General Chat

Very good post Sue , and I also agree with what you have said . I too have made some very good cyber friends and have also met a few who were brill , as for these boards , I just consider it pointless posting now for reasons I will let Gr know before I leave .

Twizzle

Oh no - I just popped on for the first time in ages to see how things were but it sounds as though they are very much as they were last time I looked:( I obviously have no idea what's been going on but, whatever it was, it obviously wasn't pleasant.

Words fail me:(

Hi Shimms

I'm dry now hun, but my hair goes frizzy when it gets wet and I only washed it this morning,

Hi WW nice to meet you don't think we've spoken before............

Barbara x

Barbara hun, sorry ... am zooming round... hoping you're nice and dry now, tis a strange day here ... sunshine and showers.

xxx

hi Alko, how are you x

Interesting post, Sue - I think I agreed with most of it I was reading it. I don't know if I have good instincts or if I'm just lucky but I can't think of any really good cyber mates on any site who have let me down or not been the person I thought.

I've also had a rethink about things in the last week or so and I do feel more cautious about people I don't know - sad really but it's the way it goes.

Hi Ann, Hi Shimms

Have just popped over to the post office and got soaked, I am so fed up of the rain, think I need a holiday.

Barbara x

Hi Barbara, nice to meet you xx

Ann my friend, thank you xxx

Hi Barbara hun xxx

Shimmer that is nice.

Barbara, hello, nice to speak to you.

Ann
Glos

For me there is no difference, all are now important in my life, as Alko my little sister says, we accept each other for who we are.

Am so smiling, we met for the first time a week ago on Saturday, Daisy too .... twas exactly as it is here, except our hugs were for real and they were wonderful.

xxx

Hello everyone

As a lot of you know, I made a bad start on here, but I have kept my head down for the last six weeks and have missed a lot of what has gone on, but I would like to say on this thread, I apologise if I have upset anyone on here, and would like to make a fresh start because when my OH was ill, I received a lot of support on here and it really helped me at the time I needed it.
So HELLO everyone, my name is Barbara............

x

I have met many friends and family on here, who i care deeply about, and they me, they dont care what im wearing or look like, they love me for me, as i do them xx

And I am sure Sue that there are many people on Genes who have this site to thank for the company and support they receive from people on here. it iis not all gloom and doom is it?

Ann
glos

Thank you folks.

Yes sometimes cyber friends can be as true friends as those who live nearby. I have gained friends all over the world through the Internet and there have been times when they have helped me and when I have done my best to help them.

It reminded me of the time a few years ago when my younger daughter was on her way to New York on a college trip. She was crossing the Atlantic and we were following her progress online.

Suddenly the plane details altered and it looked as if her plane had been redirected. There were severe snow storms going on in the USA at the time so we were a little concerned.

I belong to a large online artists' group and I sent a message off topic asking if anyone in the area of Ohio (where it looked as if she was heading) could tell me what the weather was like there and what was going on.

Within minutes kind friends had phoned the airline over there and discovered exactly where my daughter had landed safely and even found me the name of the hotel where she'd be staying.

When she phoned later and said "Guess where I am" I was able to tell her exactly!

In my turn over the years I have kept an online friend company who was trapped in her own home by panic attacks and my husband has sent the makings of a gadget to a friend online who couldn't do it herself.
I had the sad job recently of disposing of all the artwork and art equipment of an Internet friend whom I never met in person but whose last wishes were that I would sort them and sell it all for her chosen charities.

The Internet is a truly enriching thing but we must be careful. You wouldn't open your door to complete strangers without finding out a bit about them and using the Internet safely is similar.

Sue
x

Can I also add, well said Gwynne.

Ann
Glos

That was well thought out and written, Sue
Another Sue x

Thank you Sue

I am glad someone can put into words how so many of us really feel

Linda :o)

MY ONCE CYBER FRIEND STU,IS NOW
MY BEST MATE,,2 YEARS CYBER
PLUS 2 YEARS REAL
IT CAN AN DOSE WORK

Excellent words, Sue.

I'm lucky enough to have made real world friends from initial contact on here and elsewhere on the web. I'm also lucky enough to have met most of them.

They have helped me through some difficult times in the last 2 years and I hope I've been able to support them.

One I haven't met, but hope to some day, was incredibly kind when my Dad died in March and I was able to use him as a sounding board when we were planning the funeral and, later, the memorial service. He really was my Bridge Over Troubled Water. I won't embarrass him by naming him and he isn't universally liked but he was a true friend to me.

Cyber friends here and elsewhere have been every bit as supportive as my "real world" friends in times of trouble. It's my belief that you can never have enough friends. Not all of them get on with each other but that doesn't matter. I'm grateful for the kindness shown to me.

When the recent "unpleasantness" erupted a cyber friend said the trouble with me is I'm "too nice". Actually, I'm not that nice, although I try to be a lot of the time, but that's beside the point.

What's wrong with being nice, kind and compassionate? They are qualities I admire in people but to some they are reasons for contempt.

It's a funny old world.

Gwynne