Unfortunately, I was in the car when we went down. I'm looking into why it went south.

Can anyone say "great service"?

GREAT FUCKING SERVICE!

I still had that HostageRocket moment of panic. It's gone now. All better.

FUCKING GREAT SERVICE.

Unfortunately, I was in the car when we went down. I'm looking into why it went south.

It was down?

Seriously. I missed it.

YAY SERVICE.

YAY ANNE.

YAY BUFFISTAS.

that is all.

As to lurkers' voting, I myself would never feel right in voting here because I am not an active participant. I wonder if other lurkers feel that way.

Well, I've voted since there was voting (I may have voted on voting, but I can't remember right now) and while I was still very much a lurker. I'd been reading Bureaucracy pretty consistently because I found the discussion really fascinating and I just saw voting as the logical extension of my interest in the debate and of my still-unspoken love for the community, plus it was nice, safe can't-possibly-make-a-fool-of-myself way of participating. Looking back it does seem a little presumptuous, but I'd been lurking on and off for so long (I found you guys on TT, but there was more consistent lurking at WX because I gave up being even mildly spoiler-phobic at that point) that it just seemed the natural thing to do because I saw myself as part of the community to the extent that I was affected by the issues brought to vote (obviously much less-so than an active participant--I found the past problem posters annoying and was glad when they was dealt with, but I was not emotionally involved like those who'd been directly offended). (Could this paragraph have more parentheses? I guess so.)

That said, I understand why the possibility of lurkers tipping the balance and affecting the outcome of a vote makes people uncomfortable, and I definitely don't see voting as something which was my right as a lurker, it was just a privilege I enjoyed exercising because I'm geeky like that.

I just saw voting as the logical extension of my interest in the debate and of my still-unspoken love for the community, plus it was nice, safe can't-possibly-make-a-fool-of-myself way of participating.

I for one have no problem with that at all.

There's an aspect to the fluidity of things around here that I don't think I've seen mentioned. If a flood of lurkers suddenly turned the tables on a vote that more active folks around here really cared about and had made their support (or lack) clear in the discussion, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the results of the vote declared null. We're not bound by law, and our votes aren't public, but they're not secret either. Whoever's doing the counting sees who is voting and how. In an extreme situation, I'd want and expect that person to say "hey, wait a minute, something's off here." I'm not saying vest that person with the authority to overturn or anything - just that the way we communicate around here, I'd expect to see the concern aired, and I imagine we'd react. And I'd rather see that happen than get into any sort of "how do you qualify to vote" conversation - it might be ugly, but it's also pretty damn unlikely.

On another topic, the "all buffistas are foamy" conversation is upsetting me on a number of levels. But I'll wait to try to voice my feelings on that until I'm not drunk.

Jim Perry, secret agent 50, is Mr. Betsy Hanes Perry. He lurks. We fight crime.

This is why I seldom post.

I just saw voting as the logical extension of my interest in the debate and of my still-unspoken love for the community, plus it was nice, safe can't-possibly-make-a-fool-of-myself way of participating.

Leigh has said it all for me including why I vote. My mom was a big time League if Women Voters honcho and drummed it into me that voting was a responsibility of the members of any community.

I've lurked since the last year or so of TT, posting about twice a year but reading almost daily. I would define myself as a peripheral member, but one who cares a great deal about the community and is frequently in awe of the rest of you.

I love hearing from the lurkers! So glad you enjoy it here. And yay you for voting and all. I do want to recommend posting now and again, ESPECIALLY on Saturdays and Sundays when I am at work and in desperate need of amusement and it's pretty dead around here!