I Miss "SomeBeach"

[handeeman]

I miss 'Somebeach". If ya noticed he hasn't been back on site since July. So I e-mailed him (address on profile) and this is what he told me. It seems he was being hassled by some of our members privately about not being a site supporter. So he just dropped out.
That's not right. I push site support as hard as anyone, but I would never get on to someone for lack of it. I know "the Boss" wants it to be an individual choice. We don't know each others circumstances and we're suppose to be family here. Anyway, Somebeach will prolly be upset i told ya'll but I thought you'd wanna know.

[pbkid]

aw, cmon guys.... thats no bueno....

[JoFotoz]

I guess "hassled" is a very subjective term....

It seems he was being hassled by some of our members privately about not being a site supporter.

IIRC..I got several PM's with lots of questions from 'somebeach'...

In one of my many answers to him , I suggested he donate ...
.....given all the money saving help he was getting.


Frankly , I'd call that a friendly 'nudge' in the right direction.....


But if he took it as being "hassled'....I guess I'm guilty


jo

[circmand]

I guess "hassled" is a very subjective term....




IIRC..I got several PM's with lots of questions from 'somebeach'...

In one of my many answers to him , I suggested he donate ...
.....given all the money saving help he was getting.


Frankly , I'd call that a friendly 'nudge' in the right direction.....


But if he took it as being "hassled'....I guess I'm guilty


jo

If we was PMing people and getting a lot from the site I think there was nothing wrong with the mention of supporting the site from the member who was giving free advice. I guess it all depends on who you are getting the story from or whether you get both sides of teh story

[vt_maverick]

Eh, I see both sides. On the one hand, I think it should be someone's choice, and that we shouldn't exclude them from the conversation based on their status. On the other hand I'll probably spend $20 on gum this year.

Either way, I want him back too! Need another brother from the 757!

[nfpgasmask]

I personally never ask people to donate. Money is just such a sensitive subject, and way to personal, imo. I don't fault anyone for donating or not. IMO, asking someone to pay for "the Internet" just goes against everything the Internet was originally meant to be, that is, "free" communication and "free" distribution of information.

And with money being such a sensitive issue, I can understand how even a little polite nudging might come across as offensive, ESPECIALLY from a non-admin of the site. Seriously speaking, if I just joined a forum and some random other forum user asked me to cough up money, I would probably be taken aback a little. Maybe after a year or two of heavy use, then if someone asked me to consider donating, I would be OK with it, but not so early on. I didn't pony up for quite a while. I was a non-paying user for at least a year, iirc, maybe more.

I donate because I love this site and it is a great place to learn about the VehiCROSS and talk with fellow enthusiasts. To this day, it is the ONLY website I would ever consider giving actual money to, and I am a part of a lot of other great forums.

Bart

[handeeman]

I guess "hassled" is a very subjective term....




IIRC..I got several PM's with lots of questions from 'somebeach'...

In one of my many answers to him , I suggested he donate ...
.....given all the money saving help he was getting.


Frankly , I'd call that a friendly 'nudge' in the right direction.....




jo

I never asked and he never said who hassled him. I agree in a friendly nudge....we all gain so much from this site. I think we just all want the most for Moncha and to make it as easy for him as possible. I also know I don't want any of the family not feeling a part of it.

[vt_maverick]

IMO, asking someone to pay for "the Internet" just goes against everything the Internet was originally meant to be, that is, "free" communication and "free" distribution of information.

There is no such thing as free. Free is a relative concept. Anything that is free to you is only so because someone else already paid for it. Nothing is truly free.

Thus endeth the economics lesson. Not a knock at all on people who don't support the site, I just have a personal pet peeve with people who say things should "just be free." (As in health care most recently... )

[ZEUS]

Didn't this come up before, Handee? Was it the same guy or someone else? This sounds really familiar to me...

[ZEUS]

Yup, here it is: http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...40&postcount=9

My reply: http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...2&postcount=12

[nfpgasmask]

There is no such thing as free. Free is a relative concept. Anything that is free to you is only so because someone else already paid for it. Nothing is truly free.

Thus endeth the economics lesson. Not a knock at all on people who don't support the site, I just have a personal pet peeve with people who say things should "just be free." (As in health care most recently... )

Well, if you noticed, when I wrote free, there were quotes around it.

What I mean by "free", is that it's like a free membership to your library. A place where you can go and get information without paying for it. THAT is what the Internet started out like. But, it has mutated into some sort of hideous monster of crap and nonsense. There is really only a small percentage of the Internet left that is of quality, ad-less, spyware-less, FREE content.

I guess I am sort of an anarchist/idealist in that respect. Information should always be "free".

Bart

[KeithVXlvr]

Hell, I am a site supporter and I don't even have a VX anymore.

What a BEACH !!!

[vt_maverick]

What a BEACH !!!

Not constructive. He seems like a good guy otherwise, so comments like this (even just meant as a tease) are probably where he's feeling the pressure.

And wikipedia is probably the last best hope for free information, although it is largely influenced by people's bias / interests (for example, compare the number of hits for Star Trek vs. Van Goh). But wikipedia ultimately depends upon donations, just like this site.

[VX KAT]

I miss 'Somebeach". If ya noticed he hasn't been back on site since July.

That's so weird you should bring this up today Handee as just TODAY I was driving along & thought about him and recalled he changed his screen name, but couldn't recall which was the old or the new as I was trying to recall if he's posted recently. Anyway...., Somebeach (Doug), we really hope you come back and share some chit chat with the "fam".

Handee, does that mean our brains are wired the same somehow???

[ZEUS]

"Handee, does that mean our brains are wired the same somehow??? "
Oh, you better hope not!