DesertEyes

We have 70 some thousand registered members. Trying to make _everybody_ happy is physically impossible, besides we're trying to set an example of how _not_ to be a people pleaser.

On any given day we have at least _one_ person in the midst of a suicide, dozens of women in the midst of being physically abused by their spouses, hundreds of people in crisis. That's just the _registered_ members. There's about _twice_ that many who don't register, but they send us emails. Don't forget all the people who lost their spouse, child or close relatvie to this disease, _today_.

I'm not even going to start on the ones who text us on their cell phones from under the bed covers while the drunken spouse is sleeping next to them. Last night I was up till late on the phone with one, I just came home from a meet with another.

So how important is the "thanx" button in the middle of all that human pain? The only reason I stopped to post on this thread is cuz we're trying to "connect" with one of those "under the bed covers" women and I'm waiting for a reply.

And yes, sometimes people have nothing better to do with their lives and come on SR to complain and get in each other's face. That's a major distraction from more pressing issues, but we'll stop and try to keep peace in the schoolyard as much as possible. It's the public forums and the amount of compassion and kindness that are visible there which attracts the lurkers who are in fear for their lives.

I have seen what alcoholism and addiction do to innocent people in real life, other than just me. I have held people while they cry who just lost their loved one, do it at least once a month. I have had injured women stay in my home when the shelters were full, have spent days teaching them how to pay bills, work the sprinklers, check the oil in their car. I have been in the ER again and again and again when they get beat half to death. I've been to the funerals of children.

At least once a month. And there's 70 thousand people here on SR going thru that nightmare.

So what do I think about the thanx button? About people who come to SR and just mouth off at each other? I feel sorry for people who's lives are so small that that is what they spend it on. I hope someday they have some kind of awakening and become a better kind of person, one that is part of the solution instead of a distraction.

Mike
Moderator, SoberRecovery