If all the ladies disappeared from the board, so would big percentage of all the hobbyists. If this were a "men's club" it would be a much smaller club.

I have felt this many times and if mentioned was slammed cause I aman agency just ooking for funds, even though I never do B&S or rip any one off and domy best to make the customers happy if not I try to make it up to them.
Plus saying that many times I fulfill last minute or last second, in many cases appointments.
I am not the only trustworthy agency on here there are a few who have been around for a while but we are like you say second class.
I think you for saying this and i have noticed that more guys are speaking out with true feelings with no fear of what some of the old timers will throw at them and I like it.
I use to look forward to reading the board with all the wierd comments, jokes and the bitching of what goes on in life and for me Ilearned quite a bit reading al th eposts but some of th epeople that did post don't anymore and some girls are afraid to post.
Giselle I give a lot of credit to cause she tells it like it is and says whats on her mind even tho she has been slammed for nothing!
I personally miss the songs and funny you tube links or maybe I'm just not coming here so often anymore either, like quite a few of the ladies.
So to you Ziggy thanks!

and without the providers there would be NO hobbyists.  Where the issues crop up come from those hobbyists that have an agenda that doesn't coincide with "popular opinions".  But even moreso are those hobbyists that just simply have an agenda (and why they're here is still and always will be something I will never understand) that is to simply create havoc amongst BOTH the guys and gals.  And that entire issues extends to other boards on this site as well!

Frankly a fella posted a question yesterday that might have been considered "intrusive", and some let him know that.  At the end of his thread he commented that "I will just go back to lurking for another 10 years"....and unfortunately many people on the boards simply lurk so as to avoid a "confrontation".  I welcome opinions (hey folks...these are just like assholes..we all have one) as long as there is some credence and support behind them.  To simply invoke MY opinion with the sole purpose of "hating" someone, that is simply a childish method of communicating.  But that will continue ad nauseum as there are those guys/gals out there that simply can't control themselves.

I definitely find myself NOT agreeing with many of the comments here, and occassionaly I will throw my opinion out there...and at times some have found those comments to be way off base (or insulting), but I have never tried to directly insult anyone that was interested in an adult conversation.  And many of these comments have been with ladies that were discussing things going on in their lives that they felt compelled to share on this board.

So...yea this is a HOBBYIST'S board...but it only exists because of the reason that we are hobbyists.  And without the gals being allowed...frankly encouraged to participate, this would be as exciting as "watching paint dry".

Should there be people treated as "second class citizens" here?  In my opinion...NO!  We all share the same concept, but also look at things from very different perspectives.  That's what makes life interesting.  Let's just keep it civil, even when we don't agree with the other guy/gal.

of myself in crazy situations cause where else can I do REALLY do that so openly and so freely afterall? It is all about ME ME ME gettin my freak on!

Good post, Ziggy!  I agree that TER is a resource for the "ENTIRE" hobbying community.  It's a shame that some treat providers as second-class citizen by using that line, "TER is for the hobbyists", since many providers contribute as much to the TER community as us hobbyists, especially in keeping the hobby safe for all.  We're all in this hobby together, as far as I'm concerned.

Personally, I like seeing the providers participating on the various discussion boards.  It's a good way of getting to know them.  Over the years, a number of providers have peak my interest and I would never have known who they were, if they did not take the initiative to participate on these boards.  I certainly would not be on TER very often, if there were no ladies around ...LOL ...since there's only so much intel sharing that you can do with other hobbyists.  This place would be boring as hell without the ladies!