Perhaps it is again that time to pull in the reigns, but let me tell you a little story from my past. Years ago when I was a chief petty officer getting ready to depart on a 70 day submerged patrol and received one or more new men about whom I knew little or nothing, I did not have much time for getting acquainted and determining the deep rooted personalities of each individual. My quick fix was to invite each new man for a night out on the town at the Chief's Club so to speak as my personal guest and I was buying. We would engage in many aspects of conversation as the drinks kept coming and the evening wore on. Once the newest crew member was somewhat well lubricated his inhibitions would be diminished and I in turn would get a quick glance at the real underlying character of the individual. The system was relatively cheap and worked like a champ. I spent nearly 5 years with one young man who never changed, and you could not tell by looking that he had had more than one or two drinks, until the next morning and he couldn't remember. Cleete was in turn the most predictable and reliable man in my crew.
This is the same reason I like to sell a little rope now and then among the members of the group, because I quickly learn where the sore spots might be and find myself able to sort out those that are perhaps more endowed with bluster than with knowledge. Most people are far more likely to spout off when they know they will never have to look the other person in the eye nor meet them on the street corner. This is why I often re-read several times and wait several minutes before hitting the SEND button, and I still send more typo's than I should.
Dale in the Flatlands.
Hi Dale, I can appreciate creating a sense of community on the list by keeping the atmosphere and topics loosey goosey at times especially during this holiday season. However I do wonder after your politics bit and now this exchange below, that perhaps it's time to throttle things back a little bit and tighten the topic guidelines...at least for the time being. I'm always in favor of folks hitting the delete button (as I have a lot as of late...not because of lack of interest but because there has been a lot of casual discussions that I simply can't keep up with) before having an entire list change or conform to one person but I think right now the allotted rope to folks has become a slippery slope.
On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 8:31 AM, mountain953346
<mountain953346@yahoo.com> wrote:
Perhaps I understand all too well...the smile and subsequent
comments are offensive/sarcastic/
--
Dale in the Flatlands.
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