Tom,

It was more than clear that you echoed my structure. It was obvious that you were attempting to be humorous, but I have to point out that any humor found would only have been at my expense. Smileys may or may not have helped. Sometimes it's easy to forget that although a rebuttal stated mockingly may be an effective rhetorical tool to reinforce one's point, it can be considered a personal affront. A deliberate echo of someone's writing that turns his words upon his own statement can seem to attack the writer of that post more than its content.

I do accept your apology and thank you for opening the dialog on a point that deserves attention, even if it's not so simple a topic as a COBOL-inspired myth that needs debunking. This may not be the appropriate thread in which to continue that discussion, but your point and Paul's clarifications have certainly been valuable to me.