"Cirrus" wrote in oups.com:

I think pilots really are (as many of you pointed out) concerned about
their fellow aviators out there. We are a close knit, but hugely
extended family. I can fly to a strange FBO, and never having met a
pilot, ask him/her where to get a cheap meal or find some oil. I
remember one time I met a pilot that got stuck at my FBO. I was heading
up to practice some maneuvers, so I offered to drop him off at his
airport 80 miles away- nothing expected in return. I know lots of
pilots with stories like this. And far from being elitists, I think any
of us REALLY like helping eachother- whether it's answering student
questions, simmer questions, or telling the guy in final to watch out
for the ducks that you nearly hit on the runway a few minutes ago. I'm
glad to have gotten a chance to "meet" a lot of you today, so thanks
again. Today mxsmaniac is that duck sitting on the end of the
runway....

Very well written Cirrus.

I made a long post on "Why do I fly" a couple of months ago. Check out

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...74582207b32acc

You will see that we are indeed a close knit bunch of people.

I look forward to answering and asking more questions in the future.
And if I ever put my foot in my mouth, just know no that it's never on
purpose

Who knows how many times I ate toe jam in newsgroups :-)

No biggie, pick up the pieces and move on, and most importantly learn from it.

Allen