Just found this thread and I guess I have a couple of pennies to toss in too. Although I've new to this whole lifestyle (mostly theory for me at the moment : ) Delia's last comment made me think of something that's a pet peeve of mine that sort of applies here, I think. When she said that punishment should not further worsen the situation it reminded me of a recent scene witnessed in a store - where a (very young) father of a very young child smacked the kid on the rump because he was crying! How does hitting an already crying child help the matter? It was all I could do to not say something, and I was too far away at the time. The reason the child was crying? He couldn't keep up with the dad, who was holding his hand and half dragging the poor little guy! Just seems to me that, had the dad been aware that the problem was really that the child couldn't possibly walk as fast - in a diaper and with legs considerably shorter than his - he would have realized how ignorant and unobservant his reaction was, and how totally ineffective. I know this may seem way off topic, but I'm shooting for an analogy here. : )
I do like some of the things the Doms here have said (Thank you Sir Russell, among others )- that one really needs to know the sub and that the punishments don't have to be dire (quite a relief for this newbie, actually! : ) I think the silent treatment would work really well for subs, who, if like me, like to please people as part of their basic nature.

Delia pointed out that public humiliation wouldn't work for everyone too - I know it would probably have me blubbering in the car, but some people might like it. Thanks for listening (reading?)