The message
from Hussein M. contains these words:

On Sat, 26 Apr 2003 21:54:35 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from "Charlie" contains these words:

Boy, you're gonna get flamed now! =D

He's not likely to get any reaction at all from those who don't bother
reading persistent top-posters.

Oh come on! Do you mean to say Janet, that when you open a message
and see "original text" at the top you delete it straight away?

No. Haven't you followed the thread? When newbies arrive, I make a
point of answering **however awkwardly their posts are presented**. IOW,
I read innocent newbies who top-post, but only for a limited time. As
they become habitual urglers, I expect them to gradually pick up the
rudiments of clear posting, (which is made easy for them in the weekly
abc post).

After a while, even after someone has politely suggested otherwise,
some no-longer-new posters persistently top post, or repost unedited
unnecessary screeds unedited. I consider that a discourtesy to the group
because it makes big threads so hard to follow; and I've noticed that
those who deliberately go down that road, seldom have anything witty or
wise to say.

No, I don't bother to open their posts then shut them; I just set my
newsreader so that I don't see them any more (unless someone else quotes
from them, as Charlie did Badger's in this instance). As this thread
shows, I'm not alone.

Some newbie top-posters don't realise what effect their habit has on
other readers. They might prefer to continue getting replies from
posters who know what they are talking about.

Janet.