Category: the Rant Board
(When I say in this article the above postings I am referring to those that are in the post put up by jage about suggestions for the T.O.S. I feel this is a more appropriate place since this is not a suggestion but rather a resolution...)
I have been a CL on the zone now for a few years. I guess Scott and I are the only two on now tht was here when I came on. We have several times discussed raising the age to 16 or 18, but we would have no way of verifying ages. They lie not at 13 so I just shrill to think about what they would do to get around the age thing if it were at 16 or 18. The only way we could do that probably is with a credit card key service or something like that.
In the above posts there have been some really good points made, and there has been a lot of pointing fingers at the CL's and their lack of doing our jobs. If anyone has a question of how I have handled something they have gave me to check out and I did not do it to your atisfaction please be so kind as to leave me a message and give me the chance to tell you how I handled it befor you say that I didnt do my job. If you have not gotten satisfaction from something you have asked another CL take the time to ask another cl to check into the matter.
I do have to say consistency has been one of my biggest gripes from the beginning of becoming a cl. However there are different ways of handling thing other than banning some one. We sometimes get together and talk amongst the staff to keep someone that may have just made a mistake from getting banned. I will say that if we went by the t.o.s. As they are written many of you would be gone. Many of you have done something you new was wrong and then came to us and asked us to over look it cause you was having a bad day or some other reason, and we have over looked it for you. So I encourage you to look at your selves as users to make sure your doing your part.
On favoritism Yes I have been at fault with this one too many times and I do appologize. One of the things that was asked of me when I took on the position if I would let friendships stand in my way of doing my job on the zone and I said yes I could. Well folks I have failed tremendously in this area. I have a couple of what I thought were friends on here that many times they have broken the T.O.S. And I have over looked this and let them slide. And as usual it is now cumming back to haunt me. So I openly apologize for this, and all my faults such as misspelling and my southern grammar.
In closing this I thank each and everyone for the ride. It has been a long and grueling ride. However since I have been such a bad CL. That has not done my job. And I have turned people so much against me that they would set around and slander/make fun of things I say, I do, and how I have done my CL job. I have resigned my post as CL. This is a volunteer job and my time is worth more than to have people intentionally do damage to me.
I am sorry to see you go, I think all the CL's are human and have done, or not done things that people could find fault with.
Douggy, me ox, I'm sorry to see you go but i do understand the pleasure and circumstances that stand between you and the community.
Hey Doug.
I believe you were the first community leader I spoke to and took the time to get to know well. There were times I screwed up and came close to breaking the terms of service. However, you were fair and gave me a warning. I was one of those users who didn't read the terms of service when I signed up for the site, and I take accountability for anything I may have done wrong.
I am sad to see you resign. You were one of two productive community leaders on here. I'm sure whoever will take the next position will do a good job, but it won't be the same as you. I understand your reasoning. Everyone has to move on at some point.
Lastly, I know I have made jokes about your typing. I just want you to know, if it hurt your feelings I am sorry. I wish you would have told me if it did, but I thought it might be something you found funny. I don't mean to come across as an ass.
I wish you the best of luck. Please, don't lose contact with me. Outside of here, you were always willing to be a supportive mentor for me, and due to my lack of family support I could always use that. Best wishes.
Ryan
I'm sure it hasn't been easy, but the time has come, and if you feel it was right then I appreciate the time given to this sight's service.. I lament the situation, however it is time for a change... I on behalf of everyone apologize for all the hardships this might have presented
What horrific dammage people must do to you online! I assure you sir, being smacked in the shins with a cane hurts alot more than your internet ego.
Hey Doug. I wish you nothing but the best, you've always been suportive of me, and what I do, so I'm giving you my support. I know it's not always easy to maintain a community like this. I just want to say thank you for all you have done. Good luck in whatever you do.
Hey Doug V,
You surly are going to be missed. I will miss you. enjoyed our talks.
good luck in the future.
Wow I'm shocked, as much as I never spoken to you in my life. I'm sorry that you feel this way. I can see how stressful it can be dealing with users on here. Though I may not know, it sure is a bit clear on how it goes. I never really knew how to comment if Cl's were doing there jobs or not. I though had no opinion on you. Nevertheless good luck, and I wish you the best.
Doug, since you are one of the few CL's who comes on here regularly and is visible most of the time, I am sorry to see you go. WE need more CL's who are on here and visible so we users can ask questions. What good are CL's who are never visible or not even coming on the site anymore?
I am one who has made fun of your spelling and typing, but all that really matters is that you did your job, and I am sorry you feel you have to resign.
Becky
Wow Doug, I'm sorry to see you go.
I've appreciated getting to know you over the past couple years on here. I take it as something similar to finding out a really good property manager is leaving. But I agree with you, if you're getting that much grief, life's too short and this is a volunteer position and doesn't pay your rent. Too bad for us, hopefully better / less stressful for you.
thank you all, this decision was one I fretted about for some time, and I will be around to lend a helping hand to those who still can use my help.
to the ones who made the nasty lil remarks all I can say IS YOU DONT KNOW ME EVIDENTLY.
enough said I am on facebook also Skype upon request ... you can leave me a online message here on he zone.
I honestly figured when you typed as you did it was just because you wanted to be fooling around. I never teased you about it, because I have spoken to you off publics and you don't type this way. That makes me surprised it mattered?
As to doing your job, and giving slack, I feel strongly that was exactly what a community leader is suppose to do, help people.
I personally have not seen you give unreasonable chances and you have made some fair choices when you had to actually ban someone. I have also seen you reverse some bannings that weren't fair, due to a user being lied on.
In my book, you did a great job. Maybe others see the flaws, but if you did give friends a break, you didn't only give it to them, but everyone. That is called heart, and in any hunman relation is required.
If in the application it doesn't state this it should. "can you be kind."
Doug, you are a kind man.
I forgot to say. You really should withdraw this. My reasons for saying so is I think you enjoyed the work no matter the difficulties.
Next, you do and did a hell of a job, and that is worth doing.
Give it some more thought. Stick around.
Smile.
Doug, I do thank you for finally being honest about the fact that you have and do let your friendships get in the way of your decisions as a CL, that you have failed at that part of the position. I am glad you finally admit openly what many of us have seen: that you do let your friends slide when they have broken the terms, while cracking down prematurely on those who are not your friends. It is nice when someone finally quits denying his mistakes and apologizes to the community. So, thank you for that. Good luck to you!
I've not seen him crack down prematurely , but have seen him give slack to all it seems.
I also never knew his friends, so.
I do spend some time here, but maybe not enough to know.
I don't feel it is fair to give slack to some and not others, but I do feel it is good to give slack, and that is what I've noticed.
Hi Dug,
I don't think we've spoken, but ever since I joined the zone, I've noticed that you were one of the most faithfully visible CL's, and for that, I thank you. I respect your decision to resign, and I wish you well.
-Meg
I am going to start this post. Whether I will send it is anyone's guess. Not sure if I should keep my mouth shut or not. Amelia, that was slightly amusing. Alicia, thank you!!! You couldn't have worded that any better or more reasonably if you did it a million times. That's you, My Lady, the epitome of class. Anyhow, as for me, I'm of two minds of this situation. It does sadden me to see you go, as you are a presence on here, of which a lot of other cls cannot say the same. However, my good sir, I feel as though you have let your friendships cloud your judgement a bit, and I have seen you crack down on those who are not rightly your friends, as Alicia so eloquently stated. I also believe, with all do respect, that you, as they say, made a big deal out of your letter of resignation, dramatizing it and such. Now, that is just my opinion, you may not have meant to do that, I'm just telling this the way it would look especially if I didn't know you the way I do know you. I do appreciate your friendship Dear, and maybe this position is just not meant to be right now. Thank you for all the assistance you have given me, I do appreciate it. Enjoy being a normal member of zone society now. Look on the bright side, your stress level will more than likely go down immensely.
For someone who has gotten the time to get to know you, I state with a tremendous level of pride that I think you were a hell of a CL. Understandably, you have had your favorites and for many years, you had let that affect your position of influence and acted out of friendship rather than do what was right as your duty as a community leader. It takes a great deal of humility to admit to one's short comings, and decide on a course of action based on it, and for that my friend, I most sincerely commend you. You had a great deal to put up with over the years and there comes a time when enough is enough. this is your time to finally step away from the madness and enjoy life. Your presence as a community leader will be missed, and you will be difficult to replace. One can effortlessly fill a vacant position, but it is almost impossible to replace a character.
In my opinion, you've been a damn good CL! Though I've never held a staff position here, I have on several other sites, and it can be hell. The amount of drama that has to be dealt with is unbelievable, and it takes its toll. I can't say whether you have or haven't let friendships stand in the way of you doing your job, but what I can say with certainty is that you're a good person, you care about the site, and you've put forth an unbelievable amount of time and effort into making this a better place. It's difficult because, through a position like this, oftentimes you find out the hard (and painful) way who your real friends are. I think you should be proud of the job you've done here, and I'm sure your stress level will decrease significantly now that you no longer have to deal with all the drama.
Though, I hold no grudge and accept any and all apalogies that might apply to me, don't forget about those of us who have been unfairly banned by you. Though, I will say this: I had heard the other CLs and even the Admins agreed my banning by you was unfair and should be lifted, nobody did anything about it. So there it sits, a mar on my account that shouldn't even be there.
I will give you credit for this much Doug, you have been logged in more than any other CL lately and if something truly did happen you were usuallly the first to notice.
Best of luck in all you do from here on.
Hey Doug,I under your wanting to resign your position as a CL. I've known you for about 7 or so years now, and you've always been a big help to the ones who have needed it.