So this is a little post about reminding people to appreciate the moderators at disabilities-r-us, but not in the sense you may think, I'm not asking you to praise them, to thank them or to bestow gifts upon them, although I really am grateful for everything they do, volunteering their time unconditionally with nothing in return except grief when they have had to moderate a situation... but more in the sense of I want to remind everybody that they are also people too, people with disabilities and problems just like you, and they are not infallible cold, power hungry robots just waiting to pounce!
I want to remind everybody that they have health problems, life problems, sleep problems or some variation of problem, I am sure you get the picture, yet every day they still manage to volunteer their time to help ensure things run smoothly and people feel safe despite the problems and despite how they might be feeling!
We are all volunteers at disabilities-r-us, giving our time freely to something we love and believe in, this awesome little community we have, but sometimes it seems that people treat the moderators with some amount of separation like they are different in the sense that they are without disabilities and problems, maybe it's from the position they are in where they appear to be stronger because of being authoritarians? So if you ever see one having a bad day, and this is the point I have been trying to get to, if you know one is having a hard time, just try to remember that maybe they need somebody to talk to, somebody to listen, maybe be a little more mindful of these things before engaging in drama, or interfering with a situation they are already handling
(believe me helping is not always helpful, a moderator is more effective when allowed to moderate without everybody joining in)Just try to remember these things if you do see them expressing they are having a hard time with life or health or whatever, and remember that even though I said this is not about thanking them or giving them praise (although we should) disabilities-r-us would not be able to run without them, it is a collaborative effort where each cog from Daniel and what he does behind the scenes, the things that I do (TiGgEr), the moderators, and even you our members form part of something bigger than I think most of us realise and we should remember to do our part to ensure as a community everything and everybody is well and looked after!
Thank you, to and from the volunteers at disabilities-r-us!
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