Speaking strictly for myself, I think the whole "tone" had been uncomfortable
for some time.

Me too.

Earlier this year, there was quite a bit of Bash America(ns) going on.Having
been quite honest regarding my love and admiration for All Things British, my
feelings were hurt enough that I just withdrew,

I was born and brought up in England, then got married one Saturday and flew
the Atlantic (with my Brit DH) the next, lived in Montreal, Que for three
years, then moved to the U.S., and therefore can see both sides of many of
these questions. I thought that these "bashings" were inappropriate in this
forum, particularly as we seem to have people on all sides of every question on
both sides of the Atlantic, and what we have in common is stitchery.

I'm one of those "evil" smokers,

Me too. I try not to offend, I just wish that others (many of whom have habits
which I dislike intensely) would also endeavor to be considerate

..Reading the ever constant bickering between "regular" posters, all of whom do
have the "right" to post, wears a person out.

particularly for those who, like me, do NOT do cross-stitch, have no interest
in it whatsoever, and have to wade through all the other posts in order to find
the information we want and need.
Incidentally, I also sew, knit and crochet as well as embroidering, but I
stopped reading rcty more than a year ago because it got so unpleasant.

Thank you, Tegan.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.