A few days ago, I flew off the handle and attacked someone on the jewish-boston mailing list for a comment which was meant in jest and which I incorrectly took seriously.
I was helped to see the error of my ways by some very polite people, and this morning I sent this apology to the list:
Greetings,
Several days ago, I harshly criticized [name deleted] on this list for making a comment which he meant in jest, but which I took seriously. My comments were inappropriate, and I want to apologize both to Mr. [name deleted] and to the list for making them.
I also want to thank the several people who wrote to me privately and politely expressed their opinion that I had overreacted. Had they expressed themselves as I did, I surely would not have been able to accept their tochacha.
Having been around the block a few times on the Internet, I should have known bettter, and I’m sorry for my lapse in judgment.
Several people have since written to me and told me they were impressed by my public apology.
This depresses me. Why? Because it appears that people think it’s ordinary for someone to attack someone else on a public mailing list, and extraordinary for someone to apologize for such an attack.
In a better world, those would be reversed. *sigh*
