As one who wishes to remain counted among the wise, I have read the posts in question extensively before writing this, and have come to some conclusions that I'd like to share with everyone. I think that things here have gotten a little out of hand, some folks need to be directly addressed that have contributed to the fray, and then faded quietly into the background when somebody asked whose fault it was...
Justknives: while the post you made about Bruce posting on other forums was valid as a
question, had you analyzed the nature of Bruce's many posts, you would see that not
only is he a pretty nice guy, but has a genuine interest in bringing the joy of smithing to as many people as possible. I don't post alot, but I read as many as I can. You, being a newbie on the forum (like me) should not be expected to know the motivations of the veterans of the forum. However, the rest of your posts after that were somewhat inflamatory, and were quite
insulting to those you addressed. Some of them were designed to aggravate people even
more than they already were.
Bug3x: Granted the comment about Bruce using the forums as an advertising media was
somewhat discourteous, but to be fair, if the guy hasn't read that many posts, he could
see the abundant nature of Bruce's posts as advertising. Most of us who've taken the
time to read what Bruce types know that he's just rightfully proud of his work, and wants
everybody to gain something from his talent.
Your reply was designed to diminish Justknives. Granted the question was somewhat
insulting, but that was due to the blunt nature of the statement. Your reply was insulting and anger-ridden when a simple "You'll know it's not true if you just hang around and listen to the things that Bruce has to say" would have sufficed. I realize that it's hard to see a friend insulted, but a little bit of charity goes along was in the ways of communication
Bruce: I can see how you may have seen yourself as the source of this, because it was your post, but you handled it gracefully, and ALL of us know that you are rather blameless in the situation.
Now let's all just get along. The longer we drag this out, the less time we get to spend looking at really cool knives, and talking about them.
[This message has been edited by Dewey Smith (edited 06-25-2001).]
