"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
ups.com...

Mary Fisher wrote:
"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
[...]
My apologies. I thought you were being sarcastic -- and a smiley would
only have strengthened my false impression.

Ah - so it *would* have communicated something!

I did say the things weren't _effective_ communication. And, as has
been said often enough on Usenet, once we start accepting their
presence, we'll also have to start interpreting their absence too. That
way madness lies. Exclamation mark (What that means is left as an
exercise for the reader: the writer can think of about five
possibilities without really trying.)

Words themselves aren't alway effective means of communication either.

--
Mike.