Hmmm, I started posting pretty much right away on the Cruise Board when I first joined. After a while, I explored a bit on my own and discovered the Community Board. I know I was a lurker here for quite a while (months!) before finally posting on this forum. I was too intimidated to post, with so many people knowing each other, why would anyone bother with a post from me. But as time went on, I would add a thought or well wish to someone's thread and it grew a little easier each time.
It took quite a while but it finally got to the point where I ventured a post of my very own on the Community Board - asking for opinions of Bohemian Rapsody being sung at a H.S. concert - (with Columbine still fresh in my mind). In retrospect, it probably should have gone to the debate board but I was unaware of that board at that time. Even though the majority of people responding to that thread did not agree with me regarding the appropriateness of this song at a H.S. concert, IMO it was a very respectful thread and it gave me exactly what I was asking for - the frank opinions of a variety of people from different walks of life. No one was right and no one was wrong -- they just expressed their own opinion on the subject.
That thread encouraged me and, while I still consider myself a bit of an outsider over on this board, I have found a comfort level for me -- a balance between lurking and posting.
I think I lurked for about 6 months before my first post.
