No discontent on here,just the odd argument every blue moon,it's Forgotten already by me ..
I haven't been on here long enough to know whether the current discontent is par for the course or something more serious. Looking at what's been said there seems to have been grounds for misunderstanding on both sides of others' meaning as to what has been posted. Both sides have their positives (let's ignore the negatives) so I hope we'll move on and hopefully everyone will reflect on what has been posted and learn from it. In this crazy world we're all walking on eggshells, it's got so bad you have to think twice about making a complement about a work colleague in case it's taken the wrong way. Hopefully things will settle down.
Careful with that axe Eugene.. Dave Gilmour
No discontent on here,just the odd argument every blue moon,it's Forgotten already by me ..
It occurred to me for the first time since I took over the running of this site that any attempt to moderate anything on here is in the main, totally taboo.
Of course that is the legacy of Tony Scholes "Imperial rule".
Because I want this forum to flourish I am currently under the auspices of my alter ego "The Editors Chair" trying my damndest to recruit a few more members on here.
Sadly, one look at the "Numbongo/Mumbongo" threads and they will run a mile.
To moderate with caution or not moderate at all is the question?
To be fair.. 'N' is next to 'M' on the keyboard so it could have been an easy mistake to make.
Difficult position to be in being both a moderator and a contributor. I suppose it might be easier to let things go until someone complains either publicly on the forum or by private message. (Or blatantly against the rules)
Hopefully that's behind us now.It is good though to see some new posters on here,not sure how to find them though.
That is exactly the reason why I hardly ever moderate C_M. In all sincerity initially I thought I was correcting a honest spelling mistake, but as the thread progressed a real can of worms had been opened.
I rather like your advice to let things go until someone complains either publicly on the forum or by private message C_M. On the odd occasion when this has happened, I have still decided against moderation other than when it's blatantly obvious an "offending" post is miles away from being appropriate.
You are damned if you do and damned if you don't, because one person's version of "appropriate" can be miles away from someone else's.
I don't think Alfie made a mistake, he'll correct me if I'm wrong, I think he saw Mumbongo playing like a numpty and changed his name to Numbongo. It's just a play on words, it's perfectly normal and acceptable, everyone does it, but in this case it was applied to a black player, and BT, despite claiming he was correcting a spelling mistake, as a moderator took fright at the racist connotations of that change of name, and acted accordingly. The point was made that the alteration of a white player's name would not have been an issue, which it wouldn't, and on it's rumbled from there.
Big beasts locking horns, all good fun, I love it, leave them to it, they'll tire themselves out.
Hi Sinkov, Yes, I have been following the thread from conception. After 35 years in the Military we have our own 'special' kind of humour and certainly avoid PC at all costs. Since leaving the RN I found myself in a strange world where people don't say what they want and people get offended at the strangest things, even worse, get offended on someone elses behalf which I find strange.
Being as 'Worldly' as I am I still don't see how changing a surname from Mumbongo to Numbongo can be construed as being racist.
I do remember a fizzy drink in the early '80's called 'Um Bongo' which is a strange name for a drink and if they new what the term 'Umbongo' actually meant I am sure they would have had second thoughts as it IS a racial slur in the urban dictionary.
Thank you C_M -----exactly my experience as well and one which both my sons subscribe to, even though one is stilll serving in the mIlitary and the other one is a Paramedic in London so they have to be careful! I think that sinkov, having been a firefighter, will totally understand the 'special' kind of humour to which we refer ----it was what got you through lots of situations and is vey much alien to modern society, however, I have to admit that it doesn't stop me if I am face to face!