Thank you Austin, I accept.

[AustinBoston]

 
Since the original topic has been deleted, I can t apologize in the level of detail I would like to.  But a sincere apology is called for.
 
 * I was a complete Jack***.  I m often a complete Jack***, but this time I went way beyond even my own limits.  Here are some specific things I did wrong:
 
 * I typically avoid political posts, or maybe post once, then don t look back.  I have very strongly held political positions that are very difficult to categorize, which makes them difficult for people to understand.  But on the deleted thread, I posted repeatedly, each time getting more caustic.
 
 * There came a point where I wrote a post, and thought, " No, I shouldn t post this, it will get people upset."   I posted it anyway.  I should have deleted it, or stopped there.  I didn t.
 
 * There was also a point where Camperoo took something I posted personally.  Without the original, I don t recall if it was directed at her, it may have been.  There is a good chance I quoted her, and if so, then she was right to take it personally.  She responded in defense of herself, and I should have dropped it (or apologized).  But I didn t.  I again went way beyond what was reasonable in what I posted.  I was wrong.
 
 * When she responded to that, that is when she said she was leaving.  I knew at that point, I needed to apologize.  Instead, I made sure I twisted the knife in the wound.  This was a consious decision on my part that I am not proud of.  It was most certanly my darkest moment ever on the internet.  Most of the board members have not seen that post because I am sure that was what got the topic deleted.  Although I did not use foul language, it was what I can only describe as an evil thing.  I was wrong.
 
 * I am sure that some of my comments and frustrations were really about other posts, but they ended up directed at Camperoo anyway.  I should have been more careful in this regard.  (Actually, as stated above, I shouldn t have posted at all.)
 
 * I must also apologize to the board because one of our own is missing because of me and my failure to restrain myself.  I would hope she can find her way back, not because of my apology, but because neither you nor she should be separated because of me.
 
 I would email a copy of this directly to her (as well as post it), but her email address is hidden.  Perhaps it is better this way.  If anyone knows her or her email address, I would ask you to draw her attention to this.  Don t forward it to her, give her the choice of coming to look at it.  She may not want to hear from me right now, and I couldn t blame her.
 
 Please don t respond to this with a bunch of " atta boy s" .  This is not what should have happened, and it doesn t make things " all better" .  What should have happened was for me to draw the line a few days ago before it came to this.
 
 Austin

[Camperroo]

 AustinBoston
Austin,
 
 Thank you for your apology.  At the time I was so stung by your original responses, I responded as to how upset I was and then left and never went back to check any messages or responses again and did not know the thread had been deleted nor did I see your followup post...which obviously must have been a better thing for me not to have seen!   You are correct in saying that I was responding to things you had quoted me on, because I felt so singled out and couldn t understand why.   You see I feel by quoting pieces of a topic, the original message gets distorted...which I feel happened in our situation and things disintegrated.  I am not a passionately political person and I don t have a thick skin at all.  Honestly, I found myself in tears after your initial response because I couldn t understand why the thread had been turned back on me personally.  I m a quiet, private person and all of a sudden I felt like I was sticking out like a sore thumb.  I just wanted a place to voice my worries at the time and see what everyone else was thinking on the subject.  It was never meant to be directed on a personal level and I tried hard in the original post to make it more generalized in expression.
 
 You have made a gracious and public effort to apologize and I accept and thank you for coming forth to do it.   It s over with now.
 
 To everyone who have sent me private messages...
 
 Today when signing onto the computer I heard the familiar " you ve got mail"  so I checked my emails and there were messages left for me by several of you great folks.  I have to admit I was afraid to open them because I felt like you all now were mad at me and thought that I was this awful stupid, prejudiced person and I was going to get some nasty remarks!  Those who know me on this board, know I m far, far, far from that.  Instead I received warm and kind messages from everyone.  I tried to be careful in my wording of the orig. thread and even stated I was trying to be very careful with my wording...but the topic took off on a life of it s own and steered off course.  I m very happy to know Admin got rid of it and more happy I didn t continue to read it anymore ).  
 
 I just want to make sure you all understand, I have absolutely nothing against anyone of the Muslim faith.  I have very good and loving friends from all parts of the world including Jordan, Turkey and Iran.   As I responded to one very kind person who sent me a nice note... " At the time I was very scared about the " orange"  level threat and after reading an article in the paper, thought I d open up a topic about it.  Trust me it will be my last foray into political threads...I ll just be scared on my own and keep my thoughts and worries to myself!!"   I m not so good with the controversy stuff!
 
 So forgive me anyone on this board whose feelings I might have hurt by not being careful enough with my own wording.  
 
 I think the PUT board is terrific and have been a member since Coolboards.  I ve always enjoyed the camararderie of everyone here.  Many of you have taken the time to remind me that what I ve always enjoyed about the board is still there.  I have completely abandoned any future political writing/commentary however!!  If you d like to know how to make a good crockpot beef stew while camping...then I m your gal!!
 
 Thank you all, especially Austin, for bringing peace to our campfire again and I wish you all safe and happy travels.  I ll keep my site at the PUT campground, the campers there are too nice to give up!
 

[brainpause]

 AustinBoston
At the request of Tom (AB), I will not say " atta boy."
 
 I WILL say, however, that I am glad to be a part of this group. Tom s willingness to humble himself and make amends shows that his relationships here at PUT mean something. Thank you for your humility and apology, Tom.
 
 To Camperroo, thank you for being accepting of that apology.
 
 Larry
 
 PS: When do we go camping?

[gr8grandpa]

 AustinBoston
I for one am happy to see these two posts. I like a peaceful campground.
 
 PEACE AND GOOD WILL TO EVERYONE

[Firefyter-Emt]

 AustinBoston
Gee, I missed all of this... But I think it must be the weather that has all of us Mass people acting all weird... Eh?? Or maybe it is that global warming??? LOL
 
 Alright, we are all are close enough in this state.. Hug and make up []
 
 [&:]

[Giffster]

 Camperroo
Haven t been on in awhile but, cheers to everyone getting along.
 
 Cheers

[NightOwl]

 AustinBoston
Tom, I WILL say AttaBoy!!  This reply is so typical of  the Tom we all know and love and I must say I am NOT the least bit surprised at your post here--you have always been large of heart and this just proves it for everyone who might not have known you for as long as most of us have.
 
 And I DO have the  RIGHT to say these things because I, too, have had to eat Crow from time to time (Genef and Jeffrey  have a very tasty way of preparing it with a sauce of humor which does not leave feathers hanging from the chin of someone who has had to partake publicly  of this delicacy [])
 
 And I must admit to finding myself in Camperoo s place a time or two also  in making remarks which were carried further than I had foreseen they would go and suddenly  found myself embroiled in a war which I couldnt bring to a peaceable end.[]
 
 One reason I love this place so much is the open and forgiving spirit of those who live here.  Long may we share this site and this feeling![][][]

[rednekrubbrduck]

 AustinBoston
<sniff>..I feel a Halmark moment coming on again..<Sniff> [&:]

[MommaMia]

 AustinBoston
Did you say...." Beef stew?"   Now you are talking!!! Lemme have it!
 
 Glad to see you stayed.

[mattsmom]

 MommaMia
I don t know what I missed as I ve been off for a couple of weeks. What I do know is that 1) that it takes a lot to admit a mistake has been made
          2) it is easy to take things personally especially on the internet
          3) It is a group like this that can appologize and forgive that makes it a nice place to be.
 
 I have been on a couple of lists that complain about a group being " overmoderated"  ...frankly, it is why I like PUT.  I don t feel that it is overmoderated and the controls that are in force help us to go through the type of situations that apparently happened here.