Well this all started about a week ago on a popular "bear" chat and information site.
On this site their is a feature that randomly selects a paying member of the site and makes them the "star" of the day. This essentially will show your profile pic for a few minutes outside of your region to all members.
My profile mentioned (I have since had my profile deleted.) my HIV status.
Among many very complimentary replies to my profile I received one very nasty message. I do not know this person and have never had any interactions at all with this person before this unprovoked message basically stating that I should be punched and am a loser with AIDS! I unfortunately did not save the first message and responded back with, "we are all entitled to our own opinions."
Here is where the adventure begins and is documented with saved screen shots.
Message 2 received from Italcub973
(The text in green is my response.)
I didn't reply back but I also won't lie, this hurt me a lot! I fully understand the stigmas associated with being HIV positive but choose to not lie about my status just to be liked.
I posted this image as one of my profile pictures so everyone could see what kind of person Italcub973 is.
Today Saturday 10/03/2009 I get this message from Italcub973
It appears that Italcub973 did not like that I chose to share his words of wisdom with me with other members of the site. I did not reply back, I moved on from the previous week and wasn't going to succumb to troll bait a second time. I do have to wonder what provoked him to review my profile again? I did get many positive responses from members applauding my decision to post his well thought out response, maybe some chose to directly contact Italcub973, I dunno.
Well, not only did I receive the above message from Italcub973 but also this message from the site webmaster!
(Once again my response is the green text)
The text to the right side of the screen is my complete response to the webmaster as I couldn't capture the entire reply box all in one image. I do have seperate screen shots of continued text just for my records though.
I sent this reply back to the webmaster as shown above in disbelief that I am being treated as the one doing something wrong. I at this point also requested that he cancel my membership as this is complete BS! (BTW, Italcub973's profile still is active on the site as I am writing this.)
Finally, the webmaster replies back to me, very diplomatically I may add but totally way off mark in my opinion as seen below.
As of now, my profile on this site is gone. I will be sending this link to friends and I welcome all to forward it and let it be known that this site apparently cares more about making money than doing what is right.
This italian character definitely has issues and he needs to sort them out on his own. He must be a really lonely person to make such comments. That's uncool.
ReplyDeleteItaliancub is the least of my worries here..There are many idiots out there that think their should be a Stigma attached to HIV infection. What pisses me off here is Buddy Bear making thousands of dollars a month on the backs of the Gay Community and not giving a damn about taking a stand for the WHOLE community. It is all Greed !!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly the point butchftl!
ReplyDeleteYet another reason to leave Ber411. I really wish more of my friends would use some of the other chat sites that are out there. i have had numerous friends try to get a profile on that site, and were never approved. They were typically chaser types, and apparently didn't meet his guidelines. Such a shame to have such a large impact in the bear community, and then be a jerk about it.
ReplyDeleteDeleted my Bear411 profile today and linked to your story on Facebook. The entire bear community deserves better.
ReplyDeleteI got into a big fight with this guy during the 2008 election campaign. He seemed normal but once it turned to politics it turned ugly. The usual Fox news claptrap - Obama is an arab out to destroy the country, plus the racist stuff. That was it for me!
ReplyDeleteDo you mind if I add a link to this from my master link list located here:
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.onlinebryant.com/2007/12/roughly-chronologically-that-link-post.html
?
Hey Sultmhoor,
ReplyDeletePlease add the link, id appreciate it.
I used to chat with that italian guy too, he snapped on me for NO REASON whatsoever. I couldn't believe it either. His ass should be thrown off bear411. All I did was block him though and that was the end of it. He's was then and will always be an idiot! Don't leave B411 cause of him dude... if Greg threw him off of there anyway, he would just come back with a new profile anyway and start his shit all over again.
ReplyDeleteBear411 allows you to block people that you do not want to have contact with. You chose to engage the guy who provoked you and then you drug the webmaster into it. The webmaster did what he was supposed to do. He said... the rules say don't discuss this and you both discussed it. Rules are made for a reason.
ReplyDeleteThe worst thing about this drama is that you have drug one of my friends into it and caused him to delete his profile.
Bear411 is a vibrant, active and wonderful community. Why would you deny yourself access to this benefit because of your poor decision making? You chose to engage an idiot who provoked you. Dumb move.
RULE #1 Do not engage anyone who comes at you from a place of hate. They will only anger you and make you crazy.
RULE #2 When you find yourself in a place of love, patience, tolerance and understanding and with time on your hands, then, armed with these shields, go ahead and engage the idiot enemy.
So, please. Keep your Bear411 profile because you enjoy using it. If you don't enjoy using it, ditch it. But GOOD GRIEF don't fall for this stupid drama. WE as a COMMUNITY have much LARGER issues to deal with. It's time for us all to grow up and quit being little boys.
Hoping you are doing better today.
ReplyDeletemiss'in you, Pooh..