i say it was clear if you read the whole series, because he was actually the first person to mention *liking* tom waits, wondering how it could be possible that no-one had mentioned him yet. so i replied ironically to that, and the whole thing went on from there.
with a few exceptions, most people / subjects around here are pretty easy going and tolerant, and there is also a lot of tongue in cheek humor, irony, sarcasm... since we don't know each other personally, and have no facial expressions to give us clues, i find it's best to give people the benefit of the doubt. when i see a post that at first glance *might* be rude, i generally give it a second look and / or wait to see how someone else replies, to make sure. maybe i just misunderstood, after all, or am feeling particularly over-sensitive that day...
sometimes, people really are just rude / offensive though.
