I belong to three other lists and I can tell you that this sort of stuff goes on there, too, from time to time. When you have several hundred people together in one place, it's unrealistic to expect that ALL OF THEM will agree and play nice with one another. I even got my feelings hurt once by an Official List Curmudgeon (not here) and I sent a PM saying, look, I know you probably didn't mean for that to be mean, but it really did upset me, because blahblahblah. He apologized and agreed that it may have sounded wrong, I accepted, end of story. We settled it privately and politely. I didn't leave because some grump shot from the hip and managed to scrape me. I'm not the only one who's felt his barbs. But we all put up with him, because we know how he is, and because He Knows A Lot of Stuff.

If someone ever feels like they need to take their ball and go home, that's their decision. Maybe they just need a little time to refresh.

Personally I like the BS threads. They make for fun conversation and a few laffs in my little cube. :)