...the wretched refuse living under your bridges longing to breathe free, or at least get your billy-goat gruff once in a while...

My two cents:

People like Sam the Troll, people like Sam the Needy, and people like Sam the Dense-but-Well-Meaning come into my place of business every day. As long as they don't give the staff lip, we do what we can. When we can't do any more, we encourage them to sit and read, and move on to the next patron/task/idiot-paperwork. We're service providers at work, though, and we must behave professionally for the public.

As the Zone is a hobby for everyone here except Robert, for whom it is apparently a love affair ;) , community members are under no such constraints, and I can see -- boy, can I see -- how it would be annoying. I get baited by teenaged boys an average of two dozen times a week. Still, I have discovered that it does no good to be nasty because they are only Little Boys. It's far more annoying for the baiters when I pat them on their Pointed Little Heads, even when I have to drag out the stepstool to reach up there. Those who are really just Not Very Bright eventually "get it", or eventually don't and give up. In all cases, patience proves to be its own reward. However, I'm not prone to high blood pressure, ulcers, or that kind of thing, which tendencies often benefit from the use of the safety valve of loudness.

I don't post much at Space because I have much more to learn than to contribute, but I can learn by reading. Some of us aren't so fortunate.

Some of us also need a lot of attention we don't get in other ways. Negative attention is better than no attention at all. So: feed the fix and the addict will return. Lock up the supply and the user will move on to other supplies more easy to get to.

Regards--
Mary Anne