LauraV ....
WOW.
Minimus has been here longer than I have (and I have 19 years now). If you think that just because you don't agree or you don't have a sense of humor, well, then (and I can't speak for Simon et al.) then this may not be the best place to be.
The people, starting with Simon, have been the best on any board I have ever seen. Yes, at times, I have been put on the carpet. Do I agree with everything? NO. If I wanted everything my one-way or the highway, there are other places. But accept the freedom here that you can look down from a higher level and observe the narrow-mindedness of others and then choose to make your own decisions. I think that is a quality a lot of us share here.
If you think what some here do, including Minimus, are racial, then you are wrong. Most people here have the intelligence that you can agree, not agree, get pissed, or whatever. Being able to look at prejudices of others and indirectly mock them for how stupid they are does not make the messenger a racist. If you think I have a racial bone in my body, send me an email and I will explain how one of my "studies", a black couple, a beautiful wife that kept "seriously" hitting on me when he went to get a pizza after the study ... enough said.
As in life, there are exceptions to everything. But the majority of people here are the nicest and most sincere people I have ever known.