[pct-l] a letter to C. Thorpe

[charliethorpe@att.net (Charlie Thorpe)]

on 12/4/01 9:03 AM, JoAnn M. Michael at jomike@snowcrest.net wrote:
 
> I usually try to "pad" my response when I feel agitated, to be sure it
> is polite and "politically correct" (what ever in the world THAT is
> suppose to mean...)  BUT, not this time: Mr.Thorpe, you sir, need to
> find something to do with your free time.    :(    And, I'd suggest not
> trying to guess my philosophies or politics, you'll never get it right.

Hello JoAnn -

Hmmmm...I am sitting here trying to decide if I owe you an apology or not.
It's not every day that I see such an uncharacteristically rude response on
a normally easy-going email list like PCT-L.

What got your goat?

I am assuming that you must be referring to the recent LNT-related postings.

Are you offended by my sometimes irreverent tone or my choice of language?
If so, I do apologize - the goal if LNT is to include everyone from the full
range of experience and opinion in the discussion.  If you want better
writing than my poor stuff, I can recommend:

"Soft Paths" by David Cole and Bruce Hampton (my favorite!)
"Leave No Trace" by Annette McGivney (Backpacker mag writer)
"How to Shit in the Woods" by Kathleen Meyer (nicely done)

If you don't like a little irreverence, you might want to stay away from
Meyer's book <g>.

If you don't like seeing others discuss blood and poop, then I don't
apologize at all.  Your human waste can very definitely affect me - worst
case, it might even kill me.  All outdoorsmen have a strong vested interest
in your knowing what to do with it.

IMHO, if you aren't willing to get close and personal with your misc bodily
functions then you have no business being in the woods.  One part of our
outdoor experience that many of us love is the fact that things DON'T come
wrapped in plastic packaging.  We CAN'T sit on the porcelain throne and pull
the handle and have everything be automagically whisked away.

Things get a lot more elemental in the backcountry and we rat-raced humans
are almost always the better for it.  If I didn't believe this to the bone,
I probably wouldn't hike the long trails.

If you don't like long postings, then I don't know what to do.  Some folks
go for Seinfield one-liners and some like shaggy dog stories.  We takes our
pick. 

Parse long messages and read them one chunk at a time.  It took me days to
read Ron Moak's explanations of fire-life-cycles in the backcountry.

Or don't.  Send me a picture of your keyboard and I will have one of my
computer-geek kids identify the delete button for you.

Thank you for being solicitous of my time.  I usually don't have as much
time available for PCT-L as I have had today.  The Jeep is in the shop and I
am time-sharing the computer with working on the chain saw...and it is
raining outside anyway.  Won't get much trail built today!

I honestly don't have any reason yet to be interested in your "philosophies
or politics"...unless they somehow explain why you might feel the urge to
censor a discussion on PCT-L.

If you think that some facet of the discussion is evil, boneheaded,
impractical, silly, or just plain wrong...chime in and make your case.

Don't just stand on the edge and throw rocks!

Trace No Leaves,

- Charlie