Deena, this very considerate post of yours is the best possible proof that you shouldn't go away because of a misunderstanding.

I'd say you've fulfilled the spirit of the boards pretty darn well, Deena, so please don't go!

You'll note that we've been a little paranoid since the whole JOSS POSTS thing, and then have these discussions in public, where the people we may be talking about can read them, which is a little weird I know, but anyway.

Deena, please stay. You walked into a weird situation without realizing it. Not your fault. Mieskie was actually being tolerable while you were talking to him, and that's a good thing. Unfortunately, anything he does is going to be viewed with suspicion for awhile.

If it will make this community more comfortable, I will immediately pack my tent and go away. I'm extremely embarrassed at the moment, and, if I didn't think you all deserve a heartfelt apology, would have simply gone away with no explanation.

Dear heavens, no - from all I rememeber reading you've been the soul of courtesy and I really don't think you have anything to worry about other than us being inhospitable.

I'd second what was said before - speaking personally, I'm feeling acutely conscious of the fact that Joss & co may read the threads here, which is why I've had a bit of a hair trigger about some of the stuff on Firefly thread, but there's a lot of YMMV, and I think any humour/personality clashes there are largely my problem which is why I've shut the hell up.

Yes, we try to reign in the natter, but totally don't beat yourself up about it because we all do go off at tangents and get nattery in non-nattery threads. And then someone comes along and says 'Oi, enough with the natter!' and we go 'Oops', and move that conversation over to Natter, or else get back on topic, or whatever.

Seriously, love, you mustn't run away - I mean, I get that you may be feeling upset and like you've done the foot-in-mouth-thing, 'cause I felt like that the other night myself. But please stay. You're very welcome here, and I swear we aren't the unwelcoming baggages you may be thinking right now. Just a little hyper-sensitive because of the publicity we've been getting lately.

I didn't take him as being deliberately offensive, and that could be because I hadn't read anything else of his or because I was very tired when I read the posts - or, who knows, because I tend to try to think the best of everyone.

Props to you. (I don't know that I think he's being deliberately offensive either, fwiw. I have found him offensive, but that's not the same thing & I'm still prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.)

Yes, Deena, please don't leave.

What Nilly said. Being concerned about the community and its members is the surest proof that you belong here.

You know, when I worked on a forum for AOL (please don't throw bottles or gloves at me for that) there was a woman there who made a second name after having made friends of other people through the first. Then, with the second name, she went all over the boards and chatrooms talking about her first name as if it were another person. According to the second persona, the first persona needed an eye-transplant, had many children, was a single mother, had some dread disease, died on the operating table, etc. etc. I believe she got people to send her money, but, whether money or not, she got a lot of sympathy from crying about her poor dear friend who died and whose children she now had in custody. She carried it on for a couple of months, at least. After her deception was uncovered, because she was a one-eyed single mother with a disease (though I don't know how anyone could believe anything after that) many people forgave her for it.

I only tell you all that to let you know that I'm going to explain a little, but only for explanation purposes and not to garner sympathy. I'm not a one-eyed, diseased single mother! I'm actually very blessed and happy and happily married to a wonderful man who thinks I'm charming (I haven't figured that out yet) - and, okay, am a parent to a 17-year-old-rock-musician who believes he knows all there is to know, a 15-month-old-demon spawn who is "charmingly" determined to have her own way in everything, I'm 8 months and counting pregnant with the third child, have a bad back and spend far too much time on the computer or the couch because of it, I'm 39 years old (g-d, I'm old for all this), telecommute part-time so I have little adult interaction, and tend to naive enthusiasms and a delight in escapism. If I didn't want to read bad things about me, I shouldn't have been listening at the door.

Seriously, I don't feel that anyone was mean or unwelcoming. Everyone here has been very kind. Thank you again DX for letting me know I screwed up with the white fonting and giving me the opportunity to fix it. I will always fix my screw ups as soon as possible if at all possible.

I won't go away, though I do hate the taste of foot-in-mouth. Please let me know early if I get too enthusiastic again or make some other mistake and thank you all, again, for being so gracious.

Deena--nice to meet you! And I'm glad you're going to stick around!

I... tend to naive enthusiasms and a delight in escapism.

Heh. You'll fit right in, my girl.

Then, with the second name, she went all over the boards and chatrooms talking about her first name as if it were another person. According to the second persona, the first persona needed an eye-transplant, had many children, was a single mother, had some dread disease, died on the operating table, etc. etc. I believe she got people to send her money, but, whether money or not, she got a lot of sympathy from crying about her poor dear friend who died and whose children she now had in custody.

That's called Munchausen by Internet (whether formally or informally), and it's getting common.