Wasa -
"It says to me..." may be nowhere near what actually went on in the person's head when they made their comments public.
I agree with you that no one should automatically assume the worst when dealing with posters. I was wrong to do so with Dazed and I really do hope that she will accept my apology.
Wasa, you and I were one of the few involved in the ugly thread the other night, and you saw how I reacted then. For what it is worth, the other thread that Dazed refers to in this thread in which she asked questions under a different screen name regarding deletion rules was amazingly similar to the thread the other night. In fact, we even got a guest appearance by an angry disgruntled and deleted poster who expounded upon Dazed's questions. By the time I posted my "accusations" it looked an awful lot like there was collusion between Dazed and the deleted and angry poster. I have apologized to Dazed for what I said in the other thread, but I also wanted to make it known that I don't go around and just hop on people because I don't like the questions they ask. I only do so when there are other circumstances going on - which happened in Dazed's other post and the one in which we were involved the other night - and when the questions are being asked publically.
The reason I have issues with people who ask questions which "question the management" in a public forum - whether they are intending to stir the pot or not is because I used to be the manager of an extremely large department (600+ people) and was in the same position Simon is in here. I was constantly being questioned in public for things that I needed to do in which the people who were questioning only knew a minute portion of the whole story - or who, quite frankly, were not entitled to an explanation for various reasons. Most of the time, it was because if I gave a full explanation, it would require me to divulge confidential information. This is a lose-lose situation all around - and it does not help matters to have that waved in the wind in a public setting. Therefore, it didn't take long for me to loathe this approach. That is why I personally believe that even if someone has a question that could even remotely cause animosity, it needs to be discussed in private. I'm not bashing people for asking these types of questions - especially if they genuinely want to know the answer - or if the question NEEDS to be asked - I'm simply pointing out that there are better venues in which to ask them. If I come across harshly, it is not my intention. It is just that I feel that strongly about it. We all have our little quirks... this is mine.
Hope this helps to understand why I can be the way I am. Will you love me anyway?!
growedup
P.S. I have a feeling if you bat your eyes the next time you try to get Pope to break his vows of celibacy, you just might get him to cave in! Try it! I bet it works!