I'm rather notorious for getting upset with people who don't see the tail that I see, so my resolution to myself as I surf the Internet is going to be to try not to react so quickly when I read a posting with which I don't agree. Sometimes this list has read more like a series of monologues rather than a dialogue. I suspect that part of this derives from the nature of the medium itself, part comes from the confrontational nature of our society today, and part may come from the personality required to survive as an interpreter. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that there is never a place for disagreement or even confrontation.
Some ideas are so vile that they have to evoke our anger.
Just because I have chosen at this moment, in this place, under these circumstances to focus on the elephant's trunk doesn't mean that I don't know that the tail exists, too. It's just that on balance, from what I have observed of this list the past couple of months, it seems to me that the trunk may be a bit swollen and even infected. We could use a little more gentleness and a little less anger. Words to remember. Which brings up another point.