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In Reply to: Re: I agree but disagree posted by CB on May 15, 2006 at 16:21:51:
I actually agree with much of what you say here. I was perhaps a bit harsher on Deb than necessary in my search for the truth and willing to cut Tom Buckley some slack for his over the top remarks, and I think you did the opposite.
One of the reasons we've been at this topic for weeks now, as you point out in another post, is that first Smiley came with his/her nonsense, which required responses from us in every instance. After about a week of that Deb showed up with both guns blazing so to speak. She used some of the same tactics as Smiley (e.g. accusatorially asking us what good works we are doing), mocked us, and generally "stepped on toes" in a disrespectful manner without seeming to care what the purpose of this site is for. At least two weeks worth of discussions are centered around responding to Smiley and Deb. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just that they are the reason for this prolonged discussion on this topic.
One thing in your post bothered me a bit though, when you say: "Quite frankly, I expect more of my peers (people in their 50s and 60s) in the way of self-control, insight and judgment than I expect from people in their 20s and 30s."
I have no idea who Tom Buckley is, or even if that's his real name. But when I read his couple posts, it occurred to me that they were very similar to the unexpected outbursts of anger or rage that people with PTSD sometimes explode with when they are triggered by some circumstance. That's why I found it odd that you would make that comment about expecting more from your peers without qualifying it.
Perhaps that "crazy edge of interpersonal violence" you interpreted from Tom's posts was really just a PTSD response by Tom, you know, where the emotional response is far too intense and inappropriate for the situation. When that happens, the PTSD sufferer usually lose control momentarily, but that is a function of the disorder not a flaw in their personality. Also, PTSD does not age discriminate and I suspect that there are far more former FGs with PTSD than we realize, especially since many will probably never get diagnosed.
