Just call me "Pariah Carey"

So the other day I was lamenting the fact that I seem to have been shunned by the member(s) of Amazon’s "Anti-Scam Network," even though I’m kind of in their corner – at least enough to want to hear more of their stories, with the idea of getting to the bottom of some of the Amazon "gaming" that seems to be going on. (Here’s the link to my lamentation; see the third item down, "I’m feeling so rejected.")

The "nay" votes continue to come in; the comment I made a few days ago now shows that 3 of 19 people found it helpful, meaning that five more folks have voted it "not helpful."

In the interests of contributing something of more relevance to the conversation at hand, I wrote a new comment yesterday on a related thread, the topic of which is the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of "subliminal" material. Even though I acknowledged that there is some research indicating that some subliminal visuals might register on the brain, I was obviously not making a case for subliminal DVDs. At least it seemed obvious to me, especially since I also inserted some personal opinions and speculation that would seem to indicate I am simpatico with the prevailing opinion on that thread. So far, however, 0 of 3 people have found my latest remark helpful – which means that all three people took the time to vote me "unhelpful."

Yep, it looks like I could be in serious danger of being voted off the island now, or at least having my comments hidden by default so you have to click on them to see them.

Since my latest comment gave consideration to both sides of the question regarding subliminals and the guys who are pushing them, I have to wonder about the affiliation of the folks who voted my remarks "not helpful." Are they Anti-Scammers who can’t accept me because I refuse to invoke Godwin’s Law and compare the hustledorks to Hitler? Or are they friends of the hustledorks, indignant because I questioned the expertise of their heroes? I’m thinking that maybe there are folks from both groups who aren’t big Cosmic Connie fans.

Well, I suppose I can handle being shunned by a few folks on Amazon. But I am seriously broken up over my rejection by a deeply spiritual group I wrote about recently (first item on the post): the followers of a lady named Kat and her imaginary friend Clara. I just got this comment in today:

Nora said...

Kat and Clara's site is a private, invitation-only site. Designed specifically to stay small, no-cost and bitch free, (yeah honey, I mean you) it's a close-knit group of people smart and open-minded enough to look past their own noses and accept that they aren't the center of the universe. Try it sometime.

I guess you can respond if you wish (your blog, your rules and all) but I won't bother to read it. People like you are why it remains invitation-only. (sucks being left out of the "in crowd" doesn't it?)

I think Rev Ron had the best reply to "Nora's" comment:

Somehow, I am reminded of the kids in high school who lacked both the personalities to be popular and the intelligence to be geeks, huddled together in the corner of the cafeteria and filled with pride at their decoder rings and secret handshakes.

More like elementary school, I’d say. Nevertheless, I have to say that it hurts deeply to be left out. Someone please send me an Amazon gift certificate, or even better yet, lots of money, to make the hurt go away…

PS ~ And here's a bit of synchronicity for you: Just as I was preparing to upload this post to Blogger, a private email came in, regarding someone else I'd written about a couple of months ago. (No, it's no one who is linked to or mentioned in today's post, the January 6 post, or the Amazon threads in question.) Here's that message, in part (I bolded certain words for emphasis):

I have researched this Minor League Pariah for months and the only positive feedback has been from his New Wage Group. In resonance, [this person] is one of the foulest criminal psychopaths since World War II. Even Hitler was more purely motivated.

Wow... must be something in the ethers, since, as I noted, this came in after I'd written today's post (including the title) but BEFORE I published it.