The Enid Blyton Society

Kate Mary wrote:No need to feel awful Courtenay. Hope you enjoy the Journals.

No there's no need to feel awful!

Forgot to say earlier, thanks to Pete for posting these stories. They were perfect reading in the wee small hours during a bout of insomnia.

I actually have two copies of some of the Journals...maybe I should sort them out...

Yes don't feel bad Courtenay. Just see it as a reward for spending so much time and effort on here. Besides you've actually had an article published in the Journal, so you have a greater claim to them than some!

walter raleigh wrote:Besides you've actually had an article published in the Journal, so you have a greater claim to them than some!

Well, it did cross my mind that if I could read some of what's been published in previous years, I'd have a better idea of what topics have been done before and what might be new and different - for possible future submissions.

walter raleigh wrote:Yes don't feel bad Courtenay. Just see it as a reward for spending so much time and effort on here. Besides you've actually had an article published in the Journal, so you have a greater claim to them than some!

I'm sorry and I don't want to get into an argument, but I find that rather offensive in a way. Many of we Society members have been writing in the Journal for an number of years! So going by what you have just said, many more members have a greater claim!

Surely it goes off a first come first serve basis, which is what happened here. Courtenay just happened to be online at the time.

I was thinking the same too, Julie, but didn't want to start any arguments. You, Robert, Nigel and many others here have contributed to the Journal many more times than I have. I would love to write more articles, as I said, but it would take me a long time to catch up with any of the regular contributors! And somebody's worthiness to own back copies of the Journal has nothing to do, as far as I can see, with whether or not they've written for it.

I took the comment in the spirit that I'm sure Walter intended it. I certainly wasn't offended in any way, as although I write in the Journal, I hadn't tried to buy the Journals in question. Courtenay 'won' them fair and square. I didn't think Walter was being insulting to anyone - it was just a slightly jokey statement to stop Courtenay from feeling bad about getting there first...at least that's how I interpreted it. . It could so easily have been said to me or Nigel or Julie or a dozen others - but we weren't the one who had managed to buy the Journals in question.

I'm quite sure that Walter wasn't intending to be offensive in any way. It was just a flippant throwaway remark in his post, intended to be read with good humour. For a forum that prides itself on being friendly, it's surprising how quick some people are to jump on others, when the mood takes them. Thin-skinned and snarling, or what?

Dave

Domino wrote: For a forum that prides itself on being friendly, it's surprising how quick some people are to jump on others, when the mood takes them. Thin-skinned and snarling, or what?

Dave

What is meant by that remark? I do hope you are not meaning myself, just because I saw Walter's remark as offensive! I know this is the internet, and we may take things differently as we can't see people's expressions or hear the sound of their voices, so I am asking politely, what are you meaning by that remark?

I think it is self-evident what it means. It was not aimed specifically at you, Julie, but equally you cannot completely absolve yourself from the criticism. It's precisely because you cannot see the spirit in which something is said, why offense should not be assumed without knowing if it was intended. That's all I was saying.

Dave

Dave's comment was originally credited to a remark about Nigel Farage!

UKIP MEP Patrick O'Flynn has apologised to party leader Nigel Farage for calling him "snarling, thin-skinned and aggressive".

I wouldn't think that could ever describe Julie, and am sure she can completely absolve herself from that remark/criticism!

Robert Houghton wrote:I didn't think Walter was being insulting to anyone - it was just a slightly jokey statement to stop Courtenay from feeling bad about getting there first...at least that's how I interpreted it. . It could so easily have been said to me or Nigel or Julie or a dozen others - but we weren't the one who had managed to buy the Journals in question.

Yes, I think it was just a light-hearted remark!

It's nice that the Journals have gone to someone we know (and it could have been any one of several people, but Courtenay got lucky). We can be sure that they'll be appreciated and perhaps even inspire one or two comments on the forums. It's always lovely to read opinions on articles in older Journals as well as current ones.

Robert Houghton wrote:I didn't think Walter was being insulting to anyone - it was just a slightly jokey statement to stop Courtenay from feeling bad about getting there first...at least that's how I interpreted it.

And that's certainly how I intended it to come across. I also wanted to emphasise that I was glad that they were going to somebody who would cherish and appreciate them. Although there are others here who have made more contributions to the Journal and the Society in general, they are also long time members who have had more opportunity to obtain the older Journals, whereas Courtenay, being a newer member hasn't.

I just wanted to reassure Courtenay that she shouldn't feel guilty as she has been a valuable contibutor to both the website and the Journal, and had every right to the Journals especially as they were on a first come first served basis. I certainly never meant to offend anyone, let alone Julie.

We've had a couple of instances now where feathers have been ruffled. Maybe, in future, it might be better not to reply to an offer on the forum but to email/ PM instead. As Julie inferred, it is easy for offence to be taken where none was intended.