| parrthenon@cs.com 2005-03-25, 4:03 am |
| SCHULTZ VS. BOOZ: WHO SHOULD BE ASHAMED?
<That was supposed to be kept confidential until his family was
notified. Shame on you.> Stan Booz
<Stan, staff knew it and dozens and dozens of others did. There are
some thngs that can't be kept secret. That aside, when Iwas told about
it nobody said it was confidential, when Beatriz told me that last
night, I told her it was too late, the world knows. Stan you jump at
anything to get a dig in whether it is spreading gossip about someone's
wife without checking the facts or saying shame on me without checking
the facts. Shame on me? No, shame on you!> Don Schultz
Shame, then, upon whom?
If Don Schultz is correct in saying that the staff and dozens of
others knew about Glenn Petersen's heart attack and if it occurred on
March 21st and Don Schultz only reported it on March 23rd, then it is
difficult to imagine how Glenn's family would not have known. If the
preceding are all true, then Mr. Schultz deserves moderate
congratulations for letting us know that a fine man is ill. I remember
when I had an operation seven years ago, and there was Glenn on the
blower to me a number of times, ordering me to get well. Arnold
Denker, too, phoned three or four times. So, too, good ol' Lev Alburt.
These are the kindnesses that you don't forget.
To be sure, telephone calls to a sick person are made NOT to
make you feel good about yourself but only when the doctors say that
such calls will make the patient feel well. I will be getting hold of
Glenn this weekend to wish him a speedy recovery.
Don Schultz says shame on Stan Booz. Okay, I have no doubt that
Mr. Booz's motives were the WORST IMAGINABLE: he doesn't give a fig
about a nice man who is sick but did wish to stick a cocktail fork, if
not a shiv, into Mr. Schultz. Having said that, Mr.Booz's act was a
venial sin -- a tiny bit of rpresentative nastiness that we have all
come to expect of him. No more than that.
Shame? Not exactly. Mr. Booz ought simply to resolve to act
better.
The answer, then, is that no one need feel ashamed. Mr.
Schultz actually showed a human impulse. Mr. Booz simply showed
himself.
How refreshing were Mr. Booz to apologize for the episode. Not
effusively. He need not grind himself into the dusty roadside. But
something like this: "My choler collared me. I'm sorry."
But don't hold your breath. Without a shred of evidence Bozo Booz
still claims I am lobbying for the job of Chess Life editor.
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