Good Morning Friday 20th August 2021

In Marydoll’s support I posted yesterday that it was my friends funeral yesterday which I was unable to go to as it was abroad. I was sad. Not one person acknowledged it. It was like I hadn’t posted and this has happened a lot recently.

GM used to be so supportive but recently it seems that only the select few are supported.
If this is happening to other people as well I can relate to how they are feeling. It is like the school playground where you are deliberately left out of the group.

Perhaps part of the problem is that posting is spread over a long period of time and early posters won’t be commenting unless they pay several visits to a thread. Surely not worth an upset or the derailing of a thread which so many of us value?

I don’t usually look on this forum as I can’t remember everyone’s history but I was curious today because of the date. I am sorry to know about your friend’s passing. You must feel very sad not only because you were not able to visit her/ him for the last year or so but also not being able to be there at their funeral. Thinking of you . Take care.

You are right GrannySomerset it has been a very upsetting week for many of us.
I think we should let this go.
Mick’s thread is indeed a very valuable thread.

No-one is trying to derail the thread, I am not prepared to elaborate and open the proverbial can of worms. That would certainly derail, Mick's lovely thread, which I have no intention of doing.

dragonfly46 I feel sorry that this happened to you yesterday. I am guilty of not responding and it is not because I don't care. I read all the posts that are there before mine and often come back and read the rest. I try to pick out a few on which to comment - ideally different posters to the ones I have noted the day before. It doesn't always work out. I really wish there was a way to make sure nobody feels left out and I think part of the problem is the sheer number of posters on this thread. I just can't come up with a solution. We are anonymous on gransnet but still human and feel bad if we go unacknowledged. I have felt this way too. Wish I knew the answer.

Marydoll we are fine here in Tasmania with no Covid cases for a year or so. The trouble is this makes us very complacent and we forget what others are going through. Our lives here have gone on really as normal and we get used to sanitising hands when entering shops etc.

We now have to use a check in code to enter any commercial premises so have to remember to have my phone with me all the time.

Australia has been absolutely disgraceful in regard to the Covid jabs - less than 30% of the population have been vaccinated and people just will not stop large gatherings etc.

Sydney has been in lockdown for 9 weeks with no end in sight and cases rising daily.

MrF and I had our first jabs Friday as they became available at a local pharmacy. Daughters and sons in law are having/had Phizer but we has AstraZeneca.

I enjoy your posts each day - please keep them coming

Looking back, in 2018, seventeen posts on the GM thread, this one over forty individuals, that’s why it’s difficult to refer to everyone. But it’s also an indication of the popularity of Micks thread, so I don’t know the answer, but will try and stay brief from now on. Apologies if I’ve not acknowledged people in the past.

You are right Jacky the secret is to get up early ?

No one is trying to dictate a narrow pathway for Mick’s thread. I don’t think I suggested that we shouldn’t refer to other posters. I don’t care how long the threads are these days - if they are too long, I simply skip them. I like the essence of the thread as it has always been, but that’s just my preference and it doesn’t have to be anyone else’s. What I was trying to get over was that, occasionally, you will see a poster refer to something another poster has said, when that poster hasn’t yet posted that day, which is confusing, and it is clear that this reference is from comments made on the previous day. If you like, this is when the thread becomes “over conversational” and loses its way. If this was to become a habit, to refer to a previous day to see what someone is talking about, as often happens on other threads, would be tedious in the extreme and certainly would drive people away.

I think the follow on from the previous day comments is what happens in conversation , this Morning thread used to be confined to the one day and was easier to join in , not really expecting a reply , but just a note in passing , I hope everyone just keeps posting , I would hate to lose posters , long or short ,!

I don’t have any problem with long chatty posts, I enjoy reading them and I am not suggesting these type of posts should be changed. Neither am I saying we shouldn’t acknowledge anyone in our posts.
What concerns me is when, sometimes, half a dozen poster’s names are highlighted for a mention only, ignoring the fact that other posters also have worries/concerns they have posted about yet are left wondering why no one seems to care about or acknowledge your worries too. This is when our lovely thread is in danger of becoming cliquey and not the supportive thread for all of us.

Kalu that suggests an all or nothing approach. Either the thread goes back to being what it always was and mentions no-one, which I am not advocating, or, one would have to scrutinise it continually to make sure that no-one is overlooked, which would be virtually impossible to keep up with and it then becomes ponderous, stretching throughout the day and losing the essence of what a “Good morning” thread was supposed to be. I, a bear of very little brain, have no idea what the middle ground would be.

I really enjoy the GM thread and always visit there first.
I don't get any feeling of cliqueiness but rarely post as either I have nothing interesting to report, or I just feel overwhelmed by all the reciprocal conversations and would be mortified to feel that I hadn't given posters appropriate recognition.
In fact, when one poster recently said that she referred to her notes, that did it for me! I gave up all this business minute taking and circulation lists on retirement and it's certainly not anything I want to be doing in retirement!

ixion - Agreed. I'm not a regular poster on any thread but I have read GM thread on occasions and agree with everything you have said, I just can't remember everyone, what they've been up to/what they are doing, not going to 'note-take' so don't want to individualise anyone by responding to some and not others. That for me isn't right.

Grey I have noticed a few times now a poster chooses to highlight and mention, sometimes, 5/6 posters chosen from throughout thread and omits to acknowledging those posters in between who also have worries/news to share. Something which I know, can upset those, not on the list.
As ixion has mentioned, a poster referring to her notes, I’m afraid we have gone way past finding a middle ground sadly.

Greyduster I rarely post on here but do agree with your post I usually skim read and only fully read the posts I find interesting. My bugbear is posters making veiled reference to items that have appeared on another thread without referencing the thread reminds me of the playground where schoolgirls would band together and let others know they had a secret. This is my opinion

There is a reason for my post here, a day later. Some may read it and some will pass it by.

My usual day is waking up late because my sleep pattern has been erratic for many years. I always visit Mick's thread first and usually have about 40 post to read. A very enjoyable hour as I post as well. Yesterday my post was listed just after your's dragonfly42 so I missed it. However, I always drop by at sometime to catch up. Yesterday was different, my catch up, after my post, was reading so many comments about cliques, styles of posting and choice of words used. I wish I had back tracked and seen yours. It sadness me that no one, including myself, gave you any support yesterday. I didn't go back onto the thread again until much later in the day. Such a sad day for you dragonfly42

Yesterday, Scentia, GrandMattie and Jamie talked about why they read and post on here. Their words resonated with me. There are some GNers who live with their DH but family are far away and some have very few, if any friends, that live close by and call regularly. Some GNers live by themselves in a similar situation. I fall into one of the groups. GN has become a lifeline for me, like many. That's one reason why I include sometimes as many as 9 posters (as it was the other week)in my posting. I shouldn't have to explain why I post so many comments but I have. I have explained twice in the past why I make notes whilst reading? I shouldn't have to but I did.

However, I can't understand how the few on this Friday thread can post comments, in such a way, knowing it could and perhaps will upset or anger that person it is directed towards. If that was the intention, then you have succeeded.

When I joined GN 9 months ago, one GNer told me about soop's kitchen. I started to post on there and through recommendation again, I started an almost daily post on Mick's thread. In both places, advice and support is quite often given to each other. I've given and received lots over the months. I am fully aware that the perception of me has changed, with a few GNers, over the past few months here but undeterred I continued to enjoy posting.

I'm not taking a break from all my postings as I'm continuing to read and post on soop's kitchen but I am saying a very sad farewell to Mick's thread.

I am sorry if I have caused offence to anyone by not referring to their news. My memory is rather poor at the moment (depression /stress/ grief). Like others I find solace in this thread. It distracts me and often galvanises me into action. It usually reminds me my burdens are light in comparison to others. I feel a sense of membership. My contributions are rather dull and similar but it is lovely to know other people are thinking of me as they read. Please let's accept people use/take from this thread what they can. Thinking of everyone. x

Muse, I am not even going to dignify this post with a full explanation. I shall keep my own counsel and not engage in a public spat with you. No-one has accused you personally of doing anything.

You are not the only one, who is angry and upset. I have had enough of the situation. I will leave it at that, but I will not be made to feel uncomfortable, posting on a forum which I have posted on for years.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

How sad, I’ll miss your GM posts muse but will catch up in the kitchen. I’m sorry too I missed your post dragonfly, I’m usually an early poster, sometimes skim reading subsequent posts later in the day, when if I do repost, I’ve often taken notes, as there’s a lot to recall.
What a shame that this normally cheery start to the day has come under such scrutiny. I’m always conscious I might offend someone by not referring to them, so maybe not posting at all is better than a sterile few factual lines with no empathy or emotion.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Oh, Marydoll, I’m sorry you have been upset by thoughtless posters. Try not to take it personally… ❤️❤️❤️

As I said, I really don’t care who says what to whom, but my only concern was that if we have posters regularly referencing comments made either on another thread or on previous days on this thread, it will very soon send the thread off course. That’s why I respectfully requested that they try not to do it. That’s all. I really wish I hadn’t raised the matter. I wouldn’t want to see anyone leave the thread, and I have tried to be balanced in my comments, but if I have upset anyone here by what they perceive to be too rigid an attitude, I can only say I’m sorry.