In a message dated 11/4/01 6:04:39 AM Eastern Standard Time, freddybenjamin@hotmail.com writes:
<< I would not take kindly to an American on the list picking up bits and pieces cheaply and selling them to UK members at treble the price. I would call that being ripped off....snip...........friends don't rip each other off. ...snip.....others who see the list as a cash cow.
Being blunt, I can't say I see your acceptance of this behavior as a surprise. One would have to be very naive to think you set up the list-a recognized form of marketing for businesses-without thinking that it would serve to boost your own trade. Yes, you may have been inviting people to a party at your house but you weren't serving the drinks for free.
I suppose what I should do is stop looking at people on the list as potential friends and just start seeing them as customers and people from whom I can make a quick buck.
Perhaps, at a time when many perfectly reasonable people are questioning America's role in world affairs, Americans should start looking at a culture that sees ripping off friends as "OK". >>
Ouch.
Freddy, I think you have now , officially, passed beyond intellectual discourse into pure insult.
You make rude insinuations about things obviously you know nothing about. The direct assault on my own integrity for setting up this list saying I am "boosting my trade" is an asinine lie. Those who DO know me and my bicycle shop, know that I do zero to no business in vintage type goods.. In fact, the few things I part with are usually at my cost to, yes, friends who need them. I have a quite healthy "regular" bike business made up of customers who do not give a rat's ass for vintage bikes.
You say, "Yes, you may have been inviting people to a party at your house but you weren't serving the drinks for free." Exactly what has it cost you, in any manner, to be part of the CR list? The only admission fee, if you choose to look at it that way, is to be courteous and respectful of the wide variety of folk who enjoy the list. This message from you plus that last jab about joining the Taliban, have made you an disrespectful and disruptive element.
I am sorry you feel the way you do and I am sorry you have angered me with your attitude. We were enjoying a wee bit of tranquility there for a while and now it has been disrupted. That does not contribute to what this list is supposed to be...So I request you exercise another no-cost aspect of the CR list ..resignation.
Sincerely, Dale Brown
Dale Brown cycles de ORO, Inc. 1410 Mill Street Greensboro, North Carolina USA 27408 336-274-5959 Fax 336-274-6360 <A HREF="http://www.cyclesdeoro.com">cyclesdeORO.com</A> <A HREF="http://www.classicrendezvous.com/main.htm">Classic Rendezvous</A>