Saturday 15 August 2009

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough



I forgot to tell you, I finally joined the establishment a couple of weeks back; I wrote a letter to The Times. Well, when I say 'wrote a letter', it was more that I posted a comment on The Times website. The article http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/michael_gove/article6729561.ece) was poor enough, but it was really another comment that I was replying to.
I always wondered who could be bothered to write to the BBC (or The Times or whoever) saying things like "Fiona Bruce is dumbing down The Antiques Roadshow", or "The Chieftain Mk IV was the tank used at that battle, but the programme showed a Chieftain that was CLEARLY a Mk V !". Then, after posting my comment on The Times website, I realised it was people like me! Why bother? Why go to such efforts for such little (if any) reward? The answer - "Keyboard bravery".
The discussions on the BSM Instructor forum have been getting a tad heated at times recently. On one current thread this week one instructor called another a 'dickhead', triggering splutterings of shock and comments about being 'unprofessional'. 'Handbags' was the word that sprang to my mind, but I did like one comment - someone described the insult as 'keyboard bravery'. The implication being that the insultor would not have had the guts to call the insultee a 'dickhead' to his face, but was brave enough to do so from the safety of his keyboard.

Now, while I am far from bring 'Angry of Mayfair', typing from the safety of my laptop does give me the opportunity to be a bit more forthright than 'Mild-mannered Martin of Middlesex'.

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