I, for one, don't know where this website would be without............

Yes, nonu You strike me as robust as well. Three cheers for robustness!

Bags , [flowers ] no , they are not from the shell filling station . You will miss me when I am away , or perhaps you won"t ! tee hee

it relly ticks me off when my emoticons don"t appear , I do it all right as well .

Have fun on your hols, nonu. If you can't get on GN while you're away, I'll look forward to hearing about it when you return. Thanks for the flowers.

There's a space between the s of flowers and the ]

That's why it didn't work

Here are some for you

I don't know who's being told off on some of these posts, me or Bags.

It's bound to be one or the other of us.

I am farirly certain religion will NOT be on the menu at Birmingham!! But I am looking forward to lunch, good company, and maybe some I hope?
Regarding contentious issues- we all have the choice to rise to the bait (it bait it is) to defend our views or, sometimes , to leave it if getting het up is more likely to distress us. Am I being a wimp? Possibly, but when discussions are carried out in writing and possibly with a time lapse, it can be easy to misinterpret or take offence where none is intended. Some of us enjoy a good old ding-dong, and others don't - TG we are all different!

Thanks B . you musn"t get paranoid JO , you know full well butter wouldn"t melt with either of u.

Don't worry about it, jings. I don't. The constant complaining is just childish. The choice is join in the debate (robust discussion) or don't. If one doesn't join in one's opinions, however gently or robustly expressed, can't be questioned/attacked (insert preferred word). Therefore, logically, no problem. If one does join in, and people disagree with you, then they have every right to say so, as robustly as they wish.

The complaints are fairly robust. Kettle. Pot. Black.

gracesmum has a different style from me, but she's saying pretty much the same thing in this instance.

That's right Nonu.

gracesmum

XXXXXXXXX to all , I am in good humours , will it last ?

That's right too Bags.

Note: the full stop came at the end of the sentence. not after the emoticon.

I could have put, "that's right too Bags full stop. But that wouldn't look right.

I could have just put, "that's right too Bags and left the emoticon to be the full stop, but it wouldn't look tidy full stop.

I'm sometimes of the opinion that a few people on Gransnet feel that if they don't share an interest or a belief others may have then it really isn't worth bothering with. I say this because recently on one of the Ancestry threads, one of my hobbies, someone posted "am I the only one not interested in where I've come from". There are a lot of threads on Gransnet regarding all sorts of different activities, some of which wouldn't necessarily interest me. However, I don't see the point of of going on "hobby" type thread, which doesn't invite an opinion and posting a random comment, for example "embroidery doesn't interest me" because I imagine for those that love doing it they wouldn't really care and it kinds of smacks of "if I'm not interested why should you be" Similarly, I don't feel anyone should have to bend over backwards to defend their religious beliefs, atheist beliefs, politics or for that matter the daily papers they read. We have all arrived where we are at in life with different life experiences and different baggage which will have no doubt shaped our opinions. We are not therefore going to reach the same conclusions about the many subjects that are thrown up on Gransnet.

Respect Helmar for standing up for your beliefs. I think we can have hearty discussions about religion and other things even if we don't agree with each other. You will have lots in common on other levels, I am sure.

baNANA Tell that to the people who don't read the Daily Mail!!

baNANA well said

banana, well said. There are no 'shoulds' on gransnet. Just freedom for everyone to say their piece in their own way.

baNANA - exactly

Ella I think a few of us who do read the DM are most vociferous about our frustration with its contents, although to get things in perspective there's plenty of other newspapers that we read that don't let the truth get in the way of a good story, as well!

Who mentioned the DM!!

Thank you all for your comments. When i came back on to Gransnet and saw there had been so many responses, i was a bit nervous about reading them.
I am looking forward to the meet up and as you say, we will probably not be talking about religion -
It is an important part of my life and i am not afraid to say so.
I suppose some comments are made with the intention to provoke a reaction and i will have to try to avoid those threads.
Most people on here seem lovely and im sure once i have met you i will feel a lot more confident about posting - I may have to go out and buy myself a Broomstick!

Helmar I am looking forward to meeting you on 6th October.

baNANA I have often wondered about this (posting on threads to say you have no interest) myself. I am also bemused by posters who rush onto a thread to say 'I know nothing (or very little) about this topic BUT..... and then make a comment which only serves to prove that, indeed they do not know what they are talking about! Some posters seem to think that membership of Gransnet requires them to contribute something to every thread.

Disclaimer: I do not include in this 'bemusement' the many kind posters, who whilst admitting their lack of knowledge, simply come on to offer a few words of sympathy or support. I am sure that type of post is much appreciated.