But if he'd responded with "It's just a joke" he'd have gotten away with it ...

... It's the sheer defensiveness of his responses to the piss-taking that mean it gets taken so far. That's not to justify it as such, just an expression of the fact that there are certain responses that will deflect piss-taking, and others that will encourage it, and most people (in my experience) have learned them by the age of 16 - that's what school does to you.

Last night I compared Bentley to Sutch, as a (semi)-ironic to SCC's (in my opinion) inexplicable love for the man, which seemed to me based on incredibly selective memory. Maisey responded what "WTF?" or something similar and I said - "It's a joke" - Internet crucifixion averted. If IED did the same when people started mocking him he'd get a lot less of it - and it isn't that difficult ...

Posted By: Ottosson Foxtrot, Aug 20, 01:02:33