Forum Member Dilemma

[FrankWakefield]

First and last, my thinking is I'm supportive of it being Leon's decision. That's a starting point and also a finish line for my thoughts on that. But in between the two, there's this:

That's a nice card. I sold one, through Mr. Brockelman, I think, some time ago. Mine was slabbed and was not that nice. ANYONE with the money to buy that card should have enough sense and experience to gently rub a... fingernail across that plastic and quickly realize that it's only tape. So, it seems like buyer's remorse, and I agree with what someone said about the fellow trying to sell that should get reimbursed some postal expenses. If someone doesn't have enough sense to realize a bit of tape on the edge of a slab is no big deal, then they probably have no business participating on the BST.

BST problems are likely to increase. I suspect more stuff gets sold through here now than 6 months ago, partly because of the way eBay rules and actions have changed. So, vigilance over what's happening over there will be needed more as time goes by. It's like that guy said on Hillstreet Blues, "Guys, let's be careful out there."

My experience is to be suspicious of zero tolerance policies. "Zero Intelligence comes my mind when I hear that. Whenever a zero tolerance rule appears, eventually some set of circumstances come along that begs for justified reconsideration.

The name thing, I don't think that's a death blow, as set forth, necessarily. If I looked at all applying new member USER ID's and NAMES, it would be immediately obvious if the two entries were identical. If the USER ID was something that looked to be a first and last name, then that wouldn't seem a red flag to me. But if both were DEUCE (the name of my slightly overweight Dalmatian), then it should be obvious that DEUCE isn't a person's first and last name. This leaves me with a lack of certainty at whether he had an intent to deceive. I don't like the idea that someone might hunt me down to try to break in and take what collectibles may be in my house. I've not gotten rid of them all, nor are all in safety deposit boxes. While I doubt someone attempting that would find much (hell, I can't find cards myself around here sometimes), I still have tried to stay off of the monthly pickup threads. That scares me. And it worries me when someone here emails me asking about some card, and eventually wanting to see a scan. Some of the folks I think I know are easily welcome to a scan (if I can find the card) and a discussion. But when someone I don't know or only recently knows has asked, it worries me. I don't think I've even looked at a monthly pickup tread in a couple of years... I'm afraid to even look.

Over the years I've seen/experienced a handful of Leon's decisions with which I did not agree at that moment. And in almost all of them, I've come around to thinking that he made the proper decision. Golly, my job is decision-making, and I think Leon's pretty good at it.

I didn't vote. I don't feel sufficiently well informed to make a sound decision. I think the decision should maybe be previewed to the fellow who sold that Cy Young card twice, suffering from an initial return. And I couldn't pull the I Don't Care trigger because I do care.

With all of that jammed in between my initial thinking and finish line as mentioned above, that's what I think. Along with an increase in scrutiny of new members and vigilance on the BST. I do think that scrutiny and vigilance is and has been occurring, thank you for that. I just think that Leon might benefit from a bit of help with that from a couple of board members (guys that already assist here, I'd think).

I wish you well with that, Mr. L.