Hiatus Interruptus - Cheers and Jeers is back

By Bob Henry

ThatsRacin.com Editor

Color me amazed. No, make that Amazed Silver Metalflake with 16 primer coats of flat brown.

The headline, we hope, will ease many of the irrational-sounding fears about the future of the Cheers and Jeers contributions at ThatsRacin.com. But maybe not.

I’m amazed at how many of you have made the transition - and how easily you seem to have done so - from “hiatus” to “termination.” Maybe it’s just as part of how the Internet has changed our lives. People who don’t particularly care to wait no longer have to wait. The very second the urge to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater or blog comes to mind, you can go right ahead and yell it.

And I’m amazed at how routinely some of you can fire off an angry e-mail, demanding to know the rationale – nay, every nuance – of the decision-making process at a company that does not employ you. How does that approach succeed for you where you work?

When you were passed over for a promotion, were you able to send an outraged e-mail to the CEO or general manager, demanding to know what the hell he or she was thinking? Or the last time you got a divorce, were you successful in getting all of the information you demanded from your Ex’s attorney?

Didn’t think so.

So why do some people seem to think e-mails or blog comments – even nasty ones that have already made the headlong leap off the summit of Mount Conclusion – will be any different?

I’m amazed by some of the invective directed my way. Doesn’t hurt my feelings, but the irrational nature of some of it is totally beyond weird. Be sure and say hello for us when you next communicate with those alien spacecraft three galaxies away, will you?

Turning away briefly from amazement, I suppose I should be content that, at least, you didn’t ridicule the myriad flaws in my golf game or say anything negative about my dogs. I know they love me in spite of everything I might do or you might say. And when you start bad-mouthing my puppies the way you have me over the last couple of days, that’s when I get will mad.

Like I said, right now I’m still just amazed.

Face it: Your outrage makes it difficult for any of us to take your concerns as seriously as you might like.

And even if we aren’t going to invite each and every one of you into the office to help us chart our course – and what business would? – might I suggest that some of you just calm down a little bit?

It would be neat to try and turn this into a story of an outraged writer and her fans working themselves into a frenzy and winning out over evil, but it’s hardly that.

We have had some things come up. Nothing more or less. People will, from time to time, disagree. That will happen at work. Happens with lovers and families all the time. And, sure, it’s annoying to see one view of our family business spread about in such a casual and cavalier way.

But everyone has his or her own ethical barometer. And with the Internet, sometimes people don’t allow themselves time to reflect on their actions. They mash the button and there it is.

But, here are a couple of things that have been sadly missing amid all of the the wailings, some facts. The writer remains under contract with our company. The people who run the site have done precisely what they said they would do in the editor’s note posted on Monday: They have interrupted the writer’s musings long enough to carefully consider where to best display them.

As the note also suggested, blog comments have been a concern. Oh, and thanks again to so many of you for driving those concerns home so articulately since the hiatus note went up. Special thanks, of course, would be due to Veronica, Eric and others who – for whatever reasons – don’t use their real names and e-mail addresses in their correspondence.

Is it easier to yell “Fire” if you think you’re doing it anonymously?

We can not spend any more time than we already do in policing the comments on this writer’s contributions. It just isn’t possible.

So we have moved this much-ballyhooed contribution into a space where we have moderators in place and where the comment function is far better than on the existing blog platform. Many of you have said that the interactivity is important to you and we hear you over the din.

You will need to register to access the contributions and to join in the discussions. It will take about the same amount of time as signing up to post on the old platform.

We hope for your continued participation.