192 retractions and bidding strong

[wolf441]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

How bad are you all going to feel if the bidder is Michael J. Fox?

Or to paraphrase your avatar:

Jim: "Look at my hand"
Bart: "Steady as a rock"
Jim: [raises his other hand, which is violently trembling] "Yeah, but I bid with this one."

[4815162342]

Do you guys seriously think it's okay to make fun of Parkinson's disease?

[wolf441]

I was actually making fun of a fictional alcoholic from Blazing Saddles.

[Bored5000]

Given that eBay doesn't care about shill bidding, I am still shocked that they don't just eliminate showing how many retractions a bidder has. I would think that change will come eventually.

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

Do you guys seriously think it's okay to make fun of Parkinson's disease?

Daryl, my grandfather died of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s great combo…and yes a little humor never hurt anyone lighten up.

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Daryl, my grandfather died of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s great combo…and yes a little humor never hurt anyone lighten up.

I have two members of my family going through this right now. John, I'm one of your biggest fans, but there's a time and place for everything (Ecclesiastes 3, The Byrds).

[wonkaticket]

Daryl, sorry to hear that. With that said folks can’t walk on eggshells on the odd chance it might offend someone everybody is effected by something. Humor is one of the most powerful ways to deal with things that are beyond ones control sometimes all you can do is laugh because there’s not much else that can be done.

[4815162342]

I agree - no harm done.

[cardinalcollector]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Daryl, sorry to hear that. With that said folks can’t walk on eggshells on the odd chance it might offend someone everybody is effected by something. Humor is one of the most powerful ways to deal with things that are beyond ones control sometimes all you can do is laugh because there’s not much else that can be done.

Jack Buck joked about his Parkinson's quite a bit.

"I can't go to auctions anymore, I have a whole basement full of stuff"

[D. Bergin]

We're only going to see more and more of this, as regular bidders use it as a bidding strategy to create the appearance of shilling.

I hate it, wish Ebay would do away with serial retractors or start giving warnings out when they reach a certain threshold at least...............like 3......in a year or so.

What sucks now, is I can't even block that guy with 5000 retractions (though it looks like he's a straight up shiller), because Ebay has blocked his ID from view.

So Ebay won't protect me from him (as a buyer OR a seller), and I can't protect myself from him either until he actually affects me.

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Daryl, sorry to hear that. With that said folks can’t walk on eggshells on the odd chance it might offend someone everybody is effected by something. Humor is one of the most powerful ways to deal with things that are beyond ones control sometimes all you can do is laugh because there’s not much else that can be done.

John,

This is so true. One of my signposts is: "It is easy to find offense where none is intended." Unfortunately, it can be difficult to try to inject a little humor into a discussion without ruffling some feathers. How many people would have been offended if you had used Muhammad Ali, Stephen Hawking or Marty Feldman? I do not envy anyone who has a physical or mental disability. My wife fights severe anxiety every day. The only way to deal with it is to occasionally call some of her concerns silly.

You are also right there about humor. In any attempt at intellectual discourse humor becomes akin to cleansing the palette while eating a fine meal. The distraction allows you to refocus and it abates the intensity for a moment.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Michael B

How many people would have been offended if you had used Muhammad Ali, Stephen Hawking or Marty Feldman?

I once heard a radio host refer to Stephen Hawking on air as "a plate of vegetable lasagna." I for one was offended. 0_o

[Deertick]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Daryl, sorry to hear that. With that said folks can’t walk on eggshells on the odd chance it might offend someone everybody is effected by something. Humor is one of the most powerful ways to deal with things that are beyond ones control sometimes all you can do is laugh because there’s not much else that can be done.

"Comedy is not pretty"
-Steve Martin

[FourStrikes]

"a little humor never hurt anyone lighten up".

Wonka, I agree 100%...my father passed away from renal (kidney) failure, and while it was no laughing matter, I can still recall his appreciation for my "gallows humor" when I commented that "there was too much urine in his blood" when he was asked to piss into a plastic bottle for the docs...

apologies for the (implied) visual, but it helped to lighten the seriousness of the situation at the moment, and I wouldn't trade the memory of his smile at the time for anything...

[KC Doughboy]

I am tired of all this blantanly obvious shill bidding. Shill bidding is illegal in NJ, so I have sent an email to the NJ Consumer Affairs Department.
http://www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov
If Rick Probstein has nothing to hide, then this shouldn't bother him.
I encourage all members of this hobby who find examples of any shilling by any consignor, anywhere, to contact authorities in that state. The more people who contact them, the more likely authorities are to investigate.