One Last Goodbye

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 2:28am

I, Charles Bauer "SumOfAllThings", am going into retirement. My retirement is called because of abuse of power, censorship, deletion and mistrust. It feels great to have posted here. It feels better to have hopefully made a difference. Question, always question!!! Thanks for listening and read on! -Charles Bauer "SumOfAllThings"

***Flowery please make this a new thread. Thanks babe! I owe you one!***



I met Namo 2 years ago at Broadway.com and we instantly became friends. Flash forward a year and we're here. Jose is ridiculing and bringing down one of my closest online friends and mentors. I can't stand for that. So I defend Namo and soon Jose and I have battles in the chat rooms never anything serious. Last night I said "Good evening" he said "Well this is a change from last time when you called me an ass" I said "Well it still stands that you are an ass but I am a gentleman and will greet you as one" it went downhill from there.

Soon I posted in the Halloween thread "I will be going as Jose" it was deleted. This infuriated me. I have never had a problem with any mods, I have never had a post deleted, I have never been warned and I have said far worse things. My post fell completely within the guidelines. So several of my chat room friends posted similar things and soon enough those were gone. Eventually the entire thread was gone.

I had never felt so censored and helpless. Unable to say anything to anybody except on chat or through PM's. Jose' could control what I said. It was obvious my time had come.

I decided to leave with no ill feelings. I hope that people take note of this and I've been telling people who PMed me: Question, always question. Censorship within the guidelines will NOT STAND. A moderator who uses personal grudges against another poster is not a moderator at all.

Remember: QUESTION ALWAYS QUESTION. Keep an eye on Jose. Do not forget what it feels like to be censored. This is my official story that you should share if people ask you. Share it with people in the chatroom or post on the board. Tell the story. Otherwise me leaving has no meaning whatsoever.

Please remember:

Have fun, drive safely and please for heavens sake STAY OFF DRUGS.

-Charles Bauer

Updated On: 8/17/04 at 02:28 AM

[CJR]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 2:31am

Amen to that

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 2:33am

Still goin to miss ya sum.

[Broadwaybaby614]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 2:36am

I still think it's you-know-what.

But oh well.

Goodbye, Sum...

Posted: 8/17/04 at 2:38am

Even after having watched all of this unfold, I still don't understand why this is the only recourse - there have got to be other options.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 2:39am

I'll miss you Sum.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 2:39am

I love ya, Sum. You will be greatly missed.

[amasis]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 3:36am

I agree with DGrant. True, there may be some parts of the story that are not being shared here, but from what I've seen posted on the board so far I can't help but think that there must've been other things to first try before leaving.

Well, Sum, I lurked for a long, long time before I even registered on this board (and it took me even longer to start posting), so even though we've never interacted I just want to say that I enjoyed many of your posts very much. If you decide to only take a sabbatical instead of retiring completely, I'm sure many on this board will be very happy. Just look at the uproar your leaving has caused! .

[midtowngym]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 9:01am

Dear Lord, I haven't seen a parting so dramatic since Rent...

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 9:05am

without you........

We'll miss you Sum.
I promise to drive safely and stay off drugs.
And take everything with a grain of salt.

xoxo

[Matt_G]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 9:10am

I jumped over the moon.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 9:19am

It's funny about my online friendship with Sum. He and I are complete opposites politically and we did indeed begin our online interactions in the form of sparring on Broadway.com but out of that was forged a real respect, based on the fact that we both really liked each other's sense of humor and if nothing else completely related to the levels of seriousness at which we held our beliefs. He made me literally LOL and that's really saying something in a digital universe in which every other Tom, Dick and Harriet types out those letters at the end of every other sentence LOL. See what I mean?

Anyway, it's good to know that Rob's door is always open, even metaphorically. I was really tenacious the time the "substitute teacher" (she covers when Mr. Rob and Mr. Craig aren't here) kept deleting my responses to him in a thread in which we both were giving as good as we got. (Well, no, that's not true, I was giving better, as you can imagine.) But the power balance is different when one "writer" has a deletion key. And that's fine, there are power imbalances throughout life. But really, he was just doing it to get my goat and it was pretty clear that he was hoping I would think Rob and Craig, the actual moderators, were deleting me.

But like Joan Crawford, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday and this wasn't my first time at the rodeo. And I kept reposting my message as an expression of "Don't fudge with me, fella."

I'm sorry Sum's gone because when I took my sabbatical I did check in on the threads about once a week and his posts were so damn funny. He had no need to write LOL like a laugh track in a bad sitcom. He was comedy gold.

I hope he comes back too. And clearly, the part time volunteer moderator will most likely be moderated himself now, too.

(Sum, if you're reading this, your QUESTION ALWAYS QUESTION reminds me of a sticker on the back of the guitar of my late hero, Joe Strummer of The Clash! You honorary lefty you!)

Updated On: 8/17/04 at 09:19 AM

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 9:54am

Who will tell me to stay off drugs?
I feel myself slipping already.
I'll be in rehab kicking it with an Olsen twin and a Bush twin by the end of the week.

[robbiej]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 10:29am

Sobriety is overrated.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 10:33am

and you're basing that assessment on what, robbie, cuz i know it ain't personal expdrience.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 10:41am

I'll be in rehab kicking it with an Olsen twin and a Bush twin by the end of the week.
That's hot.

Oh... you said K-icking.

[robbiej]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 10:44am

I was sober for exactly 14 hours once.

Too much clarity can be soul-destroying.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 10:45am

14 hours straight?

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 10:51am

Straight?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 1:00pm

Let us all know your new screen name when you re-join so we all know it's you.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 1:03pm

I think we'll all know anyway. His style is unmistakeable.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 1:35pm

Not exactly what I meant, but okay...

[Nina]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 1:43pm

FF, Sweetie the best way to stay off drugs is remain so drunk that you're unable to get to the pharmacy to fill the prescription. That's how I kicked the addiction to sleeping pills.

[BroadwayMonkey]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 2:16pm

Oh, God. I'm so depressed. After that great story he told us about censorship at Broadway.com that night, too....

[ponine24601]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 4:44pm

oh this stinks. i'm going to miss him!