To Salah

Date: 08/26/2001
From: QBall79

Hey,

I read a portion of your "True Confessions" series, and was not surprised to see that you had once again lumped me in with those whom you have termed "elitists."

To this day, I still don't understand what changed between us, and what caused you to change your opinion of me. I was indeed one of the first people to welcome you to this board (if not THE first). You say that I ignored you when you tried to talk to me, but I have no idea what you are talking about. I helped you out with web hosting questions (http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/2326/14346), participated in discussions with you (http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/2326/8895), offered to help you with your Silver Implant Awards, HOSTED the website and added it to the Slidersweb regular lineup.

I have NEVER knowingly or intentionally ignored you. On the contrary, I welcomed you when you came, and have been there to help you out when you needed it, sometimes even without your solicitation. I may not have read every single post you ever made, and I may not have replied to every post of yours I ever read. But I treat you pretty much the same way I treat anyone else on this board, the only difference being that there are other people on this board with whom I have built closer relationships and consider close friends -- in my opinion, you and I never evolved past mere casual acquaintance. I'd say our friendship quotient is roughly equal to that of myself and Hunter. I read his posts and sometimes respond. That's about it.

The bottom line: in life we have acquaintances and we have friends. In my case, some friends are closer than others. If that makes me an elitist, then so be it -- but I dare say that if that makes me an elitist, then we are all elitists, yourself included.

I say that to say this: I am asking that the case against me be reopened, and that my status as "elitist" be reconsidered. I have brought forth more than enough evidence to rebut what you have said about me, and I ask that you would at least apologize for calling me an elitist, for I NEVER intended to convey that impression.

You say that you made your peace with me, but I never received a message directly from you addressing the issue. All I saw were these board posts calling me elitist, sacrimonious or the like. There was never any resolution to the issue, and judging by your "True Confessions," you are obviously still harboring some bitterness. If it is possible, I would like that to end now.

Take care,
Q-Ball79

Adumbration

Date: 08/27/2001
From: SpaceTime

QBall,

Reading this note to S is probably one of the most brazen instances of hypocrisy I've ever seen from you. You question Brand_S' feelings towards you like a wounded bird because he refers to you as elitist? You then list off a half dozen beneficial things you did for him when he was establishing his presence on the BBoard as the epicenter for your confusion.

A warm reception. Web hosting assistance. Dialogue. Hosting of a web site for no other reason than to be nice.

Sound familiar?

It should, because all of these self-same olive branches were provided to you... by me. I hosted your web sites, fixed broken Java scripts and ingratiated you much in the same way you did S. And yet when you speak of me in hushed circles in what cannot possibly be a positive light, do I ask you why our relationship fell apart and why it continues to be non-existant today?

No. And if you were to talk about how I am an ass on the bulletin board (http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/2326/20542), do I create a new topic postulating why?

No. Because I know why.

It's because you voided our contract of friendship after the Joke. It's because you sent an e-mail to Robert K Weiss calling me barely a man. It's because you sabotaged a chat with Tracy Tormé and then held the chat over people's heads. There are other reasons, but I think this is a pretty clear indicator why our friendship ended.

The funny thing is that our friendship DID evolve past mutual acquaintance and that didn't stop you at all from severing it. So why do you continue to trouble yourself on what people who matter little to you think?

Are you trying to set the record straight about "elitism?" Why bother? Elitism is defined by not allowing others into a circle, because those in the circle are 'higher in functioning' than others. We all have circles of friends to which newcomers may find themselves difficult to penetrate. But make no illusion, your group is far more difficult to enter due to the self-congratulatory nature of it. Sitting around a table, patting each other on the back for a job well done...

I can forgive what you did, QBall, but I can't forget, and whereas most acts committed against me are too frivolous for me to care in the long run, e-mailing Hollywood producers and telling them I'm subhuman is just a little too much to look past.

You aren't Brand_S' friend and he isn't yours. Whatever comments he has on the matter shouldn't matter one iota to you. Lord knows where my opinions stack up in the end with you.

Maybe turnabout is fair play for you. The acolyte-cum-master has been cast aside by his pupil. It hurts. Move on, because constantly questioning it will only aggravate.

Take solace in the fact that he only brushed you off as elitist. I've seen - and been a part of - much worse.

- ST

SpaceTime = Brand_S?

Date: 08/27/2001
From: QBall79

ST,

I guess the title of my post wasn't clear enough, but I was addressing *S* before, *not* you. Your reply served no other purpose than to renew your vows against me, something I never expect to end, despite the times I talked to you after the Joke and supposedly made peace. I even e-mailed you out of the blue sometime later just to let you know I didn't hold all that crap against you anymore. That went ignored, and your attacks continued, despite my efforts to maintain civil relations. I got over it -- you didn't.

Subhuman? How do you know what exactly I sent to Bob Weiss in e-mail? Did you hack into his account? Are you Bob Weiss after all? Obviously not, because if you were, you would know I never called you that.

Do you honestly think I'm the only one who e-mailed Weiss? That address was public knowledge, especially after the Joke. I didn't single-handedly destroy his perception of you. You did that yourself. All I was doing was setting the record straight. What if Bob never knew all this hate e-mail was because of an inappropriate joke? What if he just thought this was the Sliders community lambasting him for no reason?

Besides, I thought we made our peace even *after* I e-mailed Weiss. Need I bring up the AIM conversation from the night of the infamous Tracy Tormé chat? Are you that two-faced, or just that forgetful? Oh, that's right... you "can't forget." I guess that leaves only one option.

"Elitism is defined by not allowing others into a circle..."

>>>Oooh, you mean like you did with your Tracy Tormé chat? You only invited a closed circle of people and instructed all of them not to anyone else what was happening (thus making the circle impossible to enter). That same chat, which you insist I SINGLE-HANDEDLY sabotaged, went off without a hitch. It was not until AFTER the goodbyes had been typed and Tracy had LEFT the room that doubts and questions were voiced, not only by me, mind you, but by a great many people in the room. How you not only pin that ALL on me but believe that something occurring AFTER the fact was intended to destroy a FINISHED chat is not only beyond me; it is the definition of the word "Joke".

Despite the fact that you very rudely stepped into this thread and attacked me once again, I thought I would be nice and indulge you. I will not, however, accept this as a substitute to a reply from S. In the first place, I was merely asking a question; not to you, but to S. There were no attacks, no hidden agendas. Just a simple question. A question that you are neither authorized to answer, nor do you have any business making an attempt.

...that is, unless you really ARE Brand_S.

Q-Ball79

QBall79

Date: 08/27/2001
From: Brand_S

I used the link on your name to e-mail you a letter of apology. I thought you received it. If not, I'll restate here what I said if you want me to.

S

QB79

Date: 08/27/2001
From: SpaceTime

The post was not an attack, merely an observation at the parallels between myself and you and yourself and Brand_S. You have to admit they are there.

As for the e-mail, I know what you wrote because you sent it to other people and it found its way to me. I didn't care that you wrote to Weiss and told him about the Joke; I did care that you revealed my name for no reason, called me barely a man and suggested that Tracy Tormé be told my name so that if I ever contacted him, he'd know that I was up to no good.

"I have severed any ties I had with the man (and I use that term loosely)."

Doesn't really sound like you forgave me, and this was sent before the chat, before our reconciliation IM (yes, I remember it - I still have the transcript). But it's okay. I've spent enough time talking about this subject. It is true you sent me an e-mail last July, and it was appreciated. I'm as over what happened as I'll ever be, but I still remember, and I thought it was slightly amusing that you were placed in a similar situation with S. Sucks being burned, doesn't it?

It does. Because I can remember when you and I were great friends.

If you wanted to address only S, you should have sent an e-mail. As it is, you posted to a public forum and I'm entitled to read and reply to it. I found it funny that after all you did for him, you felt you were getting the shaft. Nothing more, nothing less.

- ST

S

Date: 08/27/2001
From: QBall79

Thanks man, I got your e-mail. I appreciate you clearing that up! I'm only posting this publicly for the curious readers out there.

I'm glad you understand, S. No hard feelings here.

Q-Ball79

SpaceTime

Date: 08/27/2001
From: QBall79

Though you claimed your post was merely a spotlight on the parallels between us, it immediately came off as an accusation of hypocrisy.

"Reading this note to S is probably one of the most brazen instances of hypocrisy I've ever seen from you."

I did my own interpretation and assumed you meant that my *posting* was hypocritical, not the fact that I *read* the post. You didn't back up that statement, but still, the accusation was there. It wasn't just a parrallelism ("Nothing more, nothing less."). There was more to it from the get-go.

I don't deny that there are parallels. You helped me out with web hosting; I did the same for S. You participated in discussions with me; I have done the same with S. You hosted some of my websites; I have done the same with S.

That, however, is where the parallels end. I never orchestrated an insane joke for the sole purpose of causing harm to the Sliders community and the movie cause. I didn't fool S into doing something that brought his credibility into question. *That* is where our paths diverge. I did indeed do good things for Salah, but I didn't pull any of the crap with him that you did with me; *that* is why our relationship ended, and why S and I still have amicable relations. I didn't cross him the way you crossed me.

When we talked after the Tracy chat, you kept pushing the fact that you had done *so much* for me, and that my terminating our "friendship" was wrong because of all that. You questioned how I could end things just because of the Joke after all you had done for me.

True friendship cannot be bought. On top of that, true friendship doesn't keep score. By your own argument, you obviously believed the opposite.

I did indeed mention some of what I had done for S, but that was not in a vain attempt to "win him back". It was, as you observed, to show my confusion on the issue of him calling me elitist. Unlike you and me, I had valid reasons for wondering why. In your case, I made it clear from day one what my problem was with you -- if you were confused any time after that, I would have to assume you were either just confused in general or in denial.

I have forgiven you, Matt. Forgetting would be much easier if you and others didn't bring it up so much. As far as I'm concerned, the Joke has been dead for a long time, and everytime you or one of your friends brings it up, it's like a really bad sequel to "Weekend at Bernie's," where Bernie is decomposed beyond recognition and smells like Hell, but everyone still seems to think he's the same old fun-lovin'party animal.

Anyway, that's about it. If you don't understand my position by now, then just go back and read.

Q-Ball79

P.S. You know the Bernie thing made you laugh. Admit it.

You're right.

Date: 08/29/2001
From: SpaceTime

Any and all "Weekend at Bernie's" references are innately hilarious and god-like in nature. ;P

- ST

Original URL http://bboard.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/545/22628
Nominated by Sliderman