9patrickmurphy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:20 pm
I'd also be curious to hear a veteran recount the story of TallGrass.
He has a lot of opinions on a lot of topics, he doesn’t hold back on sharing them, and he doesn’t sugarcoat any of them. If you choose to engage in a debate with him, you’d better be prepared to dig in and back your own viewpoint up for hours, if not days (and I am not exaggerating; I’ve carpooled with him from Denver to the San Juans and back, so I know firsthand). He’s also detail-oriented (you could call it “anal retentive” if you’re feeling inclined to dysphemism), so anything he’d read from any source about the thread topic at hand could be used against you.
In an online setting, where people feel less inclined to soften their own sharp edges anyway, these traits led to some very...interesting...back-and-forth on assorted threads. Several of these threads quickly devolved into derogatory remarks at TallGrass’ expense, which, while perhaps understandable in the overall context of human behavior, were excessively crude. I can only surmise that, even though I don’t seem to recall TG posting anything that violated the TOS, Bill M. decided he didn’t want to deal with the pile-ons anymore.
All that said, while a lot of TallGrass’...uh...most intense traits are just as present in real life as they are online, he’s also one of the most intellectually curious, funny, driven, and generous people I know. He will go literal-in-the-original-sense miles out of his way and take hours out of his day(s) to help his friends, and he’ll stop to give a stranger on the road or trail food or his trekking poles when they’re in trouble. He’s hauled my bumbling backside up two Class 5 Centennials and across the Telluride Via Ferrata, and I’m not exactly sure what was in it for him with any of those trips!
It truly is a loss to the forums that he’s not around the anymore, in my opinion.
"I'm not selling drugs, dude. Drugs sell themselves. I'm selling stoke!"
- Guy at the table next to mine at Alta's Slopeside Cafe, in what I can't help but selfishly hope were (will be?) his verbatim words to the arresting officer(s)