Pay attention only to the real issue

Originally posted by Scriabin
I interpret it as evidence some folks are pig headed, obstinate, and insecure.

picking out the main issue in a situation is what I do for a living, so I'm not expecting everyone to be able to do that unless they also were trained for that.

I don't need to make others feel badly in order to make myself feel good; that isn't the point at all.

what se ...[text shortened]... ists some other point is the main one -- well, sorry, Charlie, but gotta call it like it is.

Why do you keep failing to keep track of who said what?

Originally posted by Palynka
Why do you keep failing to keep track of who said what?

takes too much time, for one thing.

and I'm not interested in arguing over these stories -- just talking about them.

bottom line: because I don't care

Originally posted by Scriabin
takes too much time, for one thing.

and I'm not interested in arguing over these stories -- just talking about them.

bottom line: because I don't care

But you don't even seem interested in talking about them. You posted a joke then announced that anyone who didn't get it had failed the test, and that any other points to be made about the story were irrelevant. So what is to discuss? Or was it just an ego trip ie hoping to be able to laugh at anyone who didn't 'get it'? What was the purpose of the post?

Originally posted by twhitehead
But you don't even seem interested in talking about them. You posted a joke then announced that anyone who didn't get it had failed the test, and that any other points to be made about the story were irrelevant. So what is to discuss? Or was it just an ego trip ie hoping to be able to laugh at anyone who didn't 'get it'? What was the purpose of the post?

to see if you could follow directions.

nope. sorry

also to see if you could provide a rational analysis.

Instead, I get this kind of thinking from you:

Mullah Nasrudin got a job at a busy granary, loading sacks onto trucks
to be taken to market. The foreman, who was keeping an eye on the
workers, soon came over to speak to him.

"Why is it that you carry only one sack at a time while the other
workers all carry two?" asked the foreman.

Nasrudin looked around and said, "I suppose that they are too
lazy to make two trips the way I do."

Originally posted by Scriabin
love baseball analogies.

have you heard the one that was told about German reunification?

Does it involve a bat to the head?

Originally posted by twhitehead
I don't think anyone missed the joke. But it seems that you and scrabin are incapable of seeing that there can be more to be enjoyed in a story than the 'thrust of the joke'. Scrabin interprets that as a sign that everyone else is not up to his intellectual standard, and you interpret it as being contrarian.

No one is saying that each word, phrase or sentence can only mean one thing. However, when placed together thusly, there was one major point to be had (or not) by any reader.

The exercise of reading the original post and reacting to the same was simply a manifestation of the various respondent's predilections, some underscoring the main point in a more obvious manner than others.

The point seems to be missed by you, as you continue to insist that there are other "interesting" angles to be explored (although any exploration of such angles will only further cement my charge of trivial showmanship). Your 'point' could not more emphatically prove that you altogether whiffed the main point, i.e., don't miss the forest for the trees.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
No one is saying that each word, phrase or sentence can only mean one thing. However, when placed together thusly, there was one major point to be had (or not) by any reader.

The exercise of reading the original post and reacting to the same was simply a manifestation of the various respondent's predilections, some underscoring the main point in a more ...[text shortened]... ove that you altogether whiffed the main point, i.e., don't miss the forest for the trees.

don't bother

his alleged fascination in the nuances and irrelevancies was dead on arrival anyway

when the Berlin wall fell and the People's Republic of East Germany collapsed, we had a German professor and his wife who were originally from Leipzig living next door. Although they had been living in West Germany for some years, they were highly excited by reunification. They were next door to me here in Maryland because they swapped houses for the summer with a U of Md prof whose wife is German.

The visiting Germans invited the neighbors in for a reunification party.

Some of the neighbors were uneasy about Germans getting it back together.

I reassured them that the years of American military presence had sufficiently exposed Germans, at least in the West, to the rules of baseball.

Thus, the Germans who would be in charge already knew that the rule is three Reichs and you're out.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
No one is saying that each word, phrase or sentence can only mean one thing. However, when placed together thusly, there was one major point to be had (or not) by any reader.

The exercise of reading the original post and reacting to the same was simply a manifestation of the various respondent's predilections, some underscoring the main point in a more ...[text shortened]... ove that you altogether whiffed the main point, i.e., don't miss the forest for the trees.

btw

to what team do you pledge your loyalty?

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
i.e., don't miss the forest for the trees.

Sadly, you and scrabin cannot see the trees.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Sadly, you and scrabin cannot see the trees.

of course, in your pinheaded view of reality, if they cut down all those trees at one fell swoop and they all landed at once with only you there, we'd still have to ask whether they made a sound -- as a witness to things, your testimony is worth about as much as though no one was there at all.

btw, you did pass your last driving test? One wonders exactly what you pay attention to if you consistently miss the main point of things.

I'm just teasing, as I already know the answer to that. You are simply unwilling to say you missed it -- I sure wouldn't trust you to play golf honestly. It hurts to admit when you make mistakes, but at least you didn't ski off a cliff -- as some mistakes are big enough that the pain only lasts a second.

Originally posted by Scriabin
don't bother

his alleged fascination in the nuances and irrelevancies was dead on arrival anyway

when the Berlin wall fell and the People's Republic of East Germany collapsed, we had a German professor and his wife who were originally from Leipzig living next door. Although they had been living in West Germany for some years, they were highly excited ...[text shortened]... the Germans who would be in charge already knew that the rule is three Reichs and you're out.

Ouch.

Originally posted by Scriabin
btw

to what team do you pledge your loyalty?

The one that wins in the end.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Sadly, you and scrabin cannot see the trees.

Believe it or not, is is possible for one to see both the forest the trees. Your concentration on unimportant details has become such a way of life for you, it's unlikely to change anytime soon.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
The one that wins in the end.

well, that's cool. But I've been a Red Sox fan for more than 5 decades. I will admit I do not like the new hats. But they beat the Twins today 10 to 1 -- they are beginning to wake up.

Originally posted by Scriabin
well, that's cool. But I've been a Red Sox fan for more than 5 decades. I will admit I do not like the new hats. But they beat the Twins today 10 to 1 -- they are beginning to wake up.

I, too, was a long-term Sox fan. But when they turned into the Boston version of the Yankees, payroll-wise, I figured I'd had enough. It's hard to root for the underdog when the mutt turns into a purebred.

That leaves me rooting for the now-hometeam, the Cleveland Indians. Sure, I could have converted back to the Mariners, but it's a pretty safe bet that the Indians will be scrappers for the foreseeable future, eking out just enough to get into the playoffs but never enough to put the matter to bed.

Besides, who can't help but revel in the unceremonious dump the Indians took on the new-and-vastly-improved House that Ruth Built? Who can't help but root for this generation's pure sportsman, Grady Sizemore? Lots to love with this team!