On Mar 17, 4:44*pm, wrote:
On Mar 17, 9:15*am, riverman wrote:

On Mar 17, 2:12*pm, DaveS wrote:

Want another? smiling while fools talk w/out smacking them.

:-)

--riverman

One is bound to wonder what these dumbos are like in real life. Not
that I would ever want to meet any of them. I would actually probably
try to smile, but I rather fear it would be more of a strained feral
grimace.

Really, no sensible person behaves like this, it is quite beyond the
pale! *They simply fail to realise it.

Well, the strange part is that, of the many roffians I HAVE met IRL
(which by now is quite a few), every one of them has been an excellent
fellow and someone I'm happy to have wet a line with, and would do so
again, in a heartbeat. It certainly makes it harder to read the ad-
hominem flame wars, since I know first hand that some of the
individuals are not at all how they are being portrayed or
characterizing themselves.

Its just bizarre how so many folks have such different on-line
personnas...not just in how they present themselves, but in how they
choose to converse and their concern on how they impact conversation.

Case in point: I had the absolute grandest weekend fishing with Dave
LaCourse on the Rapid, and look forward wholeheartedly to the next
time we meet and fish. He really is a great guy; generous and open,
and with interesting stories and a real pleasure to just sit and chat
with. Despite our vastly different policial leanings, we got along
without a hitch, and even listened to each other's political POV
without attacking each other. Its a simple example of how, IRL, people
make a choice to not engage with deliberately inflammatory remarks or
to generate ill-will, but instead to be collegial and 'get along'. I
consider him a friend.

There's nothing 'kum ba ya-ish' about it; people in real life who
deliberately poison conversation without cause are bullies and
assholes. And most folks just don't like bullies and assholes. Yet on
line, somehow its considered reasonable behavior. I don't get it, I
don't like it, and I don't want to participate in it.

--riverman