Ron Drogo, (spnited), RIP

Among his last posts were a couple telling me I was full of shit. It's OK. Sometimes I am, and sometimes he was.

I never met him personally but from everything I've seen here, in a lot of ways we were very much alike: Lifers who love the business and pour all the blood, sweat, tears, bile and spittle we have into it. For that very reason a lot of us end up never getting a chance to walk away.

At the end all you can do is have a drink and a laugh and agree to come back and give each other some more shit tomorrow.

One thing for sure: he picked the right handle. He was absolutely "spirited."

 

No problem at all, IJAG. He and I really connected.

 

Starman, that's a medal of honor to be the last one he called full of shit. Wear that proudly.

 

Because this may be a controversial idea, I hesitated to post it under my regular screen name (so as not to poison it).

A lot of people are talking about how Ron's death tells them how important this place is to them, and how much joy and friendship it brings them. And how fortunate he was to have this place.

But I can't help be troubled by the opposite thought.

That when I am on my deathbed, I don't think I'm going to think, "I wish I had spent more time on the Internet." I can't help being troubled by the thought that, had Ron had time to think about it, perhaps he would have actually regretted 30,000 message board posts.

I'm probably wrong, because he made a lot of real-life friends on here. But for those of us who stay anonymous, and have never gone to outings and such, I think it is a fair thing to think about. Ron's death is making me reconsider the amount of time I spend here and on the Internet in general, in a different way.

I hope I am not offending everyone. Death affects us all in different ways, and I think it is good to get it off my chest and see if anyone else can relate at all.

Thank you.

 

Star should have a button made up.

 

That's a fair point, but will note I believe you must weigh the volume and value of what can be gleaned here, against time spent.

 

Sheffield, see my post on the You're special to me thread on Anything Goes. I take the opposite view to your post--in that technology is greatly changing the way we measure and value human interactions.

 

I read it. It actually helped inspire my post, because you talked about how he was "with family" in his final hours. The same thing happened with a close family friend of mine. He died suddenly, and left open an online community in which he was a prolific poster. The relative who found him found it and posted that he had died.

I know that online communities are changing the way people interact, and that they are far more "acceptable" than they were 10-20 years ago. I just am not sold on whether that's a good thing or not. I am not convinced it's a healthy way to spend our time. Or a healthy way to interact. Of course, I understand the counterargument - about how easy it is to find people of like interests. Easier than it is in real life.

I guess I'm a little shaken.

Sorry to shit on Ron's thread, if that's what it seems like. I am not trying to be contrarian or anything. I just have been holding these thoughts in in some form or another since he died, and your post on Anything Goes finally helped me crystallize exactly what was bothering me.

 

I post occasionally here, but I made an effort through the years and crazy schedules to meet Ron and as many other board members as possible. I never would have had those opportunities without the board, and I am grateful.

 

I know only one or two people behind their code names, and he wasn't one, but I enjoyed the debate with the guy. Sixty-one. Too early.

 

"Hi, it's the dickhead."

Brilliant, BYH.

Thank you and Xan for performing a necessary ritual and purpose that none of the rest of us could do -- but that we all wish we could have done.

Class.

 

Your posts make sense and can help people not to live vicariously through the Internet.

But, also, just because he made 30,000-plus posts, doesn't mean that's the only thing he did.

It's easy to rack up posts during down time at work. Leave the browser open in the background, do some pages/stories, flip back when you're caught up, etc.