Thank you! It's been a difficult road, but personally I feel that some of us go through certain trials and difficulties in our lives so that we can speak out to others about our unfortunate life experiences and hopefully as a result a few kids will take the information to heart and instead of taking the road I did they might instead take a better route…I have always been like this…if another person can somehow benefit from my past misfortunes then I am all for it.
Drug and alcohol addiction is one of the plagues of the earth and in my opinion the best weapon we can use to fight it is information because it is a disease that starts with a simple choice, which is usually a choice that is made by people who have no clue about the likely consequences of that choice! Start at an early age and continue filling they’re minds with the information until they are adults. No more sugar coating things…show kids the reality of addiction. Take them to rehab centers and let them see people suffering from opiate withdrawal…aside from seeing people with some unfortunate fatal illness, or those who are truly starving to death witnessing someone going through opiate withdrawal is about as pitiful as it gets.
Take the kids to jails and let them see people behind bars, take them to morgues and let them see people that have OD’d, or committed suicide because of drug addiction. It seems that everything pertaining to kids has got to be sugar-coated and very much edited, which clearly has not worked in the fight to keep kids of drugs, it has not even put a dent, but I personally feel that if we start teaching kids about the true, actual reality of addiction that when the time comes that they are asked, or challenged to try drugs they will be able to make a very good and solid decision.
Among others things I believe about the topic one of the most important is starting a class that deals with addiction and other serious issues in life. I know in the area where I live kids go through the DARE program in the fifth grade and that is it…no more about drugs and in this area it is usually the wrong people who are teaching the program, but a few weeks in the fifth grade is simply not enough information, which is why I think that there should be a yearly mandatory class about the serious issues of life like addiction.
It is a class that should start in the fourth grade and a class that should be a required/mandatory credit in each year until a kid graduates. By the time that a child enters high school he/she will already have four, or five years of learning about addiction and by the time they graduate they will have had close to ten years of education about addiction and serious life issues which as a result I think would give every child the advantage of being able to make a serious and conscientious decision because they will have learned about the true nature of certain aspects, such as addiction…that’s what I think. Whatever the country has done up until now clearly has not worked, so it is time to take a more serious approach to the issue!!
Nice post (the one that started the thread) Pundit, you hit on a big problem in ALL of the forums here.
On the Boxers of the Past forum it presents a unique problem, since there are fewer posters and alot of people are alittle intimidated to post here, for the fact that they might get berated for not knowing their facts. In Current Scene's where insults are more rampant, you learn to deal with it, or you can just blend in among all the posters, knowing that if you say something stupid, your post will eventually get burried and forgotten when someone else comes along and says something even more stupid.
Anyway it doesnt bother me, because I always freely admit, Boxings distant Pre-80s boxing is not my strongest field, so if someone says I am an ignorant ass Ithey usually arent that far off the mark. I usually just post things I want to know more about.
>>>Anyway it doesnt bother me, because I always freely admit, Boxings distant Pre-80s boxing is not my strongest field, so if someone says I am an ignorant ass Ithey usually arent that far off the mark. I usually just post things I want to know more about.<<<
Thats very admirable...though there are very few who are really ignorant and asking questions is never ignorant.
My biggest pet peeve is people trying to pretend like they know about a certain area, or issue when it is pretty obvious that they don't and they speak up based on assumption...they can do more harm by making bogus claims than some may realize. It may seem like harmless nonsense, but I take offense to people just yapping incorrect nonsense about boxing history. Opinions are fine which I have tons of my own, but facts should remain fact and when that is toyed with I get angry as there is enough bullshit in boxing!
Decagon wrote:Yeah, I kind of had you in mind when I made that post, Barry. You definitely have the obsessive-compulsive traits that most addicts have. I often felt that I was unfairly pushing buttons that I only knew too much about. You see the forum as a free exchange of ideas, while others of us tend to mystify our remarks in irony and metaphor. In times of stress, you look for a literal meaning to what you've been exposed to, and I apologize for taking advantage of that.
For instance, when you get upset about me saying that Stanley Ketchell is a bum, a comment like, "Stanley Ketchell was a 160-pound John Ruiz," is meant to set you off, not denote my true feelings on the subject. Other times, I've trolled you on topic to topic, getting you all worked up, only to act nice as pie to everyone around once you've been really worked up. I come off as the cool guy welcoming everyone to the forum, and you look like an angry guy. That happened in Scott Mallon's topic, and I felt bad about how out of hand it got.
We are each dark shadows of the other. I love boxing, and I love writing about boxing, while you love boxing, and you love learning about boxing. Was it not pre-ordained that we became mortal enemies?
Why say things that you dont actually believe just to rile someone else up???.... I dont understand that. Also you've made confessions like this before, only to do the same thing again?... its that sort of stirring that I think this forum would be better off without... think about it...
Decagon wrote:Yeah, I kind of had you in mind when I made that post, Barry. You definitely have the obsessive-compulsive traits that most addicts have. I often felt that I was unfairly pushing buttons that I only knew too much about. You see the forum as a free exchange of ideas, while others of us tend to mystify our remarks in irony and metaphor. In times of stress, you look for a literal meaning to what you've been exposed to, and I apologize for taking advantage of that.
For instance, when you get upset about me saying that Stanley Ketchell is a bum, a comment like, "Stanley Ketchell was a 160-pound John Ruiz," is meant to set you off, not denote my true feelings on the subject. Other times, I've trolled you on topic to topic, getting you all worked up, only to act nice as pie to everyone around once you've been really worked up. I come off as the cool guy welcoming everyone to the forum, and you look like an angry guy. That happened in Scott Mallon's topic, and I felt bad about how out of hand it got.
We are each dark shadows of the other. I love boxing, and I love writing about boxing, while you love boxing, and you love learning about boxing. Was it not pre-ordained that we became mortal enemies?
Why say things that you dont actually believe just to rile someone else up???.... I dont understand that. Also you've made confessions like this before, only to do the same thing again?... its that sort of stirring that I think this forum would be better off without... think about it...
And Dec’s pretty good at stirring it up. Some of his early posts snagged me, but I’ve simply learned to ignore them (most of the time), although he still snags me at times. I understand that Dec is merely having fun, while barry actually takes himself too seriously and loses control. At times we all poke fun at each other on this forum, many times using sarcasm, which is just a bit more subtle than what Dec does with his posts. It’s all part of an internet forum, and we either have to accept it or move on.
Decagon wrote:Yeah, I kind of had you in mind when I made that post, Barry. You definitely have the obsessive-compulsive traits that most addicts have. I often felt that I was unfairly pushing buttons that I only knew too much about. You see the forum as a free exchange of ideas, while others of us tend to mystify our remarks in irony and metaphor. In times of stress, you look for a literal meaning to what you've been exposed to, and I apologize for taking advantage of that.
For instance, when you get upset about me saying that Stanley Ketchell is a bum, a comment like, "Stanley Ketchell was a 160-pound John Ruiz," is meant to set you off, not denote my true feelings on the subject. Other times, I've trolled you on topic to topic, getting you all worked up, only to act nice as pie to everyone around once you've been really worked up. I come off as the cool guy welcoming everyone to the forum, and you look like an angry guy. That happened in Scott Mallon's topic, and I felt bad about how out of hand it got.
We are each dark shadows of the other. I love boxing, and I love writing about boxing, while you love boxing, and you love learning about boxing. Was it not pre-ordained that we became mortal enemies?
Why say things that you dont actually believe just to rile someone else up???.... I dont understand that. Also you've made confessions like this before, only to do the same thing again?... its that sort of stirring that I think this forum would be better off without... think about it...
And Dec’s pretty good at stirring it up. Some of his early posts snagged me, but I’ve simply learned to ignore them (most of the time), although he still snags me at times. I understand that Dec is merely having fun, while barry actually takes himself too seriously and loses control. At times we all poke fun at each other on this forum, many times using sarcasm, which is just a bit more subtle than what Dec does with his posts. It’s all part of an internet forum, and we either have to accept it or move on.
Personally I dont have respect for people who use this forum as a place to play mind games etc by trying to stir other people up just for the hell of it... that is schoolyard stuff... I may disagree with Barry on some points regarding boxing but I respect the fact that he is always giving his true opinion and speaking his mind... I cant be arsed with people who say things just to try and show how clever they are etc.... that sort of behaviour is decietful and childish and should have no place on a adult forum such as this.....
silkov wrote:Personally I dont have respect for people who use this forum as a place to play mind games etc by trying to stir other people up just for the hell of it... that is schoolyard stuff... I may disagree with Barry on some points regarding boxing but I respect the fact that he is always giving his true opinion and speaking his mind... I cant be arsed with people who say things just to try and show how clever they are etc.... that sort of behaviour is decietful and childish and should have no place on a adult forum such as this.....
Not sure I'd call sarcasm deceitful, but that may not be what you are referring to. Sarcasm is certainly preferable to the direct hostile attacks that are also quite common on this forum. And unfortunately, we all pretty much do that at times. I think it’s usually more just part of a passionate defense than a direct attack, although I guess it’s hard to tell the difference.
When I first started posting on this site, I tried to make my posts quite contemplative and reasoned without getting into direct exchanges. But when opinions are met with comments like – “if you think that, then you don’t know… “ it’s pretty hard to keep it civil. And I’ve certainly been posting these aggressive types of responses more lately. Unfortunately, it’s a learned trait and I would also consider this rather childish, but it seems to be more acceptable to some than what Dec is describing.
I think what Dec is describing is no different than what guys do to each other at the bar. Don’t we all try to poke fun and push buttons in jest? Or is that just the crowd I hang with? It’s certainly harmless enough, as long as it’s not the only type of post you make, and Dec does contribute in a positive way to this forum.
A lot of people don't know how to debate or argue. They immediately regress to squabbling, repeating the same thing over and over again, and/or simply trot out the same old maxims and present them as if they are undisputed facts. That's not this baord, that's life in general!
I get fed up when I think someone is being underrated or overrated. Other than that I can't prove anything so I just put my opinion forwards. I like to question people on their way of thinking because I'm intersted in how they form their conclusions.
The terms "hater" and "nut-hugger" are BS and are designed to short circuit an argument or discussion because the accuser has run out of ideas. Everyone has prejudices and preferences, it's unavoidable...
As for Dec, he's a great poster who often appears flippant in relationship to others but has obviously spent a lot of time considering figths, fighters and their individual merits. There are always going to be a few hard-of-thinking types on a forum but he's not one of them.
>>>Yeah, I kind of had you in mind when I made that post, Barry. You definitely have the obsessive-compulsive traits that most addicts have. I often felt that I was unfairly pushing buttons that I only knew too much about. You see the forum as a free exchange of ideas, while others of us tend to mystify our remarks in irony and metaphor. In times of stress, you look for a literal meaning to what you've been exposed to, and I apologize for taking advantage of that.<<<
You haven’t taken advantage of me…A lot of the time I just point out an inaccuracy that you make in a comment and from that it sometimes turns ugly. As far as your diagnosis…nice try, but you have missed it by a bit. You are right about a couple of issues though. I’m not at all obsessive-compulsive, never have been. I do sometimes look to the internet as a place to relieve stress, but mostly as a place of research.
My problem with addiction is simple, a lot more simple than most addicts…I just have a very, very addictive personality. A lot of the counselors that I have spoken to over the years have usually bean stumped as nearly all were under the impression that I started taking drugs due to some part of life that I was not happy with, or to escape something, which is just simply not true.
The biggest percentage of addicts usually have some issue about they’re life they are not happy with, or that they are trying to escape from, but that was never the case with me…I just simply liked to get high and I wanted to try every kind of drug there was, and damn near did. I grew up in a wonderful home with wonderful parent’s, I had a lot of friends, played sports (until drugs took over) and had pretty much a very normal life growing up. I guess one of the big factors was that when I got to high school, partying and getting high was the thing to do at my school. Everyone was getting high…jocks, heads, even the nerds…if you did not get high you were not popular…plain and simple. The senior class song my freshman year was Ozzy’s “Crazy Train.” Getting high was just the thing to do, which many of those who got high during high school were able to straighten out before addiction was ever really an issue whereas several people, like me, took it to the next level and started doing harder drugs. Hell, I was strung-out on coke when I was 17 and that lasted for a couple of years up until an accidental overdose and I haven’t done coke, except maybe on a couple of occasions, since 1990. The last time I did coke was around 1997, or 1998 and that was only a line! But nothing can compare to the addiction of opiates. It is a living hell to be addicted to opiates.
One of the things that I took pride in, which is very silly to think about now, was the fact that I was usually the last man standing whenever there were any parties, or a small get together. At 18, I could sit down with a 35 or 40 year old power-drinker and stay right with him until one of us passed out, or we run out of booze, which the latter was the usual ending. That was something that I took great pride in for a number of years…at the time, the fact that I was very well respected in the drug community made me happy, which that was very juvenile and childish for a couple of years, but then a couple of years turned into five, five to ten, then to twenty and when a person has been an addict for 20 years it is no longer an issue of waking up one morning and saying, “well today I am quitting drugs for good,” no, at that point it is not only a part of the person’s life, it is the person’s life and it is such a hard battle to overcome, but it is not a lost cause…for anyone!
Opiates are the worst. Although, at the time I was a coke addict it was due to a doctor prescribing me a shit load of pain-killers that I became addicted to opiates. Now I would have probably become addicted to opiates regardless simply because of my addictive personality and due to the fact that opiates really broke wide open in this area…just as bad as when crack first hit DC in the early 80s, so I no doubt would have became addicted at some point, but there are a lot of doctors that are responsible for making thousands of addicts. Hell, before I decided to really try to straighten my life out by in 1999 I would say that over half of the doctors in Tazewell Country, Virginia were nothing but script writing machines. There were around 10 to 15 who every addict went to every month. These doctors had they’re officer set up like an assembly line and I don’t know the exact numbers, but they would probably see between 75 to 200 patients a day and this was one doctor who had his own single office. The waiting room would always be full and a patient would be seen nearly every five minutes and everyone would come out with the same kind of prescriptions…90 Lortab 10mg, 90 Xanax, 90 Soma and 10 to 12 oz of strong cough syrup which had high levels of the opiate hydrocodone in it…and this was daily…well most of those type of doctors were opened only four days a week.
>>>For instance, when you get upset about me saying that Stanley Ketchell is a bum, a comment like, "Stanley Ketchell was a 160-pound John Ruiz," is meant to set you off, not denote my true feelings on the subject. Other times, I've trolled you on topic to topic, getting you all worked up, only to act nice as pie to everyone around once you've been really worked up. I come off as the cool guy welcoming everyone to the forum, and you look like an angry guy. That happened in Scott Mallon's topic, and I felt bad about how out of hand it got.<<<
Hey, no harm done…I do the same thing with you!
>>>We are each dark shadows of the other. I love boxing, and I love writing about boxing, while you love boxing, and you love learning about boxing. Was it not pre-ordained that we became mortal enemies?<<<
Actually, I think a mortal enemy would probably be toward someone who is all about downing boxing and praising MMA, though I have no mortal enemies, though there are only a handful of people who I really, really dislike and they are all of the same ignorant, inbred family from this area, but that is beside the point. The fact that you and I both love boxing puts us in a pretty small brotherhood…it’s our personalities that clash, that and the fact that we always want to be right!
>>>You are very misguided it is infact myself that is always right and others like yourself are wrong.<<<
KOJO---Hey, I’m always right too!!
Silkov---You make the best points in the thread...the most meaningful and like you I would much rather see the board as a place where everyone was respectful of of one another...especially the "old hands" who have been here a good while...though I am always happy to engage in sensless banter I could certainly do without it.
