A while back I got hit by an ahole who marked my posts rude in retaliation for comments about a hurricane. He exaggerated the situation while I posted factual information. I’m still here, and my brother is still in Tampa having survived the storm. It seems some new members like to assert their ‘power’ by trying to ‘strike back’ at those they disagree with or contradict them and this ‘rude’ system could result in the loss of contributing members if enforced too stringently. After seeing my rude meter leap I nearly bailed and am still hesitant to post due to that person but I’m still here albeit less frequently.
I won’t deny that it’s extremely irritating when it does happen unfairly. I’m just saying that it’s not a common occurrence.
Understood. Just conveying personal experience and potential abuse and consequences.
Yep, sorry that happened to you. Please continue to participate freely here, and if some user has a vendetta against you then I will terminate that other user’s account.
First time I came upon this thread 
I noticed a few days ago that I wrote a line in a joking way in response to a member's comment, but he thought maybe I was upset about his comment and I wasn't at all and clarified my post to him. Anyway, fast forward to today and I re-read my post and it can be taken as rude if someone else would read it, so I just edited the one line out. BTW, I like the idea of not being rude and thanks for starting this thread. If rudeness comes in, that just means we failed to discuss things in a civilized manner. We at BLF are better than that 
Thank you. I feel a little more comfortable and less turtle-like. I happened on this site after being banned from a zippo site for criticizing the conversion to paid membership. They later backtracked but refused to reconsider my banishment. In general I am glad to be able to be part of this community. Thanks for your continued efforts that make blf what it is.
My pleasure cabfrank!! :+1: . 
Yeah… it took me forever to get that Green Rude Bar back to the far right hand side of the page. Then took another forever to get it clear to the left side of the page where I could read & post without it getting in the way. :person_facepalming: … 
…
Yep… probably is. :+1: