Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the water…

I didn’t log in to OS at all on Saturday. When I finally dragged myself to an upright position sometime early Sunday afternoon and popped open my laptop, what to my wondering eyes should appear? No, not a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. Nay, nay. It was the toasted remains of OS-land after the raging flame-war that tore through the place on Saturday last.

I didn’t miss all of it, of course, because there were still the inevitable rebuttal posts and the posts lampooning the primary incendiary device formerly known as Caitlin Kelly’s blog, and then, the posts rebutting the lampoon posts and … well, you get my drift. There is still plenty of kerfuffle to be had, along with any number of hot spots that keep flaring up without any warning at all. Why, I don’t remember this place being such a hotbed of activity in quite a while. It has actually been rather quiet around here for some time.

Of course, that’s all in the crapper now. Fangs have been bared, sides have been chosen and peace flags have been waved. As anyone who has been here any appreciable length of times knows, however, there is a natural course these things are destined to take. Trying to circumvent said timeline can be likened to pissing in the wind. It’s not very effective and you usually end up with… err, umm… something not very palatable all over you. It’s best to just go along for the ride.

I freely admit to having been both a feather-ruffler and peace-maker-wannabe in the past. I’m better at the feather-ruffling than I am at the peace-making, but I have dabbled in both, to be clear. Ultimately, both roles have pros and cons. Let’s just say that either way, you’re going to piss somebody off. I speak from experience here. I can be very diplomatic, but I can also be just a plain old bitch. Frankly, depending on the mood I’m in, I can find pleasure in either role.

Where is all this coming from and who really cares, you may ask. I have an answer for that. In a recent post, I declared my intention to stop walking tentatively through my life. No more wishy-washy, no more tentativeness, I said. No sooner did I say that than along came this big dust-up and the ensuing skirmishes that always spring up after the initial blow-up. Hence, my first opportunity to exercise my non-tentative, pick-a-side muscles.

No more skirting the issue. To be perfectly honest, flame-wars are great fun (the only exception to that being, of course, if you are the one being skewered.) Yes, I know many of you will take PC exception to that statement. Go ahead, I don’t mind. But I don’t believe you either. They’re like the train wreck you can’t look away from, the burning house with the whole neighborhood gathered outside watching it burn. No one is actually cheering (that would be bad form) but we’re all sure participating in one form or another. The more confrontational ones in our midst (and yes, I count myself in that number) may be the only ones actually fanning the flames, but there are untold numbers of you out there observing with non-participatory glee.

Now, having said all that, let me also say that I agree with those who have the presence of mind to pull themselves from the melee to plead for a return to civility. This is a necessary part of the natural course of these things. After all, we can’t just walk around slapping the snot out of each other all the time, can we? I mean, it’s fun for a while, but it can get old, too.

In closing, I want to say three things:

1. AWESOME dust-up this weekend! Extra points for all the spin-off blogs that were generated by this particular flame-war. (BTW, sorry for the use of the forbidden “A” word, Blumenthal. I just thought it was appropriate here. So, sue me.)
2. Great peace-making posts. A finer batch of can’t we all just get along posts, I’ve never seen.
3. Thanks, all, for giving me something to write about other than my own angst-ridden and totally pedestrian life (with the exception of the birth of Baby Liam!)