To flame a Mockingbird

The BBQ Pit
1

Hello Mockingbird.

I’m just kidding about the flaming. I have no intentions of flaming you, at least not yet.

I would like to have a word with you, though.

I notice that in this thread you had some unkind words to say to me:

Somebody replied to this, suggesting you were being offensible, to which you replied:

Now I realize that this a sensitive issue to you, and I realize you have multiple sclerosis and things are not easy. I did not mean to offend you in that thread, and I’m sorrry I did so.

I truly didn’t see anything for you to be offended about in my OP since it was specifically about casual and unnecessary use of mobility devices for able-bodied people, but I figured that I had unknowingly upset you, and since I had no reason to bear you ill-will, I decided to ask you how I could set it right.

I said:

[quote]
Mockingbird:

What can I do to mend fences with you?
[/quote[

Either you didn’t see that, or you chose not to reply to it. That’s your perogative. Seeing as you didn’t I figured that was it, case closed.

Today though I noticed something else.

There’s this very light, nice and funny thread around here. It’s Fenris’

[Manny, quit tossing your junk in my backyard]
(http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=179106) thread. I was perusing that thread today, enjoying the humor and cleverness in it when I came across this poem you had authored:

Making fun of somebody in just is fine. Especially if it’s me. I can take it. Yet something about this weeks after you had some nasty words to me strikes a disturbing note.

To say the least, the hurtful intent I sense in that, is pretty uncool.

If you don’t like me, please feel free to ignore me. Please feel free to start a pit thread about me.

I would however like to earn your goodwill if that is possible.

Failing that possibility, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from unsolicited attacks in threads unrelated to the issue of your distaste.

2

Scylla, for what it’s worth, I read that original thread, and I agreed with you. I didn’t think you were deciding who did and didn’t need anything, just that you, as a rational person, realized that many people who don’t need them are using them. I’ve pretty much always respected mockingbird, and was somewhat surprised by the hostility of his (her?) reaction. I, for one, thought it was over the top.

3

Mockingbird is obviously a very unhappy person, who tries her damndest to make others around her as miserable as she. Every thread I’ve seen her participate in (in the Pit) she’s jumping all over somebody for “offending” her. It gets real old, real fast.

Mockingbird seriously, get outside. Get a hobby. You’ll feel better about yourself and your life, and it may calm your oversensitive ass down.

4

Bravo on the pitting, btw. Given the provocation given to you by Mockingbird, most people would be calling her a festering boil on the arse of humanity.

Your pitting is polite, thoughtful and disarming. Nicely done.

5

FWIW, Mockingbird is a guy who has a degenerative muscular disease which inhibits movement.

6

I concur. This is positively genteel. However, I must ask why you’re putting such a high premium on Mockingbird’s good will. From the posts of his I’ve read (and Mockingbird is definately a he. He used to post under the moniker Hastur and although the name has changed, his abraisive personality has remained unaltered.) he seems like the sort of petty minded misanthrope most people would run a marathon to get away from.

7

I stand corrected, he. I always pictured Mockingbird as a woman. And having a degenerative muscular disease gives license to act like a jerk on a continual basis? In what world? Sorry to sound insensitive, but Mockingbird has been riding my nerves for awhile now, and while a muscular disease my be an explanation, it’s certainly not an excuse.

And Mockingbird used to be Hastur?? The picture is all becoming clearer now… :rolleyes:

8

Ouch, Dr Lao posted while I was writing my post above and I missed it on preview. I was unaware that Mockingbird was burdened with such a severe physical handicap. I would have cut him some slack if I had (sorry if this sounds patronising but I know that if I were in Mockingbird’s shoes I’d probably fly off the handle from time to time as well.) As such I’d like to retract, well, if not the sentiment of my post then at least the snide vitriol with which it was presented.

9

Pot, meet kettle

**lonesomepolecat’s chief offense was that he posted a satire about a Satanist Grotto. Yep, according to lezlers, satirizing Satanism is being insensitive. Maybe the line about Darth Vader bed sheets was too much.

10

Monkey with a gun, did you post in the wrong thread?

11

Mockingbird has issues with Scylla that go farther back, and have nothing to do with handicapped scooters. It appears he was waiting for an opportunity to vent.

Patience, Mockingbird. Scylla will eventually say something that truly warrants offense (we all do). Wait until then before opening the can of whoop-ass.

12

In truth I was not aware that Mockingbird is the poster formerly known as Hastur.

That doesn’t change anything, though.

13

No, but it does make it hard to “go outside and get a life.”

I like Mockingbird. Yeah, sometimes he gets a little hysterical, which leads to him being very abrasive. On the other hand, I’ve read some of his posts about stuff that he’s gone through in his life, and he has had a simply amazing amount of shit dumped into his life. I won’t go into details; it’s his life and his choice who he tells about it, but I can’t help cutting him two or three miles of slack over it. I think he’s spent so much of his life in a defensive crouch he can’t get out of it anymore. Plus, the guy is an absolute master of creative vulgarity, which is a skill I much admire.

All that said, I think it was inappropriate to post that in Fenris’s thread. Whatever history has gone on between him and Scylla is their business. I just think it was bad manners to drag it into Fenris’s thread. It’s the sort of thing that can totally derail and ruin an innocent thread, and even when the target has enough class to avoid the hijack, a burst of hostility like that in an otherwise light hearted thread can be a real buzzkill, even for people not remotely involved in the fight.

14

Oh, I was waiting for this shit.

[Scylla, please excuse this breif hijack]

Thank you so much Monkey for taking that quote out of context. In that other thread (that has nothing whatsoever to do with this thread I may add) I’m actually defending my own religion (no, not Satanism, Wicca, which lonsesomepolecats also lopped in his response) not Satanism.

Yeah, I do call out people when they’re acting innappropriately, or shamelessly insulting a group of people or religion.

Mockingbird however, as I posted earlier, enters every thread I’ve seen him enter (in the Pit anyway) under the guise of “sticking up” for the wronged party. In. Every. Thread. He. Enters. See the difference? Me. One or two threads. Mockingbird? Every. Single. Fucking. Thread.

Have you ever stuck up for somebody? Ever stuck up for yourself? Oh you have? Then you’d better not say shit in this thread because you’re being a hypocrite. :rolleyes:

If you’ve got a problem with me, then pit me. Don’t chase me into other threads waving posts made by me in that last thread trying to “discredit” me. That’s just sad.

[End hijack, thanks Scylla]

15

Oh come off of it lezlers, you can’t criticize someone (mockingbird) for being too easily offended when you do the exact same thing.

Scylla, I apologize for the mild high jack, but I loathe hypocrits.

16

I really don’t want to get involved in this as both parties are good friends, Mockingbird, in real life and Scylla’s my arch-nemesis, but I hope I can clear one point up. I believe that Mockingbird was unaware of my ongoing friendly “feud” with Scylla and was defending me/sticking up for me.

Fenris

17

Look, I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I’m popping in to say I see this turning real ugly real fast. Two well-known and often controversial posters meet in the Pit. Soon the shit will fly and no one will be immune. Already I sense battle lines being drawn. It’s your classic “two go in, one comes out” situation, and frankly there’s been just a few too many of these happening lately. Lawn chairs will appear, coolers will be opened, and things will be said that perhaps should not.

Yes, this is the Pit. Yes, people are free to say whatever they please so long as they don’t violate board rules. But maybe this is something that should have been taken to e-mail. I love reading Pit threads, I’ll admit it. You often see a huge outpouring of creativity and emotion that the other forums lack. But when threads degenerate to board popularity contests like I see this one quickly doing, it’s not long 'til a trainwreck and a lockdown. Maybe we should just get the hell off the tracks.

18

Sounds like a good idea, ratty.