[pct-l] comments on list behavior & structure

[Whitney Bailey]

Hey y'all,

Just a few observations from an admitted newbie.

1) Having never met him & not having been on the list very long, I
personally don't find much of what Reinhold Metzger has said to be
offensive--so he likes the ladies & has an irrepressible and sometimes
obnoxious sense of humor.  So he's immature and needs to be the center of
attention.  Big freakin deal.  The fact that he's over 65...ok, a little
creepy, but certainly not a crime.  (I was truly amazed anyone took the
comment about "only the young and inexperienced need apply' seriously)
However, sending a really nasty one-line personal attack to an entire
listserve is an entirely different matter.  Postholer's comment is what
started this whole thing, yet only a couple people have said anything about
it--everyone jumped on the bandwagon instead to attack R.M.  I was pretty
astonished, to tell the truth.  Immature and light-hearted in public is
annoying at best.  Immature and cruel in public, no matter what the
provocation....not cool.  This wasn't what I expected when I joined the list
and hope it's not a common occurence.

2) That all being said, I agree with recent suggestions that this list could
use a little better organization.  There's a virtual encyclopedia of
information in the archives that's almost nearly inaccessible without a
search function.  I'd love to see a forum with discussions devoted to travel
arrangements, gear, current conditions, veterans, newbies, current hikers,
etc.  Then too, the 13 year olds, the curmudgeons, the GPS fanatics, and the
luddites would all have places to play where we wouldn't get in each others'
way.  I tend to be pretty tolerant when it comes to folks who obviously have
good intentions, but incessant joking can get old, and does detract from the
usefulness of the list if you constantly have to sort through it.  Whomever
said this list is the wrong mix of flash vs facts (parphrasing badly, I
know)--had a point.

Thank you to those folks who've contributed mature and tolerant comments
thus far.  Hope you're the exception and not the rule on the trail itself.

Whitney