Hello Jenn,
Welcome to KA! I've noticed that in this thread and the one where this was originally posted, you've already met a couple other members of the site's admin team, mig and Dragon Slayer (John). While I'm late to the party, let me also add my name to that list and along the way apologize for taking so long to say hello. I try to say hi to new members when I notice one of their first posts, but this past week or two I have definitely slipped in that regard while trying to keep up with the seemingly constant chaos in my own life. (Hmmm....now that I think about it, there is a chance that you added a comment to an earlier thread where I made one of my trademark rambling replies to another new member . . . I hope that really happened and isn't a figment of my imagination, as that would mean I did already manage to say "hello" to you in at least an abstract way! Accurate memory or no, now I've said that hello in a very concrete way!
)
As soon as I this post where it first appeared (which was just a few minutes ago), my first thought was, "Whoa! She wanted to see more responses, she's going to see more responses!" Lo and behold, I was right! What I am very glad to see--although I should not really be surprised--is that pretty much every response took your post in the spirit it was intended and let it serve as the gentle kick in the pants that we all need from time to time. It is so easy to get caught up reading all the great information here at KA that sometimes we all forget to be as giving with our time as we always hope others will be whenever we take the time to post ourselves. In other words, sometimes we all forget to "Do unto others . . . " I know that I can be as guilty of this as the next person, and as I already mentioned, the last couple weeks have found me posting far less thank I generally like to, which I'll try to correct.
That said, I also noticed with pride that a couple of members found the correct way to let you know that just because it seems as if so many more people are reading your posts than take the time to respond, looks can be deceiving. Mig made a great point about the number of "reads" being kind of artificially inflated because of people going back to read each new post as it gets added to a thread they already started reading (and maybe even commented on during an earlier visit). And Beth, a fellow new member (I'm getting to you next Beth!) made a terrific point about how some folks just don't always feel comfortable expressing themselved in writing. Now, to me, that is the most foreign concept in the world! See, I worked in publishing for 21 years, and when I sit down to write a post, the words just seem to flow across my screen. I've always been a good reader and writer, right back to the days in 1st grade when I burned through all the reading materials in our school (which housed K-5th grade), and when my career forced me to become close to a 100 wpm typist . . . well, let's just say that I bet you could start a betting pool here at KA laying odds on how many words I can type here before my keyboard literally blows up!
So, as I merrily type my way from response to response, I often do forget myself that a ot of people have not had nearly the experience I have when it comes to stringing words together for public consumption. In fact, I bet if you asked, many folks here would tell you they would feel more comfortable wearing pork chop underwear in a den of lions than they would typing out a response in a public forum! And believe me,
NOBODY wants to get caught wearing those aforementioned skivvies, so just imagine how much dread they feel when they face the keyboard!
Finally, as you have already noted in your post, at any given time, quite a few of our AS kickin' brothers and sisters are really, really struggling with the problems they are facing from both AS and life in general. Even as we speak, there are some truly, truly wonderful members who normally make dozens of posts every month (each one seemingly nicer than the last!) who are simply being forced to look inward right now because of the obstacles in their path. This is a real shame, too, as the folks I'm thinking of are especially adept at welcoming newcomers such as yourself; we are all left a bit poorer in their abscence. Because every single member of this great site will, unfortunately, almost certainly face such down periods during their time here, I am always thrilled whenever new members such as yourself join in and begin posting away. I firmly believe that for every member who only lurks or posts from time to time, KA is blessed with another member whose number of posts seem to increase in increments of 10 or 100, not one. That view makes me a bit of a Pollyanna when it comes to this topic, I know, but that's ok--I'm a firm believer in karmic balance, and believing that our prolific posters balance out our lovable lurkers is a prime example of that!
OK, so even though I was kind of forcing the cure and clever side of things in that last paragraph, the core message is one that is SO important to remember during your days at KA. Whether you end up staying at KA for one month or 10 years, try to avoid falling into the "gee, my post only got X responses," trap, as it will only frustrate you and lead to negative feelings that will sidetrack you from your real reason for being here. Instead, savor the responses you do receive whenever you make a post of your own, and revel in the knowledge and beauty that you will find SO often in other threads, often in the most unlikely locations. Also--and this is important--if there is ever, and I do mean
EVER a time that you absolutely need more help than you received when you made a post that asked for assistance, do NOT hesitate to make a post a second time in the main forum. If you ever have to do that, go ahead and use all caps when you type out your subject line, which should be as blunt and direct as you need to be at that moment. Something along the lines of "THIS IS A REPOST, BUT I REALLY NEED EVERYONE'S HELP" should get the job done. Believe me, this won't offend anyone because--as I've tried to explain in this post--there are dozens, if not hundreds, of very good reasons why a post might not get many responses the first time around. As you've pointed out, the very raison d'etre of KA is to provide Kindness, Information, Compassion and Knowledge to those with AS, a mission that must be met even if you occassionally have to bop folks over the heads with the typed equivalent of a big foam bat to ensure that it is!
On to respond to a few other new members before going to bed! Once again, welcome to KA Jenn, and thanks for bringing up an important topic.
Brad
