Greg, you might well have been employing irony ~ it is pretty obvious now, in retrospect ~ but I'm pretty sure that some of the objections voiced in this discussion expressed genuine disapproval of enjoying the extreme misfortune of another human being. It was hard to tell who was serious and who was kidding until you made your point of view more explicit.

If we were having this exchange in person, I would certainly have been able to perceive your ironic stance. If the look on your face didn't make it immediately obvious, I would have given you a look that would have prompted some sort of telltale response.

I think this misunderstanding is just another instance of the well-docmented fact that cyber-communication often leads to misunderstanding due to the absense of visual/personal clues that we take for granted in 3D-world exchanges. Especially when we forget to throw in an occasional smiley-face, or an LOL or two.

Chalking it up to the dubious assertion that you Brits are somehow superior to us dumb colonists in your capacity for subtlety and irony is bullshit. That theory continues to grow in acceptance only because it too often goes unchallenged. We're usually charitable enough to let it slide.

I recently read a wonderful statement about this from a British commentator. When I get home, I'll copy it verbatim and post it here.