In honour of the Forum Troll ---

[NauticalGent]

Wow. Wonder how he is going to react once he learns most of us have accounts there too.

Maybe when he gets zapped with the cross-posting thingy

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Like RAID roach spray... you can run but you can't hide.

 

[NauticalGent]

True, but Paul must have taken pity on him. New year, fresh start, that kinda thing.

The patience and tolerance of some of the members (including you Doc) is amazing...

 

[The_Doc_Man]

For the really obnoxious types, patience is easy. Since they are not in a classroom or office with me, there is no stress. I don't have to hold back from walking across the room with a baseball bat. I can just ignore the posts. Not even bother to set them to a formal "ignore" but just go find another post. At worst, the really bad trolls may cause me to have a palm-shaped bruise in the middle of my forehead. But that's OK, I used to work for the government, so by now I have a callous of that shape.

As to "amazing tolerance" - I grew up in a Christian home and learned many life lessons from a tolerant mother who managed to not kick my silly hind-quarters around the house a couple of rounds every so often, even though I probably deserved it. She taught me forgiveness. Even if I no longer follow her faith, I recognize the value in forgiveness.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

She taught me forgiveness. Even if I no longer follow her faith, I recognize the value in forgiveness.

Forgiveness, strange Beast. I recently learnt that it's not about the person you are forgiving, it's about you doing the forgiving, that's where the power lies. You don't give a damn about the person you're forgiving. It's for your own benefit. Now, I might not quite have that right but that's how I recall it.

 

[Mark_]

For amusement, have others looked as his touted "Switchboards"? Oh, one would drool to have such lovely interfaces to stare at daily, wouldn't one?

 

[AccessBlaster]

...You don't give a damn about the person you're forgiving.

This strikes me as being counterintuitive.

 

[Mark_]

AccessBlaster,

It makes perfect sense once you can answer one simple question; who is responsible for your happiness?

Same person responsible for you being happy is the same one who will want the feeling of forgiveness so you don't dwell upon past wrongs.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Absolutely true, Tony. The heaviest burden we ever carry is hatred. It keeps us up at night. It distracts us from higher learning. It keeps us from love. It incites violence to others, which adds to the burden of your conscience. With forgiveness, we can learn to dump a load we don't need to carry. And the first person you have to forgive? Yourself, for being human and therefore imperfect.