daedong said:
This topic has been all consuming between my wife and I over the last 48 hrs. These discussions with her have only added to the confusion regarding my understanding of Americans. So I intend to hang around to try and get a better grasp.
I'm not sure if envy is quite the right word, but I'm quite impressed you can have deep political discussions with your wife lasting 2 days. Largely on policitics my wife and I agree, so such discussions last minutes. However, on something like buying some "disposable" product from Walmart [doubly irrating to me if imported from a communist country] when a better product is available anywhere else....now that get's ugly, so ugly it can go on all day, but only in 15minute durations.
Fortunately she has seen cheap tools break, so now actually encourages quality there!
daedong said:
[FONT="]However I have suspicion, (No facts) that one or two international members have left FF in the last week or two probably for the reasons I have stated over the last few days, EG country bashing, etc, that saddens me greatly.[/FONT]
Perhaps Bob already said it better, but even with [especially with?] serious topics, there are so many personallities on this forum, such debates can be interesting, informational, and one might even learn about others or themselves, but not worth taking anything personal.
I didn't get caught up on the thread in question [so I may be missing the point], but not taking things personal would be good advice both to anyone hot minded enough to bash anyone over their country or those sensitive enough to leave a forum rather than ignore an outrageous poster or thread.
A rather wide tangent, but somehow makes sense, I was putting in some 18" holes with the PHD last week, when one of my wife's students decided to hover around. I couldn't tell him to keep his distance, because his stepmother throws a fit for anyone telling her kids anything they can't do, I didn't want to deal with that, so I tried to ignor him; PHD hits a rock and goes off center, now, already slightly annoyed at said distraction, I get "hot-headed": "I'll fix that hole", and put some lateral pressure too it....slightly out of annoyance and maybe slightly out of safety, I look over at the visitor when "crack!!!". Thus between a combination of sensitivity and hot-headedness, I broke a $200 shaft.
You might say I shafted myself?
OK, that's making me mad again, let's argue about politics or something!