To all lurkers and newbies ... you know who you are :)

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 17222

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., nera at r... wrote:
> When I first came to this group, I tried very hard to *conform* to 
> the standards. If I had a question or an idea, I first went to the 
> FAQ to see if it was there. If not, I would try to search the 
> thousands of letters to find it. Do you veterans realize what a job 
> that is? At the moment, there are 17189 letters in this group's 
> files. (not iincluding those IN the archives) By the time I got 
done 
> doing all of that, if I had not completely forgotten what my 
question 
> was, or had not been bored to death, or bleary eyed, I would come 
> back to ask my question and find that I was now behind about 30 
> posts. It was sort of like chasing a train to catch a ride! I gave 
up 
> and just started asking questions and stating my ideas.
> 
> I figure that if there are people who  do not want to answer it 
> because they have tired of the subject, then they don't have to 
> answer it. That is also an option.
> 
> If they know where to send me to read letters on exactly my 
question, 
> I hope that they will do so, but do it kindly, not rudely.
> 
> There have been times when I thought about answering a newbie's 
> question, but then I didn't because someone told them that it had 
> been hashed & rehashed back in letter #342 or such. Now, I regret 
not 
> speaking up. I may have missed a chance to make a new friend.
> 
> Doreen, who likes hashing & rehashing and finds it a curious thing 
> that the same people who dislike hashing & rehashing, are the same 
> people who have read Harry Potter dozens of times.

Doreen, this post made me feel much better.  I have never lurked - 
purely because when I discovered this group I was so excited that I 
has found it I wanted to jump right in there and start posting.  

When I started posting a few weeks ago, I also tried to answer my own 
questions by searching the message archives, and like you found it 
too daunting to constantly keep refering to it, everytime I wanted to 
make a comment, just in case I had mentioned it before. It made me 
feel a little paranoid, particularly as there was the odd occassion 
when someone jumped down my throat about it.  (Particularly when I 
was stupid enough to ask what a SHIPPER was - I had read the FAQs but 
this one had somehow eluded me).

I now find myself glad that there are other Newbies out there who are 
not afraid to post - even if the subject has been covered before.  
You are quite right - we would have nothing to talk about until next 
year if we didn't cover any old ground.  The fact that the next 
series of topics are based on PoA proves this - even in the last few 
weeks there have been discussions going on about the sequence of 
events in the Shrieking Shack, Lupin's patronus etc. etc. which is 
all coming up for discussion again in the next few months.
Of course, there is always the fact that no matter how many times 
something has been discussed, there is always the possibility that a 
new perspective/view will crop up to add value.  

Even more so, when you talk about hashing and rehashing.  I have read 
the books countless times - and also listen to the audio versions.  I 
just finished Stephen Fry's reading of GoF this morning.  I find that 
everytime I reread, I find something that I haven't noticed before, 
or find that my perspective has changed slightly or even 
significantly.  Isn't this the same for everybody?  Doesn't this mean 
that no matter how many times something is discussed that most people 
will find that they will, in some instances find that their 
stance/opinion has shifted?

Of course it gets annoying when you have made what you feel is a 
perfectly good comment and it is ignored - only to see someone who is 
perhaps more established on the list say something similar which 
generates a long thread.  But as Neil has said, this is par for the 
course - it happens to everyone.

IMO, the positives far outweigh the negatives when I take into 
account everything I get out of this group, and I am looking forward 
to the discussions which come up in the future.  

Catherine