As you can probably guess from the poem, my surname is "Savage." I wrote this poem for my daughter to remind her of the roots of our family, and the standards to which we are to hold ourselves. At 50 years old, this creed of self-expectation and manner of comportment has become central to my self-identity, and, it is a worldview I have imparted upon her. 

#thealliance

I recently applied to a group here on Steemit called #thealliance ... a group whose membership is "by invitation only." In order to join, you have to submit an Application Post. Someone reviews it, and does some background investigation, to decide whether you get in, or not. The purpose of the group is to foster mutual support for the creation of quality content. A noble ideal ... and one of which, I thought, would make me a poster-child applicant. 

I did not make the cut. Here's an excerpt, posted on Dischord, in full public view, of their rejection of my application:

"... we have decided that you are not quite desirable for our 'society'. It may be your lack of dedication, consistency, perhaps some terms you used, different people have different disqualifying features. Please try again in a month."   

Of course, #thealliance, (or any other private group) has, and ought to have, the right to determine their own criteria for membership. And, they have, and ought to have, the right to decline membership to anyone they believe has failed to meet it. But wow! Doesn't that strike you as a pretty ... shitty way of saying it? That rebuke, and what it infers about my character, never-mind the impact upon my reputation, stays on the blockchain forever. 

Well, so does this post. 

Now maybe you're thinking I'm some rabble-rouser, sailing the seas of Steemit swearing and cursing, spamming or just creating really poor-quality posts. I invite you to peruse my feed, including comments and replies, to draw your own conclusion. 

In particular, I encourage members of #thealliance to do so.

I encourage all Steemians, and especially members of #thealliance, to include in the comments section of this post, where you believe I went wrong. Where I fell short. How I failed to meet even the most draconian of expectations. Please feel free to be verbose.

I don't really know what to think about the whole incident. Everybody I've met who is associated with #thealliance has been, quite frankly, incredible. And, I've looked at blogs of members I've not yet met and they all seem to be good, upstanding folks dedicated to the groups' mission ... creating quality content.

But come on: "... we have decided that you are not quite desirable for our 'society'. It may be your lack of dedication, consistency, perhaps some terms you used, different people have different disqualifying features."

Are you kidding? 

What kind of a groveling sycophant would I have to be to let such a thing go unanswered?

"It's nothing personal," you might argue, as that language is part of the Permanent Message on the rejection pane. 

Well, it ought not be. It is language that is, at best, needlessly inflammatory and, at worst, deliberately insulting ... and language that invites posts like this one.  

  

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Perhaps you haven't read, "Ancient The Curse," in my Intro Post.    

Don't think you're safe just because you're not a whale.     

Don't screw around with Black Magic!  

Poetry can make wonderful gifts   

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