subtitled: How hard is it to be tolerant of someone not yet up to your standards?

There was a thread started here this morning by a new, young rider asking for comments on his bike. As usual several posters jumped at the apparently irresistible opportunity to blast the guy. Not surprising around here . . . inexcusable, yes, but sadly not surprising. Sure his bike had issues, but what do you expect from a new roadie?

What really appalled me was the excuses -- somehow some guys felt justified in their insensitivities. Somehow some guys feel being mean to other people makes them a man, in their own feeble miscalculations. This too is typical . . . among the weak. They feel that insulting and injuring others makes them feel better about themselves and enhances their masculinity.

You don't need to be a psychologist to decipher this . . . it's transparent, it's glaring, and it's pathetic.

I have a suggestion -- if you find yourself so lacking in self-esteem in your life, do what a real man would do and work on your insecurities. Do some research -- the internet is conveniently at your disposal -- and spend more time working on correcting your shortcomings instead of lurking around internet forums pouncing on the defenseless.

Internet muscles disappear when you're face-to-face.

Disclaimer:
I'm addressing just a handful of individuals, clearly not the majority. I'm adverse to internet conflict so I won't name names . . . they know who they are, they walk around with a perpetual chip on their shoulders.
My apologies to the rest of the forum that these unpleasantries had to be addressed . . . and the Mods mercifully closed the thread before I could get this in.

End of Rant.