Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 11:18:26 -0400
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>, WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
From: "Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Lee; WSFA
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

At 07:41 AM 9/29/05 -0400, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
>I would hope
>that every WSFAns would spring to the immediate public defense of
>anyone who was unjustly attacked.  The fact that this didn't happen
>is one reason I'm going to call for this vote.

As a WSFAn who didn't jump into this, let me explain why that might be.

- Blowups are not uncommon in WSFA.  Most die out quickly...unless others
get involved, in which case they often get bigger and can result in
secondary explosions.

- It's *really* easy to be misunderstood in e-mail, so discussing things at
the next meeting, in person, is generally wiser.

- While I was interested in seeing the movie, I never heard for sure where
it would be, or exactly when, until after the event had happened, so I had
no idea what the ticket situation was, who said what to whom, or any of the
other relevant facts.  All I know about the situation is what's been posted
here, and that consisted of a lot of mysterious overreactions and two very
different versions until Mike Walsh put his info into the mix and at that
point it seemed like the facts were settled...if not the feathers.

- Knowing something of the personalities involved in this, but little of
whatever past history has led to the overreactions I was seeing here, it
seemed unwise to jump into the middle of it, particularly since I had no
firsthand knowledge of the facts anyway.

- As you say, this is supposed to be fun.  Jumping into the middle of a
feud is never fun, unless maybe you are a masochist.  It may be necessary
at times, to preserve the fun environment, but it isn't fun and should not
be undertaken unless armed with solid facts and an understanding of the
*real* issues underlying it...which I didn't, and don't, have.

I hope that clarifies why there wasn't a general rush to get involved in
this a bit.  I can't say if those reasons apply to all, but they were mine.
 Others can join me, state their own, or continue to remain out of this as
they choose of course.

Personally, I think you do a great job as secretary.  You are meticulous
about the details, prompt with the work involved, don't allow emotion to
get in the way of accurate reporting of events, and are reasonable about
discussing matters if there's disagreement.  That pretty much defines
"great club secretary" to me.

You, like pretty much all members of WSFA (me included) or fans in general
for that matter, have what might best be referred to as an "unusual"
personality.  This results in a high tolerance level for unusual
personalities in fandom...if there wasn't a high tolerance level for this,
fandom would have imploded decades ago.  It might be good if everyone
refilled their tolerance prescriptions so they can see past the differences
and concentrate more on the things we all have in common again.

-- Mike B.
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