Re: Holden Caulfield Song

>Tim, I'm sorry, but I'm not buying my of your response.

I'm sorry, too. It was, after all, a leap of faith to hope that this
would go gently.

>I haven't "declared war" on John. I haven't initiated any
>discussions with John -- I don't address any posts to him except by
>way of response. If you really follow the threads, you'll see he's
>consistently responding to me out of the blue, usually in response
>to a discussion I'm having with someone else. I suspect you
>haven't, tough.

Hmm? "Tough"? Or was that a typo for "though"? The latter, I hope;
I really wouldn't like the rudeness of being told "tough" when I've
politely made a request.

And while they say that turnabout is fair play, well, in many of your
messages you have lectured people to read again what you've said. I
can only do the same now. I choose my words carefully, Jim, and when
I said of you that you had been belligerent (please don't deny THAT),
I also said, "Just please go about [your remarks] in a way that less
resembles declarations of war." Your messages have been belligerent,
and they have RESEMBLED declarations of war. No accusations from me
of declaring war; only an observation that your messages have been
provocative. That's all. And I think we can do with less of that.

>I don't see his "wit" as being particularly intelligent. I mean,
>good freaking lord, it's sooo much easier to throw off an insult
>than it is to, well, say something. About Anything. -- but the
>question you need to ask yourself is, "How would I respond if I were
>the recipient of this constant barrage without any provocation."

I'd answer maybe once or twice, and if it got nowhere I would bow
out. I'm not really interested in getting the last word -- just as,
with this thread, I expect to let it wither on the vine.

As far as John's wit, you'd laugh too if you were observing it all
instead of being on one side of it.

>Message filters cut it just fine. I can sort by sender. Anything
>coming from him will go straight into a "junk mail" box.

Please don't subject us all to barrages and expect us all to have to
work to filter you out. That's just too self-centered for words.
Instead, think -- just think -- of why so many people have asked you
to cut back on the nastiness. Surely we aren't all imagining it, are
we? Just lay off -- please. Please. That's all I ask, and I ask
nicely. And don't be selfish enough to expect a hundred people to
filter out your mail; some of us don't even have such capabilities,
you know.

>If you think this post here should have been directed to you
>privately, you should have considered sending your message to me
>privately.

Jim, you misread me, either willfully or not. Go speak in public. I
wrote publicly, because so many people have spoken about your
messages, and I want them to know they are not alone in their
objections. But I refuse to bicker about trifles. I've simply asked
you to turn down the nastiness. And I've tried to show that it is
unfair and unrealistic to expect all of us to deal with your
abusiveness by either using filters or hitting DELETE thirty times a
day. Occasional messages are one thing. But when one seems to do
nothing but write messages here, that's over the top.

>The thing about the volume of posts, now, that's probably legit.
>Work's been a bit slow lately and my job keeps me connected pretty
>constantly. If I were to sign on once a day and get all the e-mails
>at once, I think I'd perceive things a bit differently, and would
>certaily be responding a bit differently. I'll try to respond only
>once a day.

You don't need to do that, Jim. Just respond thoughtfully and
respectfully, and that should do it. As a note, please remember that
I am not interested in bickering here or privately. I have too many
other things on my so-called mind. Let's just be more civil. You'd
be surprised at how the conversation flows, as a result.

I'm sure you can pull a rhetorical switcheroo on us. Do it and try
it out and see what happens, eh?

Thanks, all.

--tim o'connor

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