The following discussion is preserved as an archive of a request for adminship that did not succeed. Please do not modify it.
Nomination withdrawn. I see that it's obvious that the people here are going to judge me not on my track record of contributions, but rather on my response to a few editors who think it's fun to deliberately prod and goad people. I accept that I don't have a lot of experience with administrative tasks. That may change in the future. What I don't accept is that people seem to feel the need to use this process to attack a candidate as an "easy target", a clay pigeon of sorts. I don't need that.
The funny thing is, I never would have considered applying for adminship myself. The only reason I agreed to this nomination in the first place is because Prodego and Jerry asked me to, on more than one occasion. Rest assured, I feel no ill will whatsoever against either of them for doing so, nor do I blame them for what happened here. But as I said earlier, I'm not so stupid as to not know when to fold my hand and walk away.
I work on Wikipedia as a hobbyist, nothing more, nothing less. I do so for the same reason I went to law school, because I enjoy research, writing, and learning new things. I think that overall, Wikipedia is a great project, but like all projects, it has its relative strengths and weaknesses. But going through this kind of drama isn't worth it for a job that doesn't even pay anything, that I really wasn't sure I even wanted in the first place, isn't worth my time and energy. The reward is not commensurate with the agony.
I'm going to bed soon, because I have to get up in the morning, drive into NYC, and do real world stuff with real people that will probably have greater overall importance to my life than anything that transpires here. To those who supported/nominated me, thank you very much for your trust and support. For those who opposed me for good reason, thank you for your advice on how to improve as an editor and/or potential admin candidate. For those who came here seeking to sabotage me, thank you as well, for reminding me that anyone can say anything they want, when they are safely hiding behind the anonymity of the Internet. --Eastlaw (talk) 04:52, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]