That morning, Maxine was the guardian, and afterwards she sent me the following note, below. And just to clarify from my side, it is our stated policy to never publish snippets from a dialogue, or even mention someone’s SL name, if they are not happy to appear in this blog. There may be many reasons for someone not being comfortable with being mentioned, and it is totally up to the person in question whether or not they give their permission. The one thing that I have found the most surprising is that 97% to 98% of our visitors have no objections to being mentioned and cited! I had expected that at least 20% to 30% would object, but in fact the numbers are a factor ten lower than I would have guessed.
Here is what Maxine reported, in the remainder of this section.
After 10 minutes of repose I was joined by someone who found the teahouse relaxing. We had some conversation about the value of SL and the internet, how many people one could meet on SL and the internet and how vast its potential; this person spoke about her meditative/spiritual interests and I mentioned the PaB practice, inviting her to come. We spoke amiably but as I was preparing to leave and asked whether she was comfortable with my including her conversation in the blog, she said rather clearly that she did not wish that to occur, that she had not been forwarned and did not wish to be published on the internet. I gave the playasbeing website for her information and apologized in not having asked earlier about this. Because of her clear statement I agreed not to take the text.
When I had to go, I felt a bit uncomfortable, as if somehow I had done something to interrupt the good flow. But as I thought about it, this person who searches the internet a lot might feel others would be searching her published conversation as well. My vague apprehensiveness for the well-being of the teahouse upon my leaving I also had to reflect upon. It felt part of the slight discomfort of the leave-taking. But I felt I that I could not extend my ‘guardian’ role beyond its intended place as greeter, that I could not let my apprehension become more than that, an apprehension, and so I took my leave.
