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Kelly Jul 15, 2006

I sold my first bear 23 years ago and started working with Intercal about 17 years ago.  A few months back I joined this forum thinking wow, great they have given us a marvelous resource for business.  Then the glue incident came up and I was pretty much told I didn't know what I was talking about in no uncertain terms since I said glue is bad and you all told me I am bad.  So I mentally shrugged and thought to heck with this and rode off into the virtual sunset not bothering to look back.

Yesterday morning I got an e-mail asking if I was someone named flamingbear posting on this forum because apparently some people thought I was based on the single glue incident......if you had gotten to know me before blasting me out of the water you would have seen the kinder gentler side of me, but I have to warn ya you're not going to see it today either.  I'm not this flamingbear person, but after a rather panicky call to Intercal asking what is going on and trying to head off bad press to my good name at the pass, I decided to look up what horrible offense this person committed and see how I was possibly connected with it.  I read all the threads they posted in, and all the comments by the other members who posted in those threads.

While I felt that flaming bear was a little harsh in some comments, I would never say anything that someone made was garbage, but overall I didn't think it was much to get excited about.  They posted their opinion in their own style.  But more importantly what I saw was that when someone disagrees with the majority of you, you form a torch bearing lynch mob and attack the offender tenfold.  But you all do it in the name of wanting to have a polite and tactful forum so it makes it ok for you to do the thing you are attacking them for.   

So I am sitting here asking myself for the love of God what is wrong with you people???  Intercal has given you this fabulous tool and you aren't using it to the best of it's ability.  If you want a mutual admiration society/coffee klatch go make one.  This forum is about the discussion of teddy bears....how to make and sell them better, not the never ending discussion of YOUR VERSION of etiquette.  Not for asking for critiques and then crying when someone gives it to you and you don't agree with what they said.  Ask yourself if you really want criticism or if you just want validation.  Are you consummate business professionals who can accept everyone's opinion even if you don't agree with it, or are you children who need to be coddled and have your ego stroked 24/7?  The most valuable lessons we learn are from the people in our lives who don't coddle us!

You have artists on here with a lot of experience and information but if they don't give you what you want to hear you run them off, or intimidate them into not posting instead of taking their expertise and experience and LEARNING from it or even just considering what they have to say before you dismiss it out of hand.  How many shy artists don't ever post something that opposes the few of you who are so strong willed because they are afraid of getting the name dropping, endlessly droning posts telling them they are socially unacceptable?  Or simply flat out wrong.  Honestly when you do you have time to make bears what with all these longgggggggggg posts that drive people into a coma?  If I had to make a post this long several times a day I would never get any bears made or sold.  I wasted hours reading this drivel tonight and not once did ya even mention the making or selling of bears in anything I read.  All ya did was whine about how someone hurt your poor little feelings and quibble over semantics.  GROW UP!  In the real world of business you're gonna get your feelings hurt and you better toughen up a little bit so you can take it and keep on working without falling apart and needing therapy or drugs to get through the day.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE GIFT INTERCAL HAS GIVEN YOU! 
Use it as a tool for your business, not your ego or your petty high school  BS.  Don't drive this forum into the ground, because that's exactly what you're doing.  You're going to end up hurting your own business relationships because of the way you behave on here.  Now Shelli I am going to single you out because you just work my last damn nerve, I am going to give you a piece of advice that will go against what you want to hear.......learn to shut up once in a while, don't post in every single thread......hey I know.......don't post in this one!  Just bite your tongue for once.   You are so fond of telling people they HAVE TO BE NICE and post with the proper social graces and they need to work their opinions so it sounds like their opinion isn't being foisted on everyone, but yanno what honey........that is just YOUR opinion. You haven't been making bears or doing shows that long and you don't know all there is to know about this business.  Stop foisting YOUR opinion on people about their delivery and manners.  I am a free thinking adult and I can make up my own mind about how I want to deliver what I have to say and I choose to do it in a straight forward manner, it's not rude you just can't hear my inflection since I am typing it.  Ok you can get out your matches and torches and form the mod........anyone got a rope?