Is it just me, or................

[Miki]

"I'd rather you didn't deny, justify, trigger-respond but rather thought about what I've said"

Well I have thought about it, as you asked and can only say that any "negativity" as you put it, that I read on LF, comes from  people wanting to put the side that they know about, in the France they live in. 

You and others I guess, may see it as negative, I see it as extremely helpful to others , either living here now, are thinking of moving to France, or indeed are in the process of an imminent move.

I have said it a few times, if we had this forum available when we moved here, we would have been delighted. We paid out fortunes in advice and made errors galore in the early days.

By members offering help to "newbies" now, negative or otherwise will be an unbelievable help to many. Talk of great, easy, laid back, stress free, cheap as chips and all the other words of adornment are OK by me but surely, if there was not an anti to all this, what a shock would be awaiting the new immigrants.

If it was all so wonderful, please tell me why so many of our friends have gone back to the UK and why is the average time of new arrivals staying in France, not more than a couple of years or so? 

Not negative is it ? or is it just how another person sees things ? If it is seen as negative, is it better to say nought? 

 

[peebee]

'So if the slow decline and death of this site is due to the slowness of the forum software, that is a BAD thing.

But if it is due to the tone of the forum changing due to a takeover by a small clique of vocal whiners, depressives and hangers-on who feel they own the place, that is FINE and the rest of us who don't like what we see should just p**s off?'

I totally agree with your comments Hegs. It is for these very reasons that I don't log on to LF as aften as I used to. 

[Hegs]

I am not doubting you know a lot about France and have a lot to contribute. But you (pl) would come across a lot better if you stuck to the topic (not every topic needs to be drawn into "why France is really terrible"), and let one person raise the negative points, then wait for a reply from the person who started the thread, rather than all pileing in as a pack.

The problem is that positive voices are lost in the fray and just give up.

I've lived in France for 18 months so far, most of the things I was told on here would have been really hard to do have actually been pretty simple so far.

 

 

[Russethouse]

- and did you post an encouraging note to say how easy it was ?

If people who have 'easy' or 'good' experiences don't post, we will end up with EXACTLY what you are complaining about.

[Miki]

[quote]I am not doubting you know a lot about France and have a lot to contribute. But you (pl) would come across a lot better if you stuck to the topic (not every topic needs to be drawn into "why France is...[/quote]

I think that it simply comes down to you wanting the forum to be just so with you, to be honest.

You are generalising in a way that defeats your argument, you state "not every topic needs to be drawn into why France is really terrible"   well every topic doesn't and the people you accuse of doing so, will at the moment, help far more people than you but of course not in the way you seem to insist they must. 

Let ONE person raise the negative points, why does one person know them all then ? Does one person in fact know everything ? If that is the case, two post threads will become the norm and then what will you complain about, simply not enough posts for you to whinge about?

"I've lived in France for 18 months so far, most of the things I was told on here would have been really hard to do have actually been pretty simple so far"

Here we go, I have heard this old chestnut a thousand times. I bet there are many things some of us could question you on and I doubt that unless you are fluent, in business or working for a company and have kids, you really would not know the answers to many Q's. Not being funny but to think things are easy shows you still lack knowledge of the country. Ignorance is often bliss, believe me.

For instance, you have lived here 18 months but still did not know how to work with CPAM for remboursements etc and had to ask the forum (another thread) you were lucky we never had that facility. So as you can see, that was what made it pretty simple for you but for many of us, it often meant long drives in to town to talk with 5 different people in the same section, over many weeks before it got sorted. You, one post et voila, answer given.

No point in going on because your circumstances may be pretty simple and yes, life need not be too difficult but add on the above circumstances plus other criteria and things can get pretty sticky.

If there is one thing that cheeses me off, it it the way some people are constantly whinging on about how people should respond and in what tone, how one ought to do this and that and what not to do.

Robotics come to mind and THAT would kill this forum.

[Hegs]

>and did you post an encouraging note to say how easy it was ?

>f people who have 'easy' or 'good' experiences don't post, we will end up with EXACTLY what you are >complaining about.

No, to be honest because the first few times I thought "few, got away with that after what everyone else has said, I can't be typical".

I think it was after passing my Code (first time, no problem) I started to realize that actually a lot of people post without much real knowledge of the ins and outs of specific aspects of France but with a lot of bluster, regardless of how long they have lived here.

 

[Hegs]

Miki,

I really don't know what you're on about, particularly about the robotics thing. Can you try again tomorrow?

 

[Miki]

Well Hegs, if you don't understand my quite simple posting, what can I say tomorrow that will change anything?

"Robotics" simply means all of us acting, posting and saying the same "let's hear it for la Belle France" but I am sure you would have eventually seen that yourself, anyone who can do the code in one go and find it was a doddle, has to be pretty bright after all.

My Daughter took 2 goes, as did our son to finally pass their code and they speak as fluent as good, if not better, than many kids originating from the UK and have been through the school system from primaire. So bravo to you. Shame the CPAM remboursements wasn't such a doddle but still ........................

[Jill<br><br>Jill (99)]

[quote]>But what I don't understand is, if people don't like this site for whatever reason, why bother looking in? So if the slow decline and death of this site is due to the slowness of the forum softwa...[/quote]

"But what I don't understand is, if people don't like this site for whatever reason, why bother looking in.

So if the slow decline and death of this site is due to the slowness of the forum software, that is a BAD thing."

YES IF THE SLOWNESS OF THE FORUM SOFTWARE IS DRIVING PEOPLE AWAY, THAT IS A BAD THING. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE ARE A LOT OF ENTHUSIASTIC PEOPLE TRYING TO KEEP IT GOING IN THE HOPE THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL BE REPLACED (SORRY ABOUT THE CAPITALS, I'M ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO DOES HAVE A CONTROL PANEL BUT IT DOESN'T GIVE ME THE ABILITY TO CHANGE FONT.

"But if it is due to the tone of the forum changing due to a takeover by a small clique of vocal whiners, depressives and hangers-on who feel they own the place, that is FINE and the rest of us who don't like what we see should just p**s off?"

THE PERSON WHO SEEMS TO BE WHINING HERE, IS YOU. IF PEOPLE TELL IT AS THEY SEE IT - IT DOESN'T MAKE IT WHINING. LIFE CAN BE DEPRESSING WHEREVER YOU ARE. YOU ONLY HAVE TO LOOK AT THE NEWS. LIFE IS LIKE THAT. THE FORUM HASN'T CHANGED IN RESPECT OF THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT - THE TOPICS ARE THE SAME, THE PEOPLE ARE THE SAME. (EXCEPT THAT WE HAVE LOST SOME GOOD FRIENDS DUE TO THE CHANGE OF FORMAT, BUT GAINED SOME NEW ONES WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO DISCUSS THINGS WITH EVERYONE ELSE) IT TAKES ALL TYPES TO MAKE A WORLD, AND THEY ARE ALL HERE TOO. AS FOR CLIQUES - I'VE SAID THIS MANY A TIME BEFORE - I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY CLIQUES - CLIQUES ARE CREATED BY THE PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT TO HAVE A GO AT PEOPLE WHO ARE ENJOYING COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OTHER. IF YOU STOP CRITICISING PEOPLE, YOU MAY HAVE A CHANCE OF BECOMING PART OF THE COMMUNITY. I'M SURE THAT ANYONE WHO FIRST JOINS FEELS LIKE A STRANGER, AS DOES SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T VISIT REGULARLY. THE ONLY WAY TO GET TO KNOW PEOPLE IS TO BECOME INVOLVED.

"Please THINK before you start typing."

WELL, YES, WHY DON'T YOU! THERE IS NO NEED TO GO ON AND ON ACCUSING PEOPLE OF BEING IN CLIQUES. JUST JOIN IN LIKE ANYONE ELSE AND ENJOY YOURSELF.