Saturday, November 10, 2007

Listening Post

As promised, we are going to talk about the position of women, and the culture of Page County. This is where you can post your concerns about the culture. But those concerns can not speak in any manner about issues that are under investigation. Why? Because they are under investigation, that's why. I can't post anonymous comments about that. You cannot say any words, of any type, good or bad, about any person by name.

But here's what you can post about. You can post about your situation, your feelings, your opinions. You can be heard about your frustrations. You can talk about your wishes and hopes and dreams. You can talk about why you feel you cannot reach your dreams. You can describe your needs and desires for the future. You can wonder about the World Outside Oz. (WOO)

Why should we do this? Because apparently, people want to. That is good enough reason. And after there is enough open talk about how people feel, a pattern will emerge. That pattern should help our elected officials, whom the people voted for, to help the community. And all of our charitable organizations, NorthWest, Page One, Choices, and many others, may benefit from hearing this.

Or, maybe not. If no one wants to post these things here, don't post them on other threads, either. The other threads are about the Board of Supervisors spending us to death.

An open forum is more than just a listening post. It's a place to explore and consider what can be done, and examine issues.

Alice

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

With the above two postings, one can see why this blog is just full of crap. And of course, that was Page County Watch's analysis of this blog. The above two postings just enforces it!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but that's what blogs are. Get over it. It takes people some banter to get warmed up, and you jus have to deal with it and chill out after a while somebody says something worth saying, but you have to wait for it

Anonymous said...

Alice,
This topic is a serious one and needs to be addressed with careful consideration and supervision. There is no way that anyone is going to make a serious question or answer when adolescent humor is allowed on equal footing. If this type of subject is to be considered, it will need a moderator. If it does not have such oversite it will always be at the level of the lowest contributor. Here is a real example. I would never make a comment when I knew I would be followed up by someone who will make jokes about cans and nerds. If you say this type of contribution is necessary to the process, fine, but don't expect anyone to contribute who isn't at that level.

Page County Watch said...

Rick, I just deleted the cans and nerds.

On the one hand, I don't want to be the arbitrator and censor.

On the other hand, sentient human beings don't want to be bothered with that stuff.

On the other other hand, this is an anonymous forum. If it can't be an anonymous forum, we have a "chilling effect" on the willingness to post. People are worried about retaliation. Anonymity is a key element in the willingness to start a dialogue.
But with anonymity, comes adolescent nervousness and anxiety.

So just go ahead and post, Chill out and take it with a grain of salt.

Some people are more nervous than others, and they try to be funny when the subject isn't laughable.

The subject of women and domestic abuse is anything but laughable. And the attitude and culture in Page County, Virginia, toward women, toward the community, and toward domestic violence and community violence, is no joke.

Rick, I do expect people to contribute who aren't at that level. Because I do expect that those who aren't at that level can see the fear behind the words of those who make this a joke.

If I thought it wasn't serious, I'd stop doing this.

So all of you out there who have been hooting and hollering about He Who Must Not Be Named . . . get your act together.

You either have something to say, or you don't.

What's the story with YOU, YOUR feelings, and YOUR problem. Do it without naming names.

Alice

Anonymous said...

The culture in Page County: authoritarian- do as you are told, do not ask questions, an annointed few know what's best for all, my President (or other (s)elected misrepresentative) right or wrong (DON'T YOU DARE ASK QUESTIONS OR CHALLENGE 'AUTHORITY')

Paternalistic: there are some men out here who refer to women as 'females' and do not permit their wives or daughters to drive. Some will not do business with women, or do it with great difficulty (not able to look you in the eye, fervently wish for the 'male' to show up to conduct business with) or ask for outrageous sums of money for simple tasks (not sure what that's about. An assumption of complete stupidity? A sense of entitlement -I'm a local, and you don't belong here?)

Other interesting elements: college education is derided and treated with suspicion and certainly not encouraged (predominantly- not totally.)

One hit wonder method of doing business: perhaps a homeowner has a number of projects (sealing a basement, limbing trees..whatever) and is of course 'an outsider' and therefore considered- I'm searching for a word - fair game? So there's something of a game in and of itself that goes on whereby a handful of quotes for a job will be given that fall into the 'outrageous' category (example: $5,000 for tree limb removal) which eventually gets done for $750...and the question is: who looks stupid under those circumstances? Who looks scammy? Ah, a warm welcome!!

This post should generate lively debate.

Anonymous said...

...or when a woman wants to buy a car or get car repairs...one quote to a woman, another to a man. We are so brainless in matters such as those, apparently.

Anonymous said...

...or when a woman wants to buy a car or get car repairs...one quote to a woman, another to a man. We are so brainless in matters such as those, apparently.

women have the same right to bargin for price or shop around for a more trusted mechanic as men do.

caveat emptor

Anonymous said...

Alice, since you closed comments to The Luray Study, I had to contact you on another thread. Why did you close this important matter? Everything stated is a fact and the ones listed are the key players in that study mess. Seems you don't want to post the truth about the study because the involvement of some of you close friends. That is not fair. You are once agan being biased. So if you don't want names, how are people going to know who to ask or who to talk to about this important issue? I dare you to go ask someone from the police department or the mayor or certain council members not listed and they will back the information given. I think when it comes to the sheriff's involvement in things you are scared of the truth that you might find. And that is sad for the caring citizens and the ones that know the truth. So if I would of said: a sheriff, two council members, a former town manager, and the study firm, than you would of printed it? That's not using names! I could of use that but why? People that know the facts, will know who I am talking about anyway so why hide it? I think we know the reasons to that question! Since the Page County Watch Blog is so biased and unfair, why do you bother at all to keep it running? It is getting to the point that you pick and choose what to post and people are getting tired of you doing that. If you are going to have an open forum, then leave it open and if people can't take it when someone says something about them or their issues, then don't sitck their noses somewhere they should not of been sticking it to begin with. They open themselves up when they run for an offical office or get involved in issues so be a man or women and take their medicine. When I say something on here, I can back anything I say and if anyone wants to challenge me, bring it on. Including you and all your biased acts you posted on here... I suggest you leave the threads open and post want people's opinions are or close down the blog completely. What is the use if you are going to short cut people's opinion on here? You don't need to post this, I just wanted you to know where I, and many others I have talked to, stand on this issue. We don't care who you like or dislike, if you are going to keep this blog open, be fair and unbiased and the keepers of this Page County Watch are not doing that.

Page County Watch said...

P.O d -- You said:

"When I say something on here, I can back anything I say and if anyone wants to challenge me, bring it on."

But we don't know who you are, so if anyone wants to challenge YOU, there is no way to contact you.

I can't post statements of negative factual things by anonymous posters because they can't be proven. If you need to say things like this, you have to send it to my email, where I can verify your name.

In the future, I am looking for software where you can register your name with me, and then your posts can be posted anonymously, but I will know who you are. right now, I don't know who you are, so if you say something about specific facts, I don't have the ability to call you to ask for proof.

That is the only reason I am rejecting your posts. It doesn't have anything to do with me having any specific "friends" or biases.

Alice

Anonymous said...

This is not the topic this thread needs to be on. I think the thread " Buracker Study" that PCW closed should be re-opened and the comments moved there where they belong. I agree that people should have their say and PCW needs to be fair about it and netural. If people put themselves in an offical office or talks about an issue, they open themselves to comments that are postive and negative, for or against them. I agree with PO'd Citizen. And if you read his comment, he said you can ask the police dept, mayor and certain council members as well about the facts. So even though this person did not give a name, he or she gave a place to go ask. Maybe this person knows someone that knows the answers and can't reveal their name. I can understand that if there is a connection to an offical or a close friend that it may have of affected, it can be a bad idea to mention names. It appears that some people are looking for answers and because page county is a small community, people want answers but are friends with both sides and dont want to creat ememies. I am sure if someone from the police dept would come out and state facts, the town council would hold it against them and cause even more problems than they already have with the study. I can see how difficult this would be so we as citizens need to stand up and find out the answers and correct the problems that were created. Now do the right thing and re-open The Luray Study so we can get to the bottom of this study. Citizens and taxpayers should know the facts.

Anonymous said...

The second poster on this blog used the following words:

Yeah----jus------chill out----

Then comes poster number 4, who is Alice on Page County Watch.......
Again the word, chill out-------

I have noticed that Alice likes to use the word yeah. And why use the word jus?

Appears to me either a disguise, or trying to imitate us redneck folks.

And if she says what is true in her own childhood about her mother being passive to abuse by her father, then the culture here in Page County is not so different from where she grew up.

This type of forum is not the answer for abuse in any form.

It could even be harmful in the messages that it sends to people who are vulnerable.

Anonymous said...

capitalism surrenders....you totally missed the point.

Anonymous said...

Chris says Folks I'm putting in my Application at the Sheriff's dept anyone wanna Recomend me I hear they have 22+ job openings.

Anonymous said...

I noticed that some of the comments on several threads that were asking questions about employees leave the sheriff's office and so many wanting to turn in letters. Why were these deleted and some not even posted? Come on Alice, the election is over and employees wanting to leave or recinding letters or what ever is happening, is a big issue. Why are you not allowing any comments about this? Or deleting some that were posted? Why do you continue to pick and choose what to post or delete especially if it has to do with the sheriff or someone else you support? Be fair for once. Time will tell what the sheriff's fate will be. I don't really care what happens to him. Just want it all to be over with so we can move on. I think citizens need to know if and why employees want to leave. It affects the protection of the citizens. I can see why it is a mess up there and it will take time to sort it all out after the investigation. So post things fairly. I can see why people are getting tire of posting things on here. Let them have their say. repost the ones you deleted and post the ones you didn't post at all.

Anonymous said...

Chris says This continuing picking and choosing is gonna be the end of this blog. Post it ALL if you don't like it find something else to do.

Anonymous said...

The reason that there are vacancies in the sheriff's department has been addressed so why do some people still want to debate this. This happens every 4 years when everyone has to reapply for their jobs or they can choose not to. I am like Alice as to why we are continuing to worry so much about the sheriff's employees. I for one don't care as long as they continue to keep me safe in Page County. I don't plan to spend any time in the jail and as far as I know, I don't think I have ever even been inside the sheriff's department building. I would much rather wait for the investigation to speak to the people and not the other way around. Presgraves is our sheriff so get over it if your man didn't win. You should have worked harder to get out the vote for your candidate because the rumor mills didn't fly.

Anonymous said...

Do be so sure that the election is over! I see a change coming in the near future and aobut 3000 citizens are going to be shocked and ashamed for the way they voted. I agree with you, just wait and see!