Not sure where this thread is going, but at one point, or another, everything that one collected/collects, is rubbish to another. Stuart, IMHO, was asking for an opinion on a particular item, which he thought was worthy of the charity shop? From his original post, I presumed that the item was part of a job lot, one piece (or 2, or 3...etc...), covering the cost of that lot, which was/were not disclosed, and he just wanted confirmation that it was what he thought it was? Please can we keep responses to the original question and not make judgements?! (Sorry Anne & Mods if my response is offensive, but Stuart seems to be the brunt of a few "attacks" recently)
Thanks for your comment Della. Having been the brunt of the attacks you mention, I know that the best way to handle it is to leave early... so I will leave this thread after this post. A number of threads in which I have been attacked have often been read the wrong way by several people because people (understandably) generally can't be bothered to read the thread properly, but they still like to join in because that's human nature (attacking in groups).
It can be really sickening to be attacked and then have people chastise you further for an attacking defense. The usual form is that one is attacked, then one responds, then a few nasty exchanges are made, then a moderator communicates and tells you that it's all to do with words losing their real meaning in the written form... and then you wonder why Grandma doesn't respond similarly to your Christmas letter if words have such flaws, then you just think "F- this whole bag of s-! unfair message board" then you forget about it until it all happens again.
I think it all comes down to the situation that both Stephen Fry and David Mitchell have both spoken about recently, whereby people seem to be very willing to abandon common politeness on message boards in favour of just blurting whatever they feel enraged about. I am quite sure politeness would be restored to message boards if each post listed name, address, phone number, etc, but people seem to have a propensity towards and preference for aloofness, coldness, harshness, rudeness, etc, as if they are engaging in some form of character role play game where they need not bring themselves to the party.
I would feel very much less like writing this post if I didn't know for a fact that several fellow members feel the same way. My rule of thumb is that it's best not to say anything if you have nothing positive to say. I have fallen into the trap myself, of course, but it's important that we all recognise this human trait and do all we can to work against it. Just because we are behind firewalls doesn't mean that we should be trying to burn people!
I cannot say that this message board is particularly cold or harsh, but I always feel that the last place I would expect to find ugliness is amongst fellow members of a website which is dedicated to the appreciation of beauty. I wonder if I might appeal to fellow members to keep their posts polite and positive? 2010 might be a better year if we do - who knows?
Stu.
Topic: Probable modern urn shaped vase for ID please. (Read 1523 times)
