[Pillows]

"I for one can speak to the old timers who are cranky because they think they've "earned" it

Amen to that. My mother lurked for years....then signed up late last year...only to be called 'newbie' and criticized by someone the first day!! She said she's not interested in posting again.

[MOgirl]

Hello,

Sorry to hear that your Mom got poor treatment when she signed up. I had lurked here since the Monica story broke (found FR via Drudge) and was worried that I would get the "newbie treatment" when I finally signed up to post last fall. I was thrilled that FR was kind and considerate of a new poster/old lurker. For everyone that greeted me with kindness, thanks!

As to the current situation, this has happened before. Many times, in fact. There have been times in the past that I stopped lurking for awhile, because the stress of all the fighting and name-calling was too much. FR has always managed to come back, despite this, because there are good, decent people here. The ones causing problems will tire of the game, because they will ultimately be ignored.

The Terri case did pit many fine Freepers against other fine Freepers, based on which side they took. Does that mean that we give up on this forum? I think not. For those that are thinking of (or have) decided to give up on FR, I would simply suggest that a break would benefit you more than quitting forever. FR will recover, and we need you all here to continue the good fight.

Respectfully, glad to be here, MOgirl