So I don’t know why exactly, but compared to Costa Rica, Panamanian expats have very few forums & groups one can do research on.

I initially joined 2-3 & then had a HUGE problem with this one…

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/americans_in_panama/

This guy named Clyde is known for being a VERY nasty person.

clydej@nwlink.com

I got that impression every time he posted to the group, but other than standing up to him once, I never had much contact with him until one day he boots me from the group for no reason at all & writes this to the entire group.

“Well, Michelle, I went to look at your Yahoo profile and it said that either you didn’t exist or you chose to hide it.  I remember the first day you posted with about 7 messages.  The warning bells went off saying “troll, troll, troll”.  As a result I left you on moderated status and in the interim have deleted about half of your messages because they were either mindless blather having nothing to do with Panama or you were attacking someone.  After reading numerous messages you have posted on the 20 or so groups you belong to where you profess a desire to move to Peru, Chili, Israel, etc., etc., etc. my original hunch is confirmed, you’re nothing more than a troll.  Choosing not to be a baby sitter, I am saying adios.

Clyde, moderator”

Not only is this clear definition of a bully, he’s a liar, since I don’t attack people. It’s not within my nature to do that.

I’ll stand up for myself, yes, but I don’t attack, as I’m a kind loving person. Sure I have my triggers like everyone does (poor customer service, stupid people, bullies, mean spirited people, etc.), but I don’t ever go out & just randomly attack human beings.

Then he calls me a troll which is very very amusing.

I’ve been on the Internet net as a nettie since 1998 & a netrepreneur since 2002. A troll is someone who goes around causing problems or is trying to spy on people or lurk without posting.

LOL, I just have to laugh at this because I’m so far from being a troll that it’s clear to me that Clyde has some serious intellectual issues. Given that I post every so often, just that fact alone doesn’t make me a troll.

As for me researching which country I want to move to, OMG, in Clyde’s very small brain he considers this a crime against what??? So the logic he has is that you should ONLY be interested in moving to one country & one country ONLY? LOL

Of course that’s not logical. A person should investigate as many countries as they wish until they find one that suits them.

But of course arguing with someone who’s that low on the intelligence scale is useless. They will never understand what you are saying & bullies often don’t which is why they are bullies, but in all fairness, there are very intelligent bullies too.

I think the reason Clyde got upset, was because a conversation started about women & intelligence. I complained that most men who have online dating profiles never state that they want women with intelligence (not that I’ve seen anyway), when this is one of my TOP requisites when meeting someone new & I DO state this in my profile.

Clyde is a male (can’t call him a man because a real man doesn’t behave the way Clyde does) in his 70’s or 80″s from what I heard, & he is either involved, married or dating a Panamanian or Colombian who’s either 18 or just a smidgen older than that. I want to be clear that girls that young can very well be intelligent, so I’m NOT knocking her or anyone else because of their age. That’s agism.

After thinking about why Clyde acted the way he did, it became clear that Clyde has issues with dating a women close to his own age. Hell, he can’t even date anyone half his age & so he must have taken offense to something I said (insecure people do that, they lash out at people who are just speaking about anything in general, nothing directed at them) & the next thing I know, with no warning, he’s booted me & tried to make me out to be a problem.

Also the fact that he went around trying to investigate me online is scary. Who does that unless they have some serious issues?

I’ve NEVER had any personal issues with this guy, I wasn’t infringing on him or his company (if he has one) or his personal life, so there was no need to “investigate” me, yet he did.

He’s also clueless when it comes to Yahoo groups because several years ago Yahoo changed their whole interface so that the profiles were hidden unless you unhid them.

Since I rarely use that profile anymore, I never bothered to unblock it & frankly didn’t realize it was blocked. Who gives a shit anyway? Does his group mandate that profiles need to be open? Noooo

But Clyde had to jump to conclusions trying to make something into something when it wasn’t & tried to embarrass me.

I’ve also heard since then that he & Don Winner (again, I’ve had no dealings with Don, but I’ve heard he’s also a very nasty human being) are like brothers in arms. It’s a well known fact that if you say anything Clyde doesn’t like, or you say anything against Don, Clyde will boot you from his groups. That happened to someone just a week ago & who knows how many people are booted by Clyde, but don’t speak up.

It’s unfortunate that such control freaks run these Yahoo groups & especially since there isn’t much selection, but I’ve come to learn that expats who move to Panama & Costa Rica can be VERY VERY nasty people. I’ve experienced bullying first hand many times just from asking simple questions or voicing my opinion. That leads me to believe there are some very insecure people in Panama which does fall inline with what I heard just before moving here… That expats who move to Panama are running from something. I thought it was that they were criminals running from the law, but I think it’s a whole bunch of issues a lot of these people have.

I’ve had them call me names, put me down, laugh at me, etc. Now I understand why only about 20-25 people out of 3,000-4,000 people post on the groups, because everyone else is too scared to post for fear of being bullied.

Fast forward to months later after being here in Panama, I found this Yahoo group on Panama. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/viviendo_en_panama/

When I joined, I had NO IDEA it was also run by Clyde, the same bully & VERY mean spirited guy who booted me off of  the Yahoo Group –  Americans in Panama – http://groups.yahoo.com/group/americans_in_panama/

At first I tried to post & then realized my posts weren’t going through. That’s when I investigated & found out it was Clyde who runs the group <geesh>.

I kept a low profile just e-mailing people individually, but then in the last several days I forgot about it being his group & because the topic interested me, I responded to some posts.

The next thing I know, one of my posts comes back saying I’m not a member of the group.

So once again Clyde the bully has removed me from the group for no reason at all.

I’m not telling you not to join these 2 Panamanian Yahoo Groups, as the choice is only yours, I’m telling you what the situation is that I’ve experienced in Panama.

Oh & Clyde doesn’t live in Panama anymore, he lives in Colombia

Michelle