit trying to be so nice to each other and then get pissed off because they continue to post the stuff. TD was really good about pointing things like that out. A ton of the spirit of this place left when he died. I'm going to get personal with a few specific examples here, but only because you guys are my friends and I know you all well enough to know you can take it the right way. If not; well, whatever. I'm sure I get to being a dick a lot, but if you get tired of hearing me bitching, let me know, OK? If you don't like my choice of sports, for instance, then say so, kid ME but leave the personal and cultural digs behind and let me have my preferences; you keep yours, too. I respect simple ordinary, hard-working folks as well as smart folks, and believe they are equals to anyone else; but tell me their voice doesn't count because of their other beliefs, though, and that's my biggest button. Push it if you will, but then remember you have initiated the consequences. No surprise there, that's how people react. We're not going to change each other at this point, forget about doing that. Ben, we know your feelings about the 2nd Amendment and the like, I feel that way too, but come on, every single time you log on? I even get a little tired of it, it gets tedious. Skot, you can get a bit edgy some times, it's not always easy to tell if you're digging specifically or just more generally ragging on someone, and you tend to overreact when you think you're being challenged; it's not always about you or aimed at you, OK? Chumley, you seem to enjoy getting under someone's skin occasionally and I don't even think you realize it. Sometimes... Just instances that jumped out at me while I was typing this. But hey, those are Rat-like traits to me, you guys really believe in the things you do and aren't afraid to say so. Excellent. I wouldn't like you guys if you were all just indifferent about life. A big part of the problem is that there isn't much more to talk about any more, we (regulars) know each other too well. I'm for leaving the politics and religion and whatever else it was out mostly, but it's because people want to do that and aren't forced to by anything else but peer pressure. That leaves a void, though; how to fill that? Brewing, maybe? Food, sports, musical stuff, whatever works. But watch yourselves for the replies that bite, is all I'm saying. More members: If this turns into a social club where you can't say fuck or tell someone to go fist themselves or you can't post pics of tits, real Rat-like stuff, then I don't want to be here any more anyway. Let's get some new BrewRats in here. Classic example; PC fest, da goes to get a beer, and my bud Terry says 'hey, get me one while you're over there.' To which da replies 'hey, go fuck yourself, get your own damned beer.' Perfect! And Terry really and truly appreciated that. People willing to talk to him, but still having that edge, not pretending to be too nice. He'd be a great BrewRat, but I'm not sure what happened. He kind of got confused on the entry process somehow (Skot gave him access with a few minutes from what I understand), but he's not a computer guy at all, and just kind of gave up. I'll ask him again. But he did say something like "I can't brew like any of those guys, and I don't know that much." I wonder if a lot of potential Rats think that? He really liked you guys, though. We've all learned to brew excellent beers, and most of us are fantastic cooks because of what we learned here over the years; however, few noobies are going to come here for that kind of thing any more, like Metal said, there is so much info out there already. We're not the only hot dog stand on the block. However, if they're after the nuances and little secrets, or some help putting all the knowledge together, or they are just looking around for some buddies to hang around that they'd fit in with, then they just might stick around. Look at yam (hope you don't mind.) Sell the group dynamics, camaraderie and friendship, something sorely lacking from other cold venues devoid of personalities; but don't try to make it what it isn't. And I also don't think noobs are treated that bad at all, not for the last half decade, anyway. They are always welcomed and encouraged to participate. Hey, if it's too gruff for them or whatever to stick around, they are fee to not come back; but the ones that would fit in will stay and flourish. There are one hell of a lot of people like that out there, BrewRats but they don't know it yet. Ya just gotta drag a whole bunch of folks in here so the ones that would fit in stick around. This wasn't easy; I need a beer now. OK, I'm done, here goes the Chat/Update... |
| Oogie Wa Wa on Jul-27-2014 at 03:11 PM RST @ 50.51.28.144 (OogieWaWa) |
| Oh, sprinkle some "and family" in there, like da says. I'm not one to use that term a lot, but it really is true. |
