[FuzzieAlum]

It cracks me up when people say "out in the real world things are different." All my life I've been waiting to get into the real world. Well, this is it. Just because we can't see each other's faces doesn't mean it's not real.

We out here in the "real world" DO try to get rid of people that bug us, whether we have a fair claim for that or not. Sure, your best friend cheats with and then steals your girlfriend from you, you get him kicked out of the house. Fair enough, maybe. You don't like a PNM because her older sister teased you in 5th grade? You cut the PNM. Not fair, but we do it.

College world still not "real"? How about work? If, on the job, a man called his female co-workers "sweetie" and "honey" etc., like it or not, in this day and age he could probably be fired or sued for sexual harassment. Whether you think that's fair or not, it is that way here in "reality." It's not only on a BBS that folks take actions for words they deem offensive.

We all know people who we try to avoid whether it's just because they're irritating or because they have done very bad things. And if you don't want to be around someone in the physical world, it's generally EASIER to avoid them than it is on here. Here, you ban someone, they can easily come back under another name. It's not that easy in real life. In real life, if everything thinks you're a jerk, you pretty much have to move far away before you can get a clean slate.

So whether or not you like UF_Pike, or think he deserved to be banned, or just found him amusing if misguided ... those folks who wanted him banned weren't doing anything different than we all do on a daily basis. They were successful, is all.