| Date sent: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 13:35:47 EST Subject: Re: Choice of words To: vocalist Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>
dear daniel, the unfortunate phrase, 'irish bomb thrower' is one that i picked up from my father (if he taught me anything...) and refers only to a blank facial expression. it is not an approval of terrorist activities. if you are so sure i meant no offence (and i'll certainly back you up on that), then why work so hard to take offence? i have a student in the band carnevelito. they had either just got through performing or were still on stage when the olympic park bomb went off. did i use the phrase as an insult to him? of course, not! if i used that phrase when speaking with him, would he even think of that bombing? i strongly doubt it. none of us are perfect in our expression of ourselves. i would rather sift through someone's garbage to find their substance than have them leave it out for fear of causing an unknown offence. so, let me go on record as saying- if anyone has misunderstood anything i have said in these pages and that has caused offence or hurt feelings, i do apologize. however, if you fully understand what i mean, as i intended and you don't like it- that is another matter. i believe the post i was responding to was entitled 'whatever'. the point of my message was- because of my 'bob newhart-like' (no offence intended) demeanor when cracking wisely, there is not a real difference in the way i come across in writing from the way i come across in person. in other words, i give no clue as to whether or not i'm joking. if they think it's funny, they'll laugh, if they don't, they won't. no canned laughter allowed!
mike
| |