http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1234374/posts
this was the thread I took offense to.
I am happy that you have not seen or been party to any of this, it's good to know it doesn't happen to everyone.
Just checked the thread you linked to. I consider that rather mild hassling, and the vanity posted deserved criticism, as Jim Robinson regularly tells us to curb the vanities. In fact, in the last few weeks there's been threads about Too Many Vanities. So a vanity consisting of one or two sentences, and also by someone who hasn't been around long, is a target for criticism. The poster being critical may have been not real "nice" about it, but that's FR.
A little rough around the edges sometimes. On FR I have learned to debate with people without losing my cool. It's a useful skill.
Posters from 98, 99, 2000. and 2001 chastised the take a hike poster..So why start a thread on Old Timers versus newbies? I am at a loss if this thread was the catalyst for your Vanity...Color me puzzled.