Murph,
Thanks for that point of view and analysis. Those are my opposing view points as well, which is why I posed the question and theoretical quandary. I do not know the answer and only have questions which are spawned from trying to better understand the mechanics. I have found that troubleshooting and finding the route cause of any situation requires a firm grasp of the theory of why things do what they do and how they do it.
Regarding my “strong adult language”. You must be joking, seriously. This forum is hardly a G rated Disney film. I think you are blowing my horrific behavior out of proportion and your parental tone is hardly justified. It’s not as if I went off on some sort of tirade slewing all sorts of names at anyone and started swearing like a logger. In fact, “prick” is pretty tame by anyone’s standards. I can rattle off many “descriptive” names, verbs, adverbs and adjectives much worse that you hear on prime time TV. But if that is how you view me, and do not wish to converse with me because of that view, then that is your prerogative. I’ve always thought you were pretty cool, but so be it if that is how you feel.
Randy –
I changed my user name for reasons of needing to maintain anonymity. Over the years I have made it a point to not discuss what I do, or who I work for on this board or any other place on the internet, with the exception of professional discussion groups. This is for security reasons. I needed to change it to remove my last name from the public domain. I really shouldn’t be communicating in public at any level, but this is a hobby of mine, and I like the distraction of forums from time to time.
Regardless of who I am, your behavior to me in this thread is A-typical of you. You immediately jump to the conclusion that someone is a troll or up to no good if they are new. Instead of trying to look at the situation from that person’s point of view and understand where they are coming from, you assume the worse and attack. I just haven’t said anything or called you on it for these past years because things generally play out on their own. I am also not a forum etiquette enforcer – I do my best to avoid the drama and only intervene when someone says something really out of line. There have not been many times when I did say something. Now that you’ve done to me, what I’ve witnessed you do to many others over the years, I responded with a defensive posture. But you are correct; I do not know you and I should have tried harder to get to know you. I think you probably have a good heart, and that is a trait that is very important to me. I will try to do so in the future. I would offer a suggestion to you though, try to assume positive intent.
As to my “questionable behavior”, I find my need to have to explain it somewhat absurd. My reaction was nothing more than a response to what I felt was an unsolicited and undeserving response to something I wrote. What was said to me could have easily been phrased at least a dozen different ways that would not have been offensive, if the intent was to discus the point; but he chose to phrase it in a way that was very clearly, to me, intended to be confrontational. In other words, it pissed me off. Then LT decided to join in. In both cases, neither person took the time to read what I wrote, analyze it and attempt to understand my point, or the rationale behind the analogy. No one did from what I can tell. But many did take my comments and make a joke out of them. Not just in this thread either but I notice that I'm being joked at in other threads today as well.
This has been very eye opening to me. After being treated as if I was some kind of “troll”, because you and others (I assume others) didn’t know who I am, I can now fully appreciate how new forum members feel when they get trashed by “the mob” when they do not agree with what is said. Nothing has changed over the years; just the person’s who belong to the mob.
I think I need to take a hiatus from this place for a while.
