The Barrio, the verdict is in

Victor! to some, it is a business. To others it is an enjoyable, way of life. That is the Truth of it.

 

Tony and newcomer Derail, The forum has gone through a lot of changes in the last 12 months, people come and go, some stay silent unless they have something to add, in the case of the Barrio, Tony correct me if I am wrong you contributed. Quite a number of members including myself haven't got a clue what's been going on, so we stay silent.
One point I will make and that is, If Larry and his dear wife are falling out over all that's gone on, I would stand with Rony and say forget it, it's not worth breaking our marriage up over what other people have said or done.....This forum really was good and it would be ashame if they do close it. Maybe having the freedom to say what you like or do, does come at a price after all. JB

 

We are all different but can live together for our collective benefit.

I was lucky, in that I greatly limited my posting on here due to two issues so I have not posted much lately. Partially I made a decision, that I was tired of seeing some of the many attacks on each other (primarily in the barrio). I followed lLarry’s advice regarding the barrio, and decided if I did not like it then I should not read it while deciding to limit my visits to forum to only a couple of days a week instead of a couple times a day. Luckily I missed the barrio train crash by that decision not to re-sign up on the new barrio train when the password changed. That was a decision on my part. I preferred the "vanilla" edition of the forum which seems to deal more in helpful information instead of hurtful attacks on people or ideologies. This lucky decision left me in the dark, and safe from of the problems when the barrio imploded here. The decision was based on my thinking that I was tired of reading negative comments about people, nations etc on the barrio. If I want to deal with that type that world, there are plenty of drinking palaces here that seem to specialize in this type of discussions for those who want them. Those places also even offer liquid courage, which may maybe better than anonymous posts. Luckily all of those type of places are outside of my hearing zone.I prefer a more positive world however I do like the lively discussions, information, and even the friendly humor and barbs that are often found on the forum.

The second reason is because my internet provider (name not provided here for obvious reason now) has given me marginal service in the last 30 days. Mostly I wake in the middle of the night to use my internet, just like with this post at 3 AM. It is just one of the issues we are all aware of when we live in a fifth world country.

Lastly (almost lastly) I would like to say we are primarily Foreigners. That does not mean we are all the same. We are just not as much alike as all the Filipinos here. We are from many different cultures and political systems. We will agree and we will disagree, that is life. We even disagreed when we are in our native countries, so why expect anything different here. However the problems her seem to come from unwarranted and unsupported judgments without facts, followed by mis-guided posts or attack statements. To think that the barrios was secure from the scrutiny of the world was naive. We should all act like gentlemen (and ladies) on here (you remember like when your mother was looking over your shoulder when you were a kid) . A little more tolerance of each other, while taking things less personal, followed by questioning whether someone else's thinking or approach may just have some value to improve our own lives may help us as a group may be cohesive. I do believe that tolerance includes not posting continuous pseudo-criticism of someone’s ideas and beliefs even if they are in conflict with your own. If you are strong and confident in your own beliefs then you should realize those beliefs will someday predominate the world without your own efforts on forcing them on the members of the forum. Sometimes a belief may work perfect for one culture or environment and fail in another, ie: Try selling freezers in the arctic. One college professor of mine said "you can kill people, but you can not kill beliefs" so maybe it is time to give up fighting the various different beliefs on the forum that will most likely never perish.

Regarding Larry and Rony's concerns: . I was president of my own professional service corporation in my own country for over 40 years. There was more than once on my ride way home after a long day at the office that I would either "fire" myself for poor performance that day, or "resign" from frustration, but I would never give up the challenges and education that the business provided me in life... So I know the headaches that Rony and Larry are facing... having a business is not easy or painless at times. Those that told me that I was lucky to have my own business because I had more free times, always made me laugh. Ownership comes with a lot of responsibilities to many others, and Rony and Larry should be applauded to for their efforts, and maybe handed a beer to sooth the pain of the day. I support what they have attempted to do with the forum, even it that may have included some missteps. I do believe the forum is being molded into a better place to get information and give ideas and has value to the community.

Anyone who has never made a misstep, please contact me immediately so you can give men better guidance tomorrow with my daily decisions as I make missteps every day myself. Thanks

 

To avoid "missteps", don't get out of bed...

 

I have to be completely honest that I did not follow the stuff in the barrio, sometimes a good read but mostly I'm busy.

I guess things got heated when someone decided to send something to a paper about expats...who cares? Opinions are like...well you know.

I've said before that I like the forum, it has been such an invaluable source of info and I hope I've have contributed a bit as well (with my limited experience). I've only had the chance to meet a few members personally but look forward to meeting a few more.

There is a wealth of hands on info (I see the expats when I go to Dumaguete to pick up some materials) so there are a number of folks living/building here...

This is only my opinion;

Shawn