Hawk Family Banner
sewn by (Stelerhawk)
You will see alot of Hawks after you join the family. We tend to congregate together. Why? Basically because we like each other. Hawks are generally very gregarious individuals who have little difficulty expressing themselves. If, you get more than two hawks in the same room (which is very, very likely), sooner or later another AOL member will ask "Hey! What's with all the Hawks?" The following description of Hawks was written by Rabbaroo and is a very appropriate response:
Please feel free to make a macro out of this and use it at your discretion.
The key word in the quote is FAMILY. To be a hawk is to be part of a "family" or as we often refer to ourselves "The Clueless Clan". We call each other "bros" and "sisses" and really mean that. Hawks often help each other when in need. This means on-line and off-line if feasible. Of course it isn't a perfect world and there may at times be some Hawks that don't quite see eye to eye about things. You may not always get along with your immediate family members either but that doesn't mean you wouldn't go out of your way to help them.
Just in case you haven't noticed, upon seeing one another Hawks usually enjoy a gigantic Hug Fest. {{{{{{Hugs to Sisters & To All Hawks}}}}}}}}} i.e. {{{{{{SHES}}}}}}} OR [[[[[[[Hugs to Bros by Bros]]]]]] and of course lots of warm, heartfelt kisses ***** Hawks never seem to get enough hugs or kisses so get ready.
Hawks are all different ages (currently from the youngest at 12 to the oldest in the 60's). Hawks are of different colors, religions, professions, ethnic backgrounds, financial situations, etc... We don't discriminate against anyone. Feathers are feathers and Hawks are family. Period!! Bigotry and racism have no place in the CluelessClan.
Hawks understand, believe in, and practice the AOL TOS rules. We also report violations to the AOL TOS. If you don't know what these are go to Keyword: TOS and read them as soon as possible. You have already agreed to these Terms of Service when you opened up your AOL account. Usually Hawks are fun-loving and relatively flexible concerning minor "bending" of the rules. Gentle persuasion to correct disruptive behavior is the preferred method Hawks will undertake to correct "situations" in chat rooms. However, flagrant violations are reported wherever they are found and as often as the violations occur (i.e. numerous TOSses for the same individual violator).
People may think you are a "Nark", tattletale or various other not so nice titles if they know you are reporting other members. Who cares? We all agreed to the AOL TOS when we joined the service. Bad Guys are SNERTS. SNERTS are Hawk food. Real simple huh? Seriously. Warn the violators if you wish to give them a chance to change their evil ways. If not... TOS em!!!
SirReddHawk (one of the founders of the clan) defined SNERTS as follows:
=OR
Hawks do not TOS Hawks! The Clan is, above everything else,...a family!! Would you report your real life brother for petty theft, or you would gather a few family members together and attempt to modify the unacceptable behavior? Errant birdies are generally handled gently but with extreme embarassment if possible...(lame joke..but you get the point).
Hawks are not Guides, but are rather friends to ALL Guides. Since all hawks believe, understand and at times report offenders of the AOL TOS rules it follows that we support Guides. Guides are here to make sure everyone has fun with the on-line service. This includes answering questions, welcoming members into chat rooms, helping members in need and enforcement of TOS if normal gentle persuasion fails. When there is a guide in a room with you, do NOT attempt to usurp their authority. If, a question is asked by another member regarding AOL's use or services, or one of the many "How do I" questions, let the Guide answer the question and do their job. It is simply common sense not to argue with Guides, harass them or to break TOS rules in front of them. Doing so repeatedly usually will result in a shortened lifespan of your AOL account, not to mention tarnishing the Hawk name and good reputation as the volunteer "Guardian Angels" of AOL in the process. Always keep in mind... Hawks represent all Hawks... we do care about what you do when wearing wings.
The Family is large. A few master lists include up to 100 active hawks. It is generally not a good idea to "Reply to all" when dealing with large hawk lists because if, everyone did that, it would fill all of our mail boxes up very quickly indeed. This is understandably a real sensitive issue with some Hawks.
Use your common sense and when in doubt.... state in your general Hawk mailings "If you don't want to be bothered by the stuff I have to offer, please let me know and I will remove you from my list" that way we can all tell you to go away if we don't like your stuff. :-) Many Hawks use the BCC: option with their large list mailings so that the huge mail list is not at the top of the letters. Using BCC's are accomplished by adding parenthesis followed by a comma around each name in your address list... for example (SirKntHawk), (LdyNanHawk), (SHESAHAWK). Most on-line address books provide this option for email (Powertools, Powermail and AOL).
Hawks, like other friends you may have on-line, share certain wav files (sound files). If, you don't have a sound board.. ummm... well... you don't have to read anymore because you cant hear wavs anyway. The Hawk that invited you to join the Clan will probably give you the essential wavs that alot of Hawks use. Otherwise, if, a hawk plays a wav you don't have, ask them to send it if you think you want it. Have them explain what it is if it isn't clear from the file name. Look forward to downloading large quantities of wavs. Hawks breed fast but nothing like the wav files they can turn out.
No one is forcing you to download anything, nor would they be offended by asking to be removed from their wav mailing list. DO NOT ever download files from someone you don't know (this is the primary way to get a computer virus i.e. download an .exe or .com file attached to a piece of e-mail). (If you are suspicious of mail you have received, you can forward it to TOSEMAIL1 or TOSEMAIL2, and let AOL handle it.) If, you don't want to spend the time, don't have the drive space or simply are not interested in lots of humorous and entertaining sound files... DON'T DOWNLOAD THEM!
As mentioned above, Hawks love to get together and have fun. This can occur almost any day and any time but one special time is when a new hawk is added to the family. If, you are already a hawk, you know what this is. Generally, an email invitation is sent to all active hawks (or to close Hawk friends only), the ceremony time is set, the newbie hawk is asked to be in a certain room at a certain time, the family shows up, and new hawks are introduced to the family by the veteran hawk(s) who is(are) asking the newbie to join the clan. Usually these introductions are specific to the new bro or sis but not necessarily. This is up to the veteran hawk(s) leading the ceremony. It is their responsibility to make the new hawk feel special....because each and every new family member is just that.... very,very special. During the ceremony some of the hawk wavs are usually played such as Redhawk.wav, Redtail.wav, and Bestobes.wav.
The family changes constantly and keeping track of additions\deletions is a major task that one Hawk (yes that Hawk is me... SirKntHawk) has voluntarily, accepted as his contribution to the family. If a Hawk is named and added to the family please email to the screenname to SirKntHawk (me) so I can keep the Hawk List up to date. Name changes.. ( discouraged but understood if necessary) and Hawks that wish to leave the family should also be communicated to my screenname. If, everyone helps, I can keep the list up to date and subsequently act as a resource for those that may wish to utilize it. Also if I know of a new Hawk's existence I can send out a general Hawk mailing notifying all of their new bro or sis. Better yet I can notify all of a Hawk Ceremony. :D (I love ceremonies)
Hawk Names can be anything the new Hawk wishes. Usually the veteran and the newbie Hawk work this out before a Hawk ceremony. That way the new Hawk will be wearing feathers when they meet the family. The only thing important is the suffix/prefix. Hawks usually use the following variations of the spelling of "Hawk": Hawk, Hwk, Hwke, Hawke in either upper or lower case letters. This is NOT a rigid criteria but is encouraged. Several Hawks don't use Hawk in their names, but wear their feathers subliminally. This is somewhat rare.
Hawks do not pay dues, have to timeshare condos, nor are they required to perform illicit or illegal acts. This is not what the family is all about. If, you have any intention of getting Hawks involved in some kind of scam...don't bother ... we are not interested and may very well have to address the problem.
Hawks do not get involved in chain letters either. Chainletters are a violation of TOS and are quite a nuisance.
Hawks love to share stuff and are often very creative. You will find that many Hawks you meet have talents beyond incessant banter in chat rooms. Most Hawks are flattered when you ask to "borrow" their graphics and other macros, so ask away!! But always be sure to ask the originator before forwarding any Hawk material to non-Hawks to avoid hurt feelings. Material shared AOL is not copyright protected unless you follow specific steps. Who cares? Don't be surprise if you see really great stuff and really bad stuff too. Just smile alot! It is a Hawk thing! :D
This completes The Book Of Feathers. It is realized that the above is not a great literary work of art but it was written with the heart of a friendly raptor. Have fun Hawkies!!! That is what this is all about.