Dear Anonymous_
 
There is a reason why I put "OT" at the end of my subject headings for
the silly posts I sent about Jules being an alien, and the Earth being
flat.  It is so that you can see right off that they are "off-topic",
or not really about ferrets, and you needn't bother with them.  If I
forget, BIG kindly puts the "OT" at the end.
 
I send silly posts sometimes when the FML gets dreary, or dogmatic.
Believe it or not, some people actually enjoy them.
 
I do not drive people off of the FML by means of deliberate cruelty,
although I have seen more and more of this on the FML over the last year.
The majority of those cruel posts are signed "Anonymous".  Your post was
absolutely, positively not about "constructive criticism", or you would
have felt comfortable signing your name at the end of it, or even
e-mailed me privately.  It was all about making me feel bad, which you
have done..
 
I could just sulk, and announce that I am leaving the FML in a fit of
self-righteousness, but the simple fact is that I enjoy the FML very
much, and don't want to deprive myself of it.  I enjoy being silly with
my friends sometimes, and learning how to be a better ferret slave.
 
I consider myself warned by BIG that I have gone "too far" and he has to
work to keep posts like mine from "snowballing".  Fair enough.  That did
surprise me, but at least he put his *name* to his criticism, unlike you.
 
Guess which one of the two of you I have respect for?
 
Alexandra in MA
 
[Moderator's note: My apologies -- No criticism was intended.  When I
feel we have a run of posts which have substantially "run their course"
I do say something, either in private or on the list, depending on the
circumstances.  That's not to say that the comments of readers, such as
the one in yesterday's FML, don't play a part in my decision -- they do.
But as far as I'm concerned it wasn't yet time for a "hand slap".  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 4712]