I too hope you will reconsider. It has been a pleasure reading your posts and your perspective is truly unique since you are not only a long time resident but also a US expat. Your stories and insight has been invaluable.

It's not easy to deal with such a large group of very different people. We all love the island (although sometimes it doesn't seem that way) and sometimes that love makes us react strongly without thinking. It's very hard to interpret what people actually mean or feel by just reading what is written in a post. So much of what we mean can't be conveyed because you can't see expressions. There's also no way to have a quiet give and take discussion since there is a lag between what is written and a response. As has been very obvious here, we don't know the background or history behind most of what goes on on the island.
I hope you will reconsider and help us mere visitors understand what it is that make the island the place we love so much.
Respectfully (thank you Pat, I love that all of your posts are signed this way),
Kathleen