From: Stephenie Baas <[log in to unmask]> I always though that ferret people all over the world were special. People who cared for their ferrets and each other. Please people stop and look at what we are becoming. Not people who love their ferrets but a bunch of bickering ninnies, having said this. You may flame me all you want, because in Holland we have the right to speak our mind and we accept the consequences. Meaning simply that I will just not respond to flames Hi Stephenie, I rarely post anymore, but thought this was worth it. I agree with you about bickering ninnies (that phrase made me chuckle) - not that everyone fits that description but some do (IMO). I disagree that ferret people are special. They are not any more special than dog people or bird people or horse people or reptile people or rabbit people or..... I've been on various animal-related lists and forums since the early days of USENET, and I can say with some certainty that people on lists are basically people - that is, selfish and caring and vindictive and loving and hateful and kind and.... the list goes on. People who form online groups out of love for a particular animal species do seem to be more prone to nastiness when it comes to disagreeing with each other, maybe because the object of disagreement is a living being that is deeply cared for. I can't say for sure, not having been on a car list, or coin collecting list, for example, whether those types of groups experience the same level of nastiness or not. My hypothesis is "not", but perhaps others will have direct experiences to contradict that. The point is that people forget that the human on the other end of the computer network is also a living being that deserves at least the same level of respect and care as the animals the list was created to talk about. Oh well, back to lurking. Karen [Posted in FML 5491]