zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

(The following message was sent using the "Reply" function of my email software and was bounced back. In order to let the orignial author know my answer to his question, I came back to zOwie for the last time. As the original message was not signed, I did not know who the author was. The original author turns out to be Derek himself. As a result, the pronoun "he" in this message, when it refers to Derek, should be read "you." Thanks and good-bye, Derek.)

I don't know if this answer will appear on the zOwie website. If it does, it's not what I intended. I am just replying a question posted to me using my email. I have no interest in keeping this unfortunate dialogue going. But it would be rude on my part if I leave a question unanswered.

So why the "who cares" message?

As my previous messages to Derek and Ross have made it crystal clear, my "who cares" message was a response to Ross's offensive arrogance to trumpet his exclusive stance on websites other than his own. His conduct was not only rude and offensive to non-Professional Speedmaster owners, but also anachronistic and against the spirit of the Internet. My message was a concise expression of two points: 1) there are plenty of other excellent sites out there open to everyone and that's the whole point of the Internet (With zOwie around); and 2) your attitude toward the non-Professional Speedmaster owners is inappropriate and is indicative of a lack of sound
judgment (who cares about your silly vote).

Is it the initial rudeness?

Absolutely not! My message contains no foul language and was not intended to hurt any one. It was a moderate challenge to an inappropriate conduct. Every word in that message was used in the good sense of good English. As such, it
should be acceptable to the polite society and should be responded accordingly. Unfortunately, as a result of this message I was "loved and
kissed" and called "big teddybear" by Ross, and, most regrettably, scolded by Derek as being "rude." To any impartial, indiscriminating, and clear mind, who is rude? Does anybody here need a dictionary to find out what the word "rude" means?

I have stopped visiting zOwie. Even though the forum is supposed to be public, I take it as a private salon open to the public for free. After all, it is Derek's personal site. This site is a real good service to all Omega lovers. Everyone who has participated his forum or visited his site should thank him for his efforts. As to this particular incidence, however, I think he should have kept above the fray. If he felt compelled to intervene, he should have taken a transcending position and exercised better judgment,
including but not limited to a better judgment on the meanings of English words. In my view, it is rude on the part of the host to let any visitor
feel unwelcome and unfairly treated.

C.K. Shih

----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2000 9:26 PM
Subject: [zOwie:] On rudeness...

> The following new message has been posted on zOwie Omega Forum at
> .
>
>
***************************************************************************
>
> MESSAGE: (#5580) On rudeness...
>
> AUTHOR: Derek Ziglar
> DATE: 11/12/00 02:26:16 GMT
>
> Reply To: (#5574) It's highly regretable to see (more)
> Author: C.K. Shih
> Date: 11/11/00 13:33:23 GMT
>
> : No one deserves anybody's rudeness in the
> : Internet community unless his or her
> : behavior courts such treatment.
>
> So why did you feel compelled to post a rude "who cares" message? That is
the
> initial rudeness that spawned this whole discussion.
>
>
***************************************************************************
>
> This is an automatically-generated notice. If you'd like to be removed
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> response directly to the board. Thank you!
>

: So why did you feel compelled to post a rude
: "who cares" message? That is the
: initial rudeness that spawned this whole
: discussion.