@UncleB wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:I just don't say anything because I dont want to be banned.
While I think (hope?) you mean this in jest, just for the record I want to add that it's actually quite difficult to get banned here; those very few times where it does happen the situation is usually so ''over the top" (and with repeated warnings) that there's truly no alternative.
As others have already said, there's a way to give the 'truth' without being uncivil. Of course we all have days where we wish we had said something a little differently (I know I do) but there's never a reason to be rude or nasty in a reply to someone.
Not really. Tired of seeing the same questions over and over ad nauseam. It creates unnecessary clutter when 3 or 4 of the top 10 posts on the board are basically the same question. I told one guy asking about a 2nd NFCU card to read the 800 page thread about that topic 5 posts below his. I get everyone's situation is different, but how many "Cap1 is the worst creditor ever because they won't give my 1-3 year old starter card a CLI" threads do we need? It's too bad Lithium doesn't offer similar threads based on keywords before someone can post a new one.
/rant
@shoegal wrote:Nope.
Not here and not IRL. The older you get the less you care about what people think.
True 
@Anonymous wrote:
@pipeguy wrote:I generally tell the truth - opinion or otherwise. This can sometimes come off as sarcastic or "snarky" and some/many times I'll preference my remarks with "this may sound harsh/snarky but.... ".
There is a fine line, especially using text which typically fails to show inflection, between being honest in one's advice or opinion and being sarcastic or judgemental. If you can draw from your own experience and offer advice, even where things did not turn out as well as you expected, that helps too.
As an example, over the last 45+ years, I have spent well over $1,000,000 (million) on cars/trucks/boats/bikes - when I see the 20-something car fans asking "advice" which is usually more validation than seeking advice, looking to buy expensive or exotic vehicles with high payments going toward a depreciable asset, I will at times offer a warning - rarely heeded, but offered with experience having "wasted" a LOT of money on "toys" over my lifetime.
Just look at your post as if someone was advising you and how you would react - it's not that hard to be kind even offering an opinion or advice counter to what someone may want to hear.
I totally agree with everything you said, pipeguy!
There is nothing wrong with being honest if you'd it'll help the OP.
I guess I am just too sensative (and I am a 43-year-old. woman...). To be honest with you, I have actually not posted for 3 days because a poster said something I thought was snarky to me, even though, when I thought it about extensively, I concluded that I was overreacting and that I needed to distinguish between constructive criticism and snarkiness in posts.
Sorry for the little spiel.
43 year old woman as well! I too get a little sensitive online. It's hard to read emotion/intention in text only. I like emoticons. They help!