Words Fail Me

Sometimes our curiosity gets the better of us, and we do stupid things. Truly stupid things that we can never undo (and no, this is not a lead-in to a Dubya joke).

Remember my first post? The trouble Mayhem and I had with two players on a Firefly-based PBEM? That we were summarily kicked off that group without word or warning? Well, I am going to waste a little more webspace on the topic. Why? Because I read something on the site and got so angry that my hands were shaking.

Last night, Mayhem's curiosity got the better of her, and she went into the game site to see what had been happening. She IM-ed me about one of Deb's posts, so I (being an eternal idiot) ran right over to see what had Mayhem up in arms.

Another player had started an off-topic thread a few weeks back called "Crickets," commenting that the in-game threads. That they were slow right now, and just making sure people were still out there. The first time I saw it, I laughed. I couldn't help but think, "serves you guys right." Hey, I can be vindictive with the best of them.

And then I found the gem that made my blood pressure exploded, posted March 4 by Deb (aka, the passive-aggressive Group Owner):

but we'll muddle through and not worry about finishing our conversatin in the lounge - it's not a big... but remember, we no longer have people who write posts about NOTHING but themselves, so make sure you read everything, so it doesn't get all confusing

Now, I admit to making jokes about players in private. Some people have trouble spelling, others just aren't great at writing reflective posts. But I never post anything negative about my players (current or former) on a pubic forum. It is rude. It is childish. It is downright mean. The right words just do not exist to express how wrong it is.

But do you know what toasts my cookies even more? Six days later, and not a single site member has commented on it. No one has stepped up and said, "They're gone, let it go." Or, "Are jibes like that really necessary?" Nope. Just more crickets.

I hate crickets. They get on your porch, under your window, in your house. They chirp and chirp and chirp, and there's really nothing you can do to silence the noise.