Does anyone remember the joke about asking how to change a light bulb on a forum, and the posts that followed? You know, the one that was posted here at least 6 times?
One of these days, if I find the time, I think I'll come up with a Cigar Pass thread flow chart, specifically about threads like this. There's someone getting called out, several people that know the person who got called out is good for it, several others that are not quite sure but post encouragingly saying they "hope they make it right", a few that believe the thread was premature in the first place, several that think it should have been sooner so no one else gets screwed, some obscure popcorn reference, a newbie talking out of place and then either resolution or banning. Which is then followed by comments regarding how well, or not so well, everyone who participated in the thread reacted in their posts. Sometimes if we're lucky the thread will continue on for days even though the original concern has been taken care of.
Then, in the end, there's some guy who hasn't been around for years who tries to sum it all up in one post.