Let me sum this up in the best way I can for you...

1) An opinion of one member of this board is not the opinion of the entire board. You may view it that way, but that does not make it so. It is the opinion of the person posting - just like your post is your position and not the position of any section of this board.

2) You are new here. You've not been on any other boards that I know of - and I believe you've made it clear you have not been on any cigar boards other than this one. And admittedly, you have only been involved for a couple of weeks. While you bring your social skills to this board - the only person on this board who is aware of and understands your social skills is you. No one else on this board knows a thing about you - so how could you possibly believe you have any credibility with the other members of the boards at this point.

3) You don't know me - or for that matter - anyone else on this board. You may be "impressed" with certain members here, but certainly that is because it fits into your perception of righteousness and fairness. That may be right or that may be wrong - depending on what "gut" feeling you have. Though, from my interactions and experiences on the cigar boards I have to tell you - things are not always as they seem. The person you view as a very socially balanced, intelligent person in reality could be an unemployed mooching loser - or a frustrated small town high school teacher who is as maniacal as they come - the list goes on and on, as we have all fell for some of the chirades of these people. Don't give into the temptation too quickly...

4) I'm sure you're a nice guy - at least I would hope so. You've fallen into a great group of people here. But you are, in some sense, joining a private club. Not that membership is out of reach, but certainly the members of this club will measure your potential contributions to this community and decide if they want to let you into the "circle of trust". There are those that become part of the group - while others are chased out. It's hard to point to exactly what it takes to get you chased out or what it takes to be accepted. Certainly, though, wearing clown makeup and Bozo shoes while insisting you're not a clown will definitely draw a reaction. I think the biggest demise of many is not recognizing when they're chest deep in quicksand, and instead of trying to swim to safety they shake their fists and curse. Those that can take the occasional ball busting fair much better than those that insist upon always proving their point.

My post saying that you had no credibility was not meant to signal you to leave. It was meant as a means for you to measure your response in that thread. Because it was heated - do you really want to stick your neck out at the very beginning not fully knowing all of the relationships between the various players in the situation? Certainly you don't know PartagasGuy, and can't speak for his reputation. You don't know the others that chimed in or speak of their reputations. Your reputation has not been established so no one knows if you're for real, for a while, or not at all. You have to establish yourself by interaction with the community.

From my understanding, Shelby - you're not a young un'. It would seem to me most of this would be instinctive to you. You've been around the block. Most old timers I know are pretty uncanny in their ability to assess a situation and prepare an appropriate response. Jumping into a heated thread, not having any background with the board, is not the wisest thing I'm sure you've done in your life. And further expecting everyone on the board to accept your position of attempting to negotiate an end to the dispute without comment is even more ludicrous.

Please take the constructive criticism given to you as just that - constructive. If you take offense to things said easily, you're not going to like it here. Believe me - I've been insulted way past any bounds of reasonableness on many occasions. What keeps me here are the relationships I've developed with others on this board - people here are not that bad. The community won't let them be...