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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

Chris:

>Some people might simply not understand, 

Understand which?  That they had given me the wood or that saying so was 
tantemount to giving their word and breaking it was a breech of proper 
conduct?

The rest assumes you mean the latter.

>>   Did you let them how you feel about this?

No.  It is neither my place nor disposition to educate someone about the 
prevailing culture.  Nor is it possible.  These are extremely chauvinistic 
people who think their "progressive" bias and manner of conduct is the 
antidote 
to the local people whom they disparage.   To this extent:  The man of the 
pair works as an electrician on fishing boats in the PNW.  He flies out of 
Tennessee to Washington for three or four week gigs and sometimes comes back 
with marvelous stashes of halibut and cod.  Best quality I've ever seen.  In 
two weeks they are sponsoring an all fish cookout and my tribe is invited 
as one of the few token locals.  I'm sorely tempted by the fish, which I 
adore.  But we won't go.  Her family will be there and they keep up a 
constant 
diatribe about "these local people" which I can tolerate about five minutes 
before I fly off the handle and call them everything but a Child of God.

>> and good communication 
> is the best policy.
> 

I don't agree.  I am owning that there is no right or wrong here, no good 
or bad, but simply a stark cultural difference.  Among us when you say 
something, that's it, it's your word and if you must per force go against it, 
you 
do so with downcast eyes, hat in hand, and then you are freely released from 
it.  In their culture you can make arrangements with people and dismiss 
them the next hour (without telling them) if a better offer comes along and 
they are fine being on the giving or receiving end of that.

They don't think they are living in a different culture.  They think (have 
loudly professed) that they are living among degenerates which is evidenced 
by the fact that we own guns, casually use the terms "boy", "darling", 
"honey" to complete strangers as a proper form of address, and take longer 
than 
five seconds answer questions.  

The people amongst whom I usually deal hold to the idea "faithful in 
little, faithful in much".  That is, anyone who would affirm a deal with a 
few 
fence posts or a few armloads of firewood and then renege on their word would 
also make a serious and important major real estate deal with you and then 
back out of it.  Once you find out how different expectations you have, there 
is nothing to gain from any transactions with them.

So if I took your advice and pressed the communication with them, they'd 
nod in agreement that, yes, I am one of the degenerates "around here" just 
like everyone else.  And I would disclose to them that they are soulless 
yuppie 
bigots with no morals.

Neither of us has anything to gain from that.

James</HTML>