If you are referring to me, there is no enabling.
Coming from a history of mental illness, I thought the name calling and torch lighting was in poor taste.
I don't think anybody (including myself) denied that Chip should be held accountable for his actions.
I don't see any enabling. Do you?
Yes, I do think you're enabling his actions, both by sending him comics to sell at a time when he should be looking for a real job, and by defending his behavior. And by saying "I think he's wrong, but..." You most definitely are defending his actions.
I respect the fact that he's your friend, and that you choose to see the good in any situation, but how can you defend him looking to buy toys at a time when he's claiming that he's destitute? He should be looking for work, signing up for a class to learn some skills...Not looking to buy the limited edition Leia with camel toe action figure.
I guess the people that sent him checks should sit and spin while he uses their money to buy another bandaid for the bullet hole that is his life, because who could possibly pass up a deal like that?! Yuck.
As for his "mental illness", did he show you medical records? Or are you taking his word for it? Because speaking only for myself, his word means mess. I also have people in my life that suffer from mental illness, and I think it's disgusting that someone would toss that out there as an excuse to swindle people. I see what they go through, and what the people around them go through. You know as well as I do, there's a difference between clinical depression and "feeling depressed".
This will be my last post on the topic as I think we're going in circles (and this is a reply to all who feel I'm defending the indefensible).
I no longer use Chip. The last time I offered for Chip to sell my books for me was earlier this year.
At the time I felt he could genuinely use the help and I'd rather throw a lifesaver and be wrong than not try to help and be wrong.
Chip is a friend in the sense that many board members are friends. We've interacted over the years, we've talked on the phone, we've emailed many times and we've never met.
And while I was speaking about [possible] mental illness, I preferred to keep the adjectives, name calling, posturing etc to a minimum. Being that mental illness is a subject that is close to home for me I'd rather err on the side of caution rather than just call someone names on the internet. I think it's the mature thing to do.
Did I speak to his doctor? No. I didn't launch a full scale investigation. I'm too busy to micro manage someone on the other side of the continent when I have 6 kids and a small business to worry about. I spoke to the hospital he was checked into and left it at that.
@ Comix4fun, yes I did leave that part out. I wasn't trying to make any excuses for it. It's my opinion that mental health can affect things like coping mechanisms, communication with other people, digging yourself out of a hole you've dug yourself into and just routine things that we all take for granted.
I'm not saying that Chip is necessarily mentally ill at thjs point, or making excuses for him, I'm just saying that it's a possibility. How do I know? Because I used to have the same issues 12 years ago. When money was tight for me I used to have anxiety about getting back to people in a timely manner. As I said in the Jimbo707 discussion, people are complicated. Not everything that is straight forward to you is straightforward to everyone.,
@ Chrisco - I just thought the name calling was over the top. Other than that I agree (and have from the start) that he needs to be held accountable for his actions.
If his behavior falls into HOS or PL territory then he should go in there.
And if Chip reads this, a very important lesson I learned [often the hard way] is that it's not the big things you do once in a while that define you, it's the little things you do all the time.
If you do not sell it to captain crybaby Twice in one day. Is that AFTER the mods came in and cleaned up the threadkrapping from earlier yesterday in the same thread? Man, that's just begging for a wristslap/strike. I got my first private warning for a post in that thread. Hope they hammer Frankie, that crybaby. What's he so sore about? That Brock beat him to the book. Yeah, that's it.