Chet Waffle
Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:05 am
It is just after 6:00 am in my part of the world and I thought, "what better way to start the day than with a Chet Waffle?". I just learned the definition of "Waffle House", courtesy of the Chetboard, and do not find it to be at all a put down. In fact, it is just the definition of discussion itself.
It is only true that many discussions on these types of forums "go nowhere" if one has some expectation of where they should go in the first place. To have this expectation of anyone's posts other than one's own is not only unreasonable, but completely misses the point of why one would belong to one of these forums in the first place.
In you are someone who is interested only in tangible facts, anecdotal or otherwise, and not in other people's opinions then it is not a Discussion Forum you are looking for, it is a Wiki. Furthermore, just because a discussion may have "gone nowhere" for you, doesn't mean it didn't have meaning for others on the forum.
Now, I never met Chet but, my understanding of him is that he was a very tolerant person. He may of expressed this tolerance by simply not participating in certain things - i.e. he would not go out of his way to bother telling someone he didn't like what they doing just because he didn't like it - which is, indeed, a healthy way to deal with things you don't like but that don't cause you any harm.
I have posted thoughts on this board that were serious to me, and made fun of by others. I have, in turn, been too harsh at times in my replies to others. This is just the nature of discussion - it is as much about the way one is feeling at the moment as it is about the topic.
And there's the beef - discussions boards are meant to be as therapeutic as they are useful at disseminating information.
If you are someone who thinks the therapeutic aspect is pointless waffling, that's fine but, there is no reason to say anything about it. Just ignore these posts. You have nothing to gain by putting others down for what you may deem waffling and the Chetboard has everything to lose.
Instead of being a welcoming community where people feel comfortable to post without fear of retribution or of being chastised, it becomes nothing but a forum for a few confident individuals arguing their points of view and everyone else being merely observers.
A kind of Waffle House of Horrors.
Randy
It is only true that many discussions on these types of forums "go nowhere" if one has some expectation of where they should go in the first place. To have this expectation of anyone's posts other than one's own is not only unreasonable, but completely misses the point of why one would belong to one of these forums in the first place.
In you are someone who is interested only in tangible facts, anecdotal or otherwise, and not in other people's opinions then it is not a Discussion Forum you are looking for, it is a Wiki. Furthermore, just because a discussion may have "gone nowhere" for you, doesn't mean it didn't have meaning for others on the forum.
Now, I never met Chet but, my understanding of him is that he was a very tolerant person. He may of expressed this tolerance by simply not participating in certain things - i.e. he would not go out of his way to bother telling someone he didn't like what they doing just because he didn't like it - which is, indeed, a healthy way to deal with things you don't like but that don't cause you any harm.
I have posted thoughts on this board that were serious to me, and made fun of by others. I have, in turn, been too harsh at times in my replies to others. This is just the nature of discussion - it is as much about the way one is feeling at the moment as it is about the topic.
And there's the beef - discussions boards are meant to be as therapeutic as they are useful at disseminating information.
If you are someone who thinks the therapeutic aspect is pointless waffling, that's fine but, there is no reason to say anything about it. Just ignore these posts. You have nothing to gain by putting others down for what you may deem waffling and the Chetboard has everything to lose.
Instead of being a welcoming community where people feel comfortable to post without fear of retribution or of being chastised, it becomes nothing but a forum for a few confident individuals arguing their points of view and everyone else being merely observers.
A kind of Waffle House of Horrors.
Randy