[burkbuilds]

Music Man, I understand where you are coming from. Sometimes the written words in a forum like this can really come across in a way they are not intended. Sometimes when I read ER's remarks, I get the same knee jerk reaction you are getting, however, I've sat down and had lunch with the guy. He doesn't come across in person the way he does in print. His demeanor is actually the opposite of the way he is often perceived on here and apparently on other forums. He's fairly quiet spoken, certainly doesn't carry an air of harshness or indifference about him in person. He doesn't come across as a know-it all or as a person who thinks he is the only one who understands every subject. He actually was soft spoken and a very humble, nice guy in person. If he was speaking instead of writing the things he says, I don't think they'd come across as confrontational at all because he would be saying them in a soft voice and with an inquisitive, curious sounding tone. However, when he writes those remarks, all of that body language is lost to the reader and we can only see the black and white of the words. It only takes a little misunderstanding and then people start challenging ER and making assumptions about why and what he means and pretty soon it escalates into a war of written words. I wish I had a solution, but I don't, other than maybe to suggest that when you read his words, instead of thinking of them as coming from some mean spirited old man, you'd realize that they actually come from a well meaning, grandfatherly like kinda guy, that is just trying to ask questions and make statements that make the person they are written to either clarify what they meant, or think about it differently. I'm not saying he couldn't write it in a way that could be better, just that it is easy to read his statements and think of them as being mean spirited when they are often meant otherwise.