The first time he was a mod, way back when in the he was pretty much my go-to example of everything wrong with the mod team. I felt like he would respond to reasonable critiscisms and inquiries by resorting to to ad hominem and a lol2bad4u attitude without so much as taking the time to understand properly the topic of discussion.
I didn't like him very much, and I was rather miffed when he was remodded.
Then something odd started happening: I found myself agreeing with Rutab's posts from time to time.. and even when I didn't, they still seemed like good, thoughtful posts. I started noticing that his presence on the forums, particularly as it pertains to sensitive issues had become the calm and respectful voice of reason I always wanted to expect from the mod team. On top of that, it may just be that I've been on this site for too long but it also seems like he's more funny now.
I just thought I'd share this anecdote as a reminder that people can grow and change for the better, and that every now and then we should give them the opportunity that I myself probably never would have given Rutab.
