[CBFF] Intro

[Stephen Lake]

On 16.07.06 7:55 AM, "Tom Shannon" <tshanno at gmail.com> wrote:

>>>   Hello, catching up on email and saw my name, so I thought I'd say
>>> Hi!  Jim
>>> is right about the real Kevin.....he a good guy who uses the "puter" to
>>> vent.
> 
> Translation:  He hides behind a keyboard and says things he would never say
> to your face.
> 
> I have no respect for that, Pat.  And I'm surprised that you would.
> 
> Tom S.

I'm not sure Pat's is a good enough explanation for Kevin's behavior because
Tom's reply is the only rational one.  Kevin is just not one to hide.  Or
make excuses for himself.  But that's an excuse, Pat.

As one who has been in Kevin's home, I found him friendly and hospitable but
also possessing what I could only categorize as 'New Yorker' manners--a
biting tongue that takes pleasure in verbal sparring, often with a personal
edge.  He and the late Steve Leiter were going at each other throughout the
whole game.  And none of it was meant in a spirit of meanness or hatred
because you could see the look on a face, hear the tone of a voice or just
dismiss the edge because it never really lingered in the air.

The atmospherics of Kevin's cherished mode of communication do not translate
well to written form.  Or at least, he is not a good translator of them.
Sarcasm and irony must be crafted differently with a keyboard than with the
tongue.  I think a good deal of Kevin's failures can be chalked up to him
typing out verbatim what he would normally deliver with the tongue.  The
tone, the wink, the facial expression are all left behind.

But aside from not being a gifted wordsmith, there still remains his
stubborn refusal (a) to realize his behavior only offends people on the list
and (b) to apologize, make amends for offenses--and turn from his behavior.
He is in deep denial of this remaining bit of responsibility.  For one who
has been in the eye of this storm for so long, he really appears now to
cherish running off people who don't accept his style.  (And has been
enabled in that by some others on the list.)

Sad, because he is otherwise a fun person to be around.

Steve

-- 
http://drlake.blogspot.com