I have seen problems like this in cigar forums going all the way back to the alt.smokers.cigars newsgroup days… instead of people seeing how they fit a forum, they try to make the forum fit them. Every forum and online community (cigars or otherwise) has its own culture, group of FOGs, rules, and guidelines both written and unwritten. Members have to pay their dues in every new community they join, no matter how long they have been around elsewhere. It is their job to take a step back, observe, and see how they can fit in – it is not to step in and try to change things to fit their agenda.
In a somewhat parallel scenario, I changed jobs a few years back. I am a high school counselor and interviewed and was offered a job at a different school in a different district. Now this is my 25th year in education, and I knew I had more experience than anyone else in the department by at least a few years. But what did I do? I started work, I shut up and kept my eyes and ears open. I learned about the people I work with, how they do things, what their expectations are, what the kids are like, etc. I did that for quite some time finding my place in the department. Only then did I start making observations and recommendations based on my experience and all that. And now ( and I’m not tooting my own horn in saying this), I’m well-liked by the students and staff and have experienced administrators asking me for my opinion about things. I shut up, paid my dues, and proved myself.
This was not done in this case, and I say this despite him trying to butter me up by posting an affiliate link to the place I order coffee from without me asking that I had to ask him to take down.
Okay enough rambling… time to pack cigars and head out to a fish fry!
@CigarStone
