No To School Vouchers & Gov't Schools....

[Diane Amberg]

JAR, I'm sorry I was grumpy with you, but I was expecting a funny retort from Steve, the poster, not a shot from you.   I  can safely kid around with some, unfortunately you are not one of them. I get attacked by some for my politics, my religion, my home state, my goofy sense of humor and I get tired of being called wrong so much. When do I get my turn to even the score?

[Catwoman]

You don't.  Letting you even the score would be tacitly admitting that you might, in fact, have a point.  That's the tricky thing about a herd mentality...There might actually be a few out there who do agree with you...But because the herd has turned and pointed their butts at you, the ones who do agree won't have it in them to go against the conventional wisdom of the herd.  In a school situation, we call that bullying and we have programs to teach the kids how NOT to do that to each other.  It's a pity that we don't have the same programs for adults. 

[Diane Amberg]

Thanks Cat.I appreciate it.

[jarhead]

Quote from catwoman:
There might actually be a few out there who do agree with you...But because the herd has turned and pointed their butts at you, the ones who do agree won't have it in them to go against the conventional wisdom of the herd.  In a school situation, we call that bullying and we have programs to teach the kids how NOT to do that to each other.  It's a pity that we don't have the same programs for adults. 

Now there's an assessment I agree 100% with. I think it applies to Ross and Patriot on their quest for answers to the Elk Konnected questions they ask. I think there are people that agree with them but then you got that herd / cow butt thing. Sad aint it ?
Times have sure changed. We were taught to knock bullies on their arse. We were also taught that when dealing with what we called "snooty people" to just ignore them---not that I'm making reference to anyone being a bully or a snooty tutty.

[Catwoman]

Ah, the sweet joy of people making my points for me... ...See, Diane?  No need to worry about having your turn...There's always another turn offered to you!! lol   

[Wilma]

I caught it, Diane.  It was the fourth word from the end of the last sentence.  I am trying to train myself to ignore errors because it takes too much time.  Some, though, make it hard to understand what the writer is trying to say.

[Catwoman]

That is one of the problems with posting on a forum like this one...It is very easy to misinterpret what the person writing is actually saying.  So much is gleaned from listening to the person as they speak and all of that is lost when it's put down in writing.

[sixdogsmom]

So--- is oral history more accurate than recorded history? Or does it change from mouth to mouth?  Elizabeth Brownings poetry is better spoken than read? I don't think so.

[Catwoman]

That's not what I was saying, Six...All I was saying is that it's very easy to misinterpret what is written, especially when (as has been witnessed on another thread) there is high emotion involved.  It is in those situations when it is easier to interpret where a person is coming from when you can hear the person's voice.  In Browning's case, there is no way to hear her voice except through what she has written.  This Forum is the same way...There are so many people in so many different places, that are only acquainted through this Forum, that you have to try to rely on what they write in order to know them...And, coming full circle, it is hard, sometimes, when you read what you think they've written and then they come back and assure you that what you took from it is not what they meant.  As far as History is concerned...LOL...It is always interesting to read the various perspectives that surround it.  Line up 10 people, you have 10 different versions of what happened.  Watching the History channel proves that...They have their perspective on it...Go to a museum on the subject, you have their take on it...Listen to NPR, you get another perspective.  All of it amounts to small parts of the whole truth.

[sixdogsmom]

Did you ever hear Douglas McArthur speak? His words "I shall return" speak volumes in the annuls of WWII, yet the man had an incredibly squeaky and almost laughable voice. Listening to him is hardly the same thing as the idea projected in "I shall return". Of course high emotion can color the written word. It is always a good idea to step away from the idiom, be it spoken or written to reevaluate, then decide what is really being said. Some are more skilled than others, some are used to the give and take of debate, and others are simply junk yard dogs. We are all different people, that is what makes us a unique and wonderful society. We can learn from one another, and the written word is what lets us live beyond our prescribed time on this earth.