Tamara wrote:

> I had meant to send this to the whole list  but accidentally sent
> it just to
> Kat. She  has already responded to me privately and I will leave it to her
> to give her response here on the list if she wishes. I would like to hear
> from others those if this to sensitive of a topic for this list?? I feel
> not, how about the rest of you.?

[snip]

> There is always a delete button for those that don't want to read this
> topic.

Hear, hear! Well said.

I am very new here, and have already evidently committed at least one faux
pas a couple of weeks ago when I posted about my past in rather more detail
than I am discovering is the norm for this list.

I am not going to actively work to undermine the established culture here. I
am a longtime subscriber to many other lists, and know how annoying it can
be when someone new comes in and just doesn't seem to get "how things are
done" on a particular list.

But before I lapse into permanent lurker status, I'd like to leave all of
you with a few points to ponder, as it were.

I must begin by saying that I saw nothing inappropriate about Michael
Jeffries' response to Linda Wagner's original post. No, it wasn't exactly
what Linda was looking for, but neither was it "too explicit" nor "over the
top" (sorry, Bobby) - in my opinion. If it was either of those things, then
I would hope someone would explain in explicit terms and on list *why* it
was. The routine message I received when I subscribed here said nothing
about this list being limited to material only suitable for children, nor
did it caution about any particular topics being taboo.

Simply because I have cerebral palsy, you cannot:

assume anything about my religious beliefs (or lack thereof)

assume anything about my tolerance for discussions about "edgy" topics

assume anything about my views on sexuality

assume anything about my views on... anything.

My point is that this group is not homogeneous by any stretch of the
imagination. One would hope that we should not have to tailor our words to
some least common denominator. From what I've read here, I suspect that
several of you are very cool folk from whom I could learn a lot. However I
can't do that in an environment of constant appropriateness testing and
self-censorship.

Can we find some compromise (perhaps inserting "Explicit Content" in subject
headers) that allows those of us not offended by plain talk to continue our
discussions here?

In all sincerity,

Brent