Anyone out there ever been told your ass is your best feature? It's one of those comments that if you hear it, for a split second you might take it as a compliment, and maybe it was meant to be, but then it hits you. What do you mean - - best feature?! Not my eyes, my wit, my huge .... er, ego? Bummer ...

Now imagine one day you come to the conclusion, all on your own, that it's really being an ass that's your best feature, not having one. That hit me recently. Not that I intend to give it up; I'm just, as always, making an observation.

This time about myself.

Unfortunately, it took seeing myself in the foolish antics of others for me to come to this realization.

For those that may not have wandered over to the forum threads here, there's a guy named Wayne out there that, in between posting his own 2 cents on various topics, quietly keeps the peace through the example he sets. Well, quietly maybe 98% of the time; he is human. :)

So, you've got all these conversations going on, and without him saying anything directly about it, it's pretty apparent to all that this Wayne dude is pretty much set up as a leader of sorts. He would beg to differ, I'm sure. Anyway, that's all well and good, it works fine for most people. Until you get the occasional young buck with a point to prove wandering through. That was me a couple months ago, though I didn't know it at the time.

This is a male thing. Anyone who's ever been the biggest guy in the bar knows, if you stick around long anough, some punk is gonna challenge you. Just to prove he can get in a shot.

Same as in here. We human punks in a cyber world see ourselves as challengers to convention; we convince ourselves that we have a legitimate grievance. The rest can see us for what we really are, but we think they're the ones who have it all wrong. If we can just get them to open their eyes, then they'll see. So we go after their hero. Push points that serve no constructive purpose. Create a little havoc. Conduct a litle verbal sparring. Sometimes friendly, more often not. In the end, nothing positive results. We just chill for a bit until the next flare-up.

Having sat and watched this pattern repeat itself once, twice, three times ... I have asked myself, what is it that keeps Wayne coming back for more unfounded abuse? Only he can answer that. I guess my point is, I'm glad it continues to be his voice of reason that rises to the top in these little scuffles. God help us if the dereks, brainfarts, and jibe talkers of the world run rampant through these threads. Soon the only sound to be heard will be the slamming door hitting the butt of the last intelligent person to leave the room.

For my part, I'm embarrassed at the role I've played in here, specifically when it comes to challenging Wayne over something personal I couldn't possibly have first-hand knowledge about. Hell, who needed that, I had a point to make! The silver lining for me is that at least my eyes were opened when I saw others take the same muddy path. I saw myself in them, and didn't like what I was looking at.

So, am I a born-again, conflict-aversive, neighbor-loving person all of a sudden? Absolutely not. Though I do make an effort to look the other way when smacked with the sometimes quite obnoxious babbling in the threads. I don't always succeed. I'm human too. I'm still the same ass I've always been.

I just wish I could say the same for my backside ... :(

.... ha! kidding! You can still bounce a quarter off it! It ain't my best feature for nothing ... :)