Hey, bclarkie, come on, not deleting it now - it's becoming one of the most interesting threads on the forum... like seeing a duel with magic users throwing fireballs at each other. Ah, I adore the smell of sulphur in the morning...

Ok, this WAS a joke.

I agree that this forum has a specific purpose, and every other issue should be addressed privately. The only thing I have to say is that myself - and I can speculate, many others in there - are not "juvenile bigots" even if sometimes say something that could be classified like that - probably because the "tongue-in-cheek" accent isn't translated well into forums.

Actually...

afoolandhis$'s comment was juvenile and *possibly* bigoted (but that did not stop me finding it funny )

and GraysonAC was absolutely right to identify it as so.

And in a way, it could probably have ended there.  Spotting someone's remarks as juvenile is, as a simple matter of fact, not the same as accusing that person as being juvenile (i.e. even smart people say stupid things - it doesn't make them stupid).  And GraysonAC kept his remarks to the post not the person.  And to be honest, afoolandhis$'s comment was hardly the most inflammatory comment I have seen on this (or other) boards.

I like the informality of this forum and accept that sometimes people will say something with which I will disagree or which will make me cringe - as I am sure some of my posts (this one?) make other people cringe.  In exactly the same spirit of openness and free-speech, I think it is good that people will post if they feel that a statement offends their sensibilities ...  and of course everyone else here can pile in on top if they want.

But, at the end of the day - afoolandhis$'s comment wasn't that bad, and Grayson AC did not actually call him juvenile.  So, I would echo the earlier post about mountains and molehills (although I prefer the term 'storm in a tea cup' myself).


...

When I read the initial posting I missed the "eGay" remark. After reading Grayson's post, I went back to afoolandhis$'s message and my first reaction was why is Grayson getting so upset over what could very possibly be a typo. After all the G key is right above the B key.
    Reading the subsequent postings seems to indicate that this was indeed delibrate on the part of afoolandhis$. However it strikes me strange that Grayson assumes it was not a mistake and then claims his criticism is directed at the remark, and not the person making it. Odd.
                                                          Tom Wargo