OT: Suggestion for posters

I'm sure this will be unpopular, but I agree with Kym's controversial post. Have at me, I'm not interested. I'm just here to read and learn, not just from this board or site, but from many. My suggestion is one that I feel would help everyone. If you are going to get caught up with posting about Monkey this and Pouch that, would you PLEASE use netiquette and put "OT" in your subject header? This designates your post as "Off Topic" and will help those of us not in the inner circle cut to the usable information we're here to find. Unfortunately the message boards on this site are not formatted well so that you can file aside what you've already read. It's a real headache wading through 50 posts just to find that none of them are about weight loss surgery. Sorry, but that's how I feel. Those of you who seem to be running this particular board will no doubt be unhappy with this, but so be it. I think this is a reasonable request. Post whatever you like for merriment's sake, but please label it OT. Thank you very much.

I think that is a reasonable and good suggestion. However, some of out threads do tend to weave in and out of the WLS topic. I'm sure willing to do that! Thanks for suggesting it! Joy

Thank you for your gracious reply, Joy. I very much appreciate your comments. I completely understand things tangenting off course, and I don't have any issues with that at all. It's the other posts that just exist to be playful (not that there's anything wrong with that! ) that tend to get frustrating. Thanks again, GW

Shouldn't be a problem, Georgette! We try to accommodate everyone the best that we can! However, I think if you'll note, the subject line of the posts is usually pretty clear when it's a "serious" topic, e.g. "I've been approved!", "Water issues", "smoking", "I'm so down", "prayer request", "surgery has been delayed", etc. These threads normally stay on the stated topic. We're still pre-ops, and I believe many are working out some pre-op nerves and stress. Much better way to do it than other alternatives, IMHO. I believe the moment we start becoming post-ops, the ambience will change a bit around here, and may be more reflective of the "other" boards' topics/mannerisms. We're just not there yet. Please bear with us. But if you have a question or a topic that you're curious about, please, post so we can know you're interested in something specific. Most will address anything you would like to know, as long as we can answer it. So...where are YOU in the process of the WLS journey? Kimmer Zero-minus-13 and 7 workdays to go!

Hi Kimmer, Thank you very much for your kind reply. The subject lines of a lot of the posts I have been finding the last couple of weeks have been quite UNclear. This was why I suggested this idea. It's just a time-saver really, for everyone. Those of you looking for these fun, off-topic posts will find them quickly, and those who want to get to the "meat", so to speak, will be able to do the same. Thanks for the offer, but I really just enjoy reading as opposed to posting. I am extremely busy at work and can only spend so much time here, so I really felt passionate about this suggestion as a time-saving measure. This is especially important, as I said before, since these boards don't allow you to delete or file away what you've already read. And the "Recent" feature doesn't keep to threads, it's just random, hard-to-follow posts, so it's all kind of messy. Anyway, thank you again. GW

Hey Georgette, I just love the way folks come on this board. Don't participate in any way other than to throw rocks... Here's a suggestion...Looking for info you don't find on the first page of subjects...ASK A QUESTION??? Personally I'd rather answer an ernest hearfelt question than respond to this type of posting...but oh well. Anyway, your suggestion is actually a good one. But as Joy has said we often drift in and out of relevant topics and readers will miss out on some important things... Happy thoughts, Va 6 sunrises until my new life begins Offishal Paper Monkey and Secretary Extraordinaire Offishal Squirrel Wrangler (willing to share this title) My Angel ==> Whitney Lori My Angelettes ==> Whitney H & Lori A

Virginia, You wrote: "I just love the way folks come on this board. Don't participate in any way other than to throw rocks..." It may surprise you to find that not everyone defines "participation" as "posting." I think that is evident in the discrepancy in the number of members this board has and the actual number of repeat posters. Just because some people do not post does not mean they are not as welcome as the people who do post frequently. And it certainly doesn't mean they aren't entitled to their opinions. People gather information in different ways and you should respect that. This crap that's gumming up this board may be alleviating stress for a dozen or so of you, but it isn't helping the other 125 of us here. You also wrote: "Here's a suggestion...Looking for info you don't find on the first page of subjects...ASK A QUESTION???" I've delved way deeper than the first or second or fifteenth pages of this board, thank you very much, which is exactly my point. The off topic stuff is everywhere. Thank you for giving me permission to ask a question. It never occurred to me before now. And my suggestion WAS heartfelt. Sorry you didn't approve of my post. Opinions can be thorny, eh? You get to have yours, and you get to read one of mine that you don't like. It's a beautiful world. GW

Georgette, You began this whole thing with a post that began with the following statement. "I'm sure this will be unpopular, but I agree with Kym's controversial post. Have at me, I'm not interested." Obviously you only interjected your opinions as a form of derision and you succeeded. Congratulations! Anything you said after that would obviously been so skewed by the preamble you submitted, as to serve to be utterly meaningless. I have surgery in 5 days, there are people here that are in the same or similar extreme cir****tances. To be quite frank I do not have the time nor the inclination to duke this out with you. I care about the people on this board, I have a function I perform on this board. I do not spend a lot of my time playing on this board, but if I choose to, that is an option. I am perfectly happy with the content of this board. If you are not...I invite you to seek a new home. If you are seeking strictly education, there are many, many sites, full of information, that are much better suited to the task than a board for patients - as this board is designed to accommodate. THIS BOARD IS QUITE OBVIOUSLY DESIGNED AS A VEHICLE OF SUPPORT. In particular this is a Surgery Support Board for people having surgery in March 2004. That is the glue that binds us together in this single purpose. That's is why we are here. Va

TO OT OR NOT TO OT????????? Who the he## cares as long as we yes we (as I come out of my lurking position) How did I miss all of this. OMG. Va and Kelly, and of course Kimmer, I looked at the board of where I am from and their are people posting questions and no one ever answers. You know why, because they are all smart enough to be over here with the MARCHERS helping each other out. I have yet to see one post where there has not been someone always coming to someone else's rescue for whatever the reason might be and tons of other MARCHERS right there to back them up. I have had a lot of ups and downs with my decision and how I am feeling and I know that I can come here read other posts (OK, OK, LURK ABOUT ) but then I know I can at night. Because I have all of these wonderful MARCH angels right here if I need them. Even if I don't have an angel I know that their are all the MARCHERS behind me and each other all the way............ So I say go to another board, I bet you don't find half as many answers as you can right here, and you can feel at ease because it is coming from people that genuinely care about one another. OK I am done now and I'm going back to lurk Renee'

Ok, not for nothing, BUT if you look on to other Surgery Date boards all you see is " I have a date" and maybe one or two replies..., BORING! Well, We all got together and got this board moving, to meet other people having surgery in March, to help pass some time, NOT only to talk about WLS. After all this is the MARCH surgery 2004 board and we area ll having our surgeries in March.Yes We are off topic alot, BUT we enjoy that. We do however get on topic about WLS. I feel WE do Not need to put OT in front of every OT post. By all means jump on in when you have a question regarding the surgery, pre op or whatever, we will always reply. You do not HAVE to read our other threads if you are not interested in them. Also there is the MAIN message board which is most often threads about surgery pre and post off. I'm sorry if I'm sounding like a ***** or what not but come on now, We are here having fun. We are passing time... Look back at the March Board in November or so, you WON'T FIND any kind of surgery info back then, just surgery dates... We are enjoyng one another. We don't need people coming in Raining on our parade. So anyway, this is just MY HONEST OPINION, I don't expect you all to agree with me. Kelley OFFISHAL BIRTHDAY BARONESS AND GUARDIAN OF THE CHAIR, AND ENJOY IT! 15 days and a wake up to go!