<font color="blue">I've read and reread this thread. I've been speechless. I've delayed responding until now, because I wanted to post something meaningful... really meaningful. I hope I achieved that.

While IMO there have been members here that are capable of such a thing, perhaps this is a good reason to reconsider whether just anyone can read the forums, without having to join? If not all the forums, then some of them? DocJohn, to me it's important to continue to hear from you about this event. I greatly appreciate your beginning the thread.

WI I know you really did do your homework on getting a dog... I know it was a real consideration for you, and remember the thread where we at PC posted and bandied about all the different aspects of it. I felt you came out with a good solution. IDK but if there were members here willing to write a reference for you to give to the doggie people, would that help? Or are you totally forgetting them? If only their feelings were hurt, they might reconsider after a good -ahem- boot shining. To be able to mend some of that would certainly help you in this. IMO it's worth a bit of effort, if and when you can.

But the trust issue has been reevaluated here, by all of us who have experienced this and consider trust important. BTW Right at the time this was happening, it turns out, I was considering sharing more about myself. I felt bad vibes and decided against it. I am so glad I made the decision I did. That is sad, though.

We expect this from other sites. Perhaps we all lowered our shields a bit here, expecting everyone to adhere to the gentleman's agreement; not everyone is a gentleman. Such an act tends to cause all sorts of imaginations to be created in the mind. The ideas swing from the query if something can be done to the person by the ISP for breach of internet agreement, to the feeling of being personally victimized, by proxy if nothing else.

IMO the truth bears out what we have generally forgotten. The internet exists in the real virtual world. In that world are those *****mongers who go about feeding upon the weaker of the species. We have survived them before, IRL and here. We may have taken a few steps back, needing to calm ourselves and perform self-care cpr, and will move forward more cautiously. PC will band together, this will make us stronger because it has made us wiser. Our friendships here will now be developed more fully. We will put forth more effort into learning about each other, and we will we will survive this, too.
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