You sound like a broken record

Sometimes hosts of casts in Skypeland can be a bit imperious. The host was dumped from his own room, and the conversation drifted into impressions people get from the media about other countries and people. A lady from Brazil said she was amazed when someone from the United States told her that the rain forest in Brazil is full of cannibals. I agreed, and mentioned my exerience where a man from Poland on Skype had told me that all Americans were Jewish, or that people from the Middle East were surprised that the US has a substantial fraction of Muslims (as I describe in the posts to this blog titled "What is an American?"). The host returned at this point, and told me in an officious nasty tone that I was out of line and sounded like a "broken record."

Others in the room were puzzled at his interjection, and asked what the host meant. I opined that the host said we should stop all conversation on this subject and just be quiet. The host disagreed in a foul and offensive fashion and said that was not what he meant, his anger growing palpably greater into a seething rage. But I knew what he meant, or at least I was starting to develop a clearer and clearer impression of his personality (after all, he is the same host I referred to in the blog entry titled "Wet Blanket"). And so I knew I had to leave, which I did, thanking him for his "hospitality".

Later I exchanged some text messages with someone else from the room:

[2:41:39 PM] P says: I wonder what I said that was so offensive

[2:41:43 PM] P says: wow

[2:48:02 PM] Q says: as far as i know u didn't say anything wrong...

[2:48:04 PM] Q says: ????

[2:49:07 PM] P says: I sure made E angry

[2:49:16 PM] P says: I have seen him extremely angry two days in a row now

[2:49:18 PM] P says: over nothing

[2:50:55 PM] Q says: oh dear

[2:50:56 PM] Q says: not good

[2:51:24 PM] Q says: he said something about u going to many different rooms and have this agenda... something... i didn't really get him...

[2:51:37 PM] P says: I have no idea what he is talking about

[2:51:39 PM] P says: What agenda?

[2:51:47 PM] Q says: and i wouldn't know... i didn't even get as far as to hear what your point was

[2:51:55 PM] Q says: don't know

[2:52:16 PM] P says: The claim that people depend too much on what they hear in the media and get confused?

[2:52:42 PM] Q says: that's what i thought u were saying

[2:52:44 PM] P says: The claim that we have a substantial population of Muslims in the USA and people find that surprising?

[2:52:53 PM] Q says: maybe he hates u

[2:52:54 PM] Q says: lol

[2:52:59 PM] P says: Well I think it says a lot about him

[2:53:00 PM] P says: frankly

[2:53:12 PM] P says: If he wants to hate me

[2:53:30 PM] Q says: i was a bit shocked by the way he reacted... too blunt

[2:53:32 PM] P says: It says more about him than me

[2:53:39 PM] P says: That is why I left

[2:53:45 PM] P says: I was not going to sit there where I was not wanted

[2:53:47 PM] Q says: he could change the topic in a better way if he really wanted

[2:53:50 PM] P says: and be attacked

[2:53:56 PM] P says: and threatened

[2:54:08 PM] Q says: u should have stayed...

[2:54:11 PM] Q says: lol

[2:54:18 PM] P says: No he would have just been angrier

[2:54:24 PM] P says: and I would not have been able to talk anyway

[2:54:34 PM] P says: I would just have moved to listening and/or muted my microphone

[2:54:38 PM] Q says: i love that...

[2:54:52 PM] Q says: ppl loosing their minds over shit and nothing

[2:55:03 PM] P says: but he is in control....so...I just write him up in my blog

[2:55:10 PM] P says: so we have a nice record of his behavior

[2:55:16 PM] P says: In fact...when it is done

[2:55:17 PM] Q says: but i would have been giving comments to support you... and i would really like to see him mute me

[2:55:18 PM] Q says: lol

[2:55:22 PM] P says: I will make sure he knows I wrote about him

[2:55:33 PM] P says: and think he is not presenting himself in a very positive light

[2:55:42 PM] Q says: i would fall off my chair then...

[2:55:45 PM] Q says: *my thrown

[2:55:48 PM] Q says: :P

[2:56:01 PM] P says: I would not even be in his room except that Skype is malfunctioning

[2:57:54 PM] Q says: lol

[2:57:57 PM] Q says: so true

[2:58:12 PM] Q says: that's forcing ppl to take what ever they can have

[2:59:08 PM] Q says: ok... gotta run

[2:59:16 PM] Q says: talk to you later some time... take care

[2:59:19 PM] Q says: stay strong

[2:59:19 PM] P says: Yes. Otherwise I would start my own room. Or join another. I find his rooms boring in general. You see when I say something even mildly (and I do mean MILDLY) controversial, he throws a tantrum like a child

[2:59:19 PM] Q says: :)

[2:59:21 PM] P says: bye

[2:59:42 PM] Q says: i agree 100% ;)

(Considering my interactions with this host, and those of my friends with this same host, I do start to see a pattern. He is torn between wanting to host a free-ranging discussion, but wanting to control it desperately. He really has almost nothing whatsoever to add to any conversation, and no imagination whatsoever, being a completely boring and uncreative individual with almost no spark of curiousity, and not much knowledge of the world, or even interest in the world around him. He displays a disdain or even hatred of intellectual conversations and learning and education. This is somewhat at variance with his accent, which bespeaks of propriety and refinement, and would assume, education.

He frantically wants to stomp on things he deems inappropriate, and to control all talk in his room and others with an iron fist. And this includes not just potentially controversial conversations, although what he deems polemical is not always readily apparent. In addition, he has a propensity to discourage discussions which are learned or intellectual in any way. This often destroys the conversation in his rooms, and leaves nothing but silence. Granted, the rooms are calm, but there is little that can be learned from these conversations either. So what purpose do they serve?)