Those who show up get to make the decisions

[Da Klugs]

Life is so multifaceted. We live in complex, interconnected times. Email, Text, cell, wifi it's just soo plugged in. I'm waiting for a new occupation for therapists... text addiction therapy. Heck my wife even texts... though she still asks where in AOL that you boot up Microsoft word. (I love her but she's not a new age gal).

CS reflects the radical changes taking place in the world all around us. More access, more coming and going, less plant a stake and hang in one place kind of mindset. It's a natural process. If you just joined this board you found a great community. Not just a cigar discussion board but a cigar lovers community. The difference may be lost on you today but invest a lil time here, get involved, and the rewards of kinship will become self evident.

There are so many diverse folks here it runs the gauntlet from teenagers posing as college students who have only smoked a gas station cigar to crusty old bastages who have been puffin cigars longer that many here have been out of diapers. There are members who have been here since the boards inception in 1997 that still post and interact. Great kudos to the true FOG.. though some of them are not really very old. The vast majority of folks actively posting are relatively new members. It's exciting and addictive to find a friendly and fun place to interact. In between these two extremes are many folks in different places regarding their experience here. Many of the newer generation of members learn much from this group as they have learned from their predecessors .. and.. are still active here enabling them to share with newer members that which was passed down.

Cigars! Oooh baby the cigars. Beyond age or time on board there is the subject of cigars. It's the cigars that transcend the generational, etc gaps here. Nothing is better than sitting down and smoking a good one with new or old friends at a herf. Provides a common frame of reference and plenty of fodder for discussion afterwards here. There is always going to be differences in folks "supplies". It can be confusing when folks refer to some of the "accumulators" as FOG's. Having a bunch of cigars is different than having long experience and contribution here.

If you occasionally get a lil bummed by someone posting a "the way it was today's version of CS sucks" let it slide off your virtual shoulders. Some are just burnt out past contributors longing for the age when faxing was cool. Others have valid points that may take some time to appreciate. Within the charter set up by PDS, this place can be anything the collective membership chooses to make it by their involvement, so in effect we all make the decision on what CS is and will be by our contributions here. It's impossible for any one of us to float or sink the ship as the ship is composed of each of us.

We are "Club Stogie" is the right way to think of things. There are the way things were, the way things are, and the way things will be here at some point in time. Only those who actively participate now can affect today's version of CS and mold what it will be.

Thank goodness we delete the banter threads though.

[ResIpsa]

Originally Posted by Da Klugs

Thank goodness we delete the banter threads though.

oh no, say it ain't so......not again

[The Professor]

Originally Posted by Da Klugs

Thank goodness we delete the banter threads though.

Amen to that!!!!!

Real nice post, Dave. I've heard various objections from folks who've been on as long or longer than me about how CS has changed, blah blah. Yeah ... duh. Change isn't inherently a bad thing. At the end of the day, though, if there are changes that one feels are counter-productive, it's one's responsibility to the community to model preferred behaviors.

[jcarlton]

Thank you for the inspiring words of wisdom Da Klugs.

[leasingthisspace]

I think that everyone should read this. Thanks Da Klugs for putting into words what we should all know but may have lost track of at sometime.


[SIZE=7]WE ARE CLUB STOGIE.[/SIZE]

[SmokeyNL]

Written very well thank you

[hotreds]

Hear, hear!

[MCM]

tl, dr

[bobarian]

Dave, Thank you for taking time to make such an eloquent post. Your words should resonate though the halls of CS.

[GrtndpwrflOZ]

I am one not to say too many kind words

BUT...

Very well stated.
I was always under the impression that it was this way here at CS.

[kgoings]

Great post!

[galaga]

Hear, hear.















ps. But some know where all "the Mouse's" old posts are buried...

[freakygar]

I would like to know what prompted this post.

Someone complaining or just came to you out of the blue?

[onlyonerm]

Interesting Post.

[KenS]

Well said Dave . Hopefully much of "the way it was" remains, as clearly this board has survived for years with great values. But equally important is accepting some of the different ideas of newer members to help shape the current and future jungle. Just like a good cigar, it's often the special blend that makes the difference.

In the end, it's about the people, and I will continue to value the people I've met here on CS.