WHY I STAY   WITH COYSDC   (DESPITE EVERYTHING MY MOTHER WARNED ME ABOUT)

Years later I asked my Mam   who the heck was Maggie Maud and why should we apportion to her "fair doos"

Apparently Maggie Maud was a girl at school with my Mam way back in 1920s Camarthen who was always getting into trouble so much so that other pupils stood up for her to the teachers suggesting that all was not always the fault of the hapless Maggie May. Hence Fair doos to Maggie May.

A silly story but applied to life in general and to our   relationships and interactions with each other it has some resonance. Even for the posters and cyber community that is COYSDC.

What I suppose it suggests to me is that no one is one hundred percent wrong or at fault and of course the corollary that no one is one hundred percent right. There is always room for another point of view

Or is there - Sometimes the reactions of some posters who find themselves in an argument with another poster or the editors the reaction is to move via insults and imprecations to announce that they  (the poster) will be leaving the board .

In some instances two posters will go at one and other like cats in a bag until one has had enough and leaves the board.

This brings me to the second of my Mams aphorisms which has stayed with me  - politely put it is this  -

"There is a difference between scratching your bum and tearing it to pieces". Not a piece of advice that I freely admit to having always heeded myself but nevertheless one that is relevant to all of us expressing our views and opinions on the COYSDC boards.

To me it means don't go too far because in the end you will damage something valuable to yourself  - your bum - your reputation - or COYSDC

It never ceases to amaze me that for some it is so very difficult to say "OK lets draw a line under that and move on"

It may just be a function of the illusion of anonymity afforded by a message board that encourages people to pursue arguments to extremes  and to trade gratuitous insults  and epithets  in a way that they would think hard about  if face to face with their fellows.

But despite these problems I will stay with COYSDC because I Iove it warts and all.

Yes I have a long list of things that annoy me in the things that people post  - some are just minor irritants and others really make my blood boil  - but I have learned that continued participation in the exchange of views, news, gossip and silliness is something that is far more valuable than the short term gratification of the quick put down or smart comment.

Sometimes I think that we all need to remember that there is a human being at the other end of the keyboard with hopes fears worries and problems just like the rest of us .

To sum up then - I value greatly the opportunities to engage with others in discussions about our great game and our beloved Saints. 

Planet Lom/ now Flatt Earth was one of the best ideas that any Sports Board editors ever had. It enables me to savour the delights of daft jokes, personal sagas, lonely hearts  and literally shaggy dog stories  (despite the fact that I dislike dogs)

Finally, back to my late Mam who was always warning me about mixing with the wrong sort of people and thereby bringing shame on the family well I did and have done consistently so.

The COYSDC community are definitely a rum lot and despite the fact that they are allegedly managed by a  self serving clique of post imperial Englishmen (sorry there is a token Scot)  I shall stay with them

So if this has been a bit preachy I apologise  -  don't take me too seriously or yourselves.

OldPete

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