Jan hit home with that jab so eloquently and/or benignly - and since I know he's not trying to be mean or demean because he's a trusted internetworking friend* of the highest order - I'd be a fool to lash back angrily or otherwise push back with verve as I was initially inclined to do upon seeing what at first blush appeared to be an attack/damagingly negative critique. It's all about knowing who you are dealing with, to pontificate for a moment, knowing the audience even if it's one person. In cases like this, when dealing with a ninja, it's best to go with something unexpected. In the world of social media based discussions many scenarios are repeated or duplicated I find. Veterans of the format generally know what kind of response they will be getting and are ready for it with a similarly formulaic response. Call it baiting, even call it trolling, whatever the case may be a, poster of even subtly inflammatory rhetoric/ideas is ultimately looking to generate a response. One of the many fun aspects of this room is that there are so many expert contributors that you never can quite predict the way a certain set of responses will go. Since we all are trying to out do each other with wit, the results are almost always interestingly unexpected.
So back to the case of Jan saying that I don't let not having the facts stop me from commenting. It's such a valid point that for me: fighting off the desire to come up with a biting counterattack of some kind was done with ease and facility. Unlike a fist fight, you see, a written debate like the ones we have here goes at whatever pace you deem fit. That is if you are able to resist the temptation to launch an immediate counter assault so fast that it momentarily bewilders the opponent and or/discussion participant be design. Colin gets credit for developing that move, an irresistibly deadly tactic that is hard for an opponent to rise above lest he/she be accused of fleeing the field of battle or otherwise being at a lack of words in a sufficiently timely manner for the the lighting pace just established by default. Mistakes are made when rushing, is what I find. So I always reserve the right to respond at my leisure. In the case of Jan here, an unexpected response seemed to be in order.
