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Suzy5654 said:
Yeah, I felt (& still do ) that many here are already bonded with some of the others. Like some of them respond with the person's real name & not their screen name.


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Suzy, you are so right about how bonding can seem to exclude newcomers when one first arrives. Only a few people know my given name, and I've asked those who know to use it only in PMs. If I wanted my given to be screen name, it would be. Other people don't mind if the given name is used. However, my given is unusual, and I wouldn't want anyone I work with to stumble on to the board and see it and start to wonder . . .

It never occurred to me that using the known given name could seem to shut out newcomers. Thanks for the fresh perspective on that.

Even though I've been here quite a while, with a very long interim of about 20 months when I was not, I can still post and get zip responses. I don't do a lot of PM'ing, and I think that affects the response rate. People with whom I occasionally PM will almost always leave a courtesy acknowledgment.

It's hard not to take it personally, because posting is putting oneself out there and we will come with specific mental health needs. But we have to try.