- Joined
- Oct 2, 1998
- Messages
- 45,921
As a member and a moderator on this site from its earliest days one cannot escape coming into daily contact with the interpersonal commerce between our members on a variety of levels...some good, some bad, much truly generous and some truly reprehensible and beyond the pale.
One can understand (though certainly not overlook) that where there is a marketplace and a willingness to offer items of value up front via proffered trust to their fellow enthusiasts that there will always be those who are all too willing to abuse that trust and fail to honor either a purchase or trade. Having spent most of my adult life bringing various malefactors to justice, such behavior does not come as any surprise but it always induces a sense of disappointment.
What disturbs me even more than the outright thieves, however, are those members who fail to make good on promises made even when they were the ones who made their offers unbidden. This would include (for example) those who sponsor a giveaway yet fail to actually give away the item offered, all the while basking in the ill gotten glow of community admiration falsely obtained.
Others of that ilk are those who publicly complain of another member's failure to live up to promises made and subsequently turn right around and fail to live up to their own; as well as those who post solely for the purpose of enticing their fellow members into giving them something for nothing by playing upon their heartstrings and generous nature.
For these various reasons I wanted to take a moment to salute all those members who daily make this community a better place while asking nothing in return for their contributions, material or otherwise. That kind of "feedback" is never unwelcome and will hopefully always outweigh the negatives which have to be borne and addressed both by the members themselves as well as the moderation staff.
Knives may be the site's focus but it's the good nature of the community that is both the glue that holds it together and the engine that makes it thrive.
One can understand (though certainly not overlook) that where there is a marketplace and a willingness to offer items of value up front via proffered trust to their fellow enthusiasts that there will always be those who are all too willing to abuse that trust and fail to honor either a purchase or trade. Having spent most of my adult life bringing various malefactors to justice, such behavior does not come as any surprise but it always induces a sense of disappointment.
What disturbs me even more than the outright thieves, however, are those members who fail to make good on promises made even when they were the ones who made their offers unbidden. This would include (for example) those who sponsor a giveaway yet fail to actually give away the item offered, all the while basking in the ill gotten glow of community admiration falsely obtained.
Others of that ilk are those who publicly complain of another member's failure to live up to promises made and subsequently turn right around and fail to live up to their own; as well as those who post solely for the purpose of enticing their fellow members into giving them something for nothing by playing upon their heartstrings and generous nature.
For these various reasons I wanted to take a moment to salute all those members who daily make this community a better place while asking nothing in return for their contributions, material or otherwise. That kind of "feedback" is never unwelcome and will hopefully always outweigh the negatives which have to be borne and addressed both by the members themselves as well as the moderation staff.
Knives may be the site's focus but it's the good nature of the community that is both the glue that holds it together and the engine that makes it thrive.
), but for me you are one of the people who epitomise the kindness and generosity of spirit to be found on Bladeforums Elliott, someone who despite the fact we've never met face to face, I consider a friend. Some great people here 
