I've sat back and read, with some interest, how some of you (some good friends of mine as well as some who have not always been overly friendly with me) have complained about how Mary is opinionated. There are a few of us here who are opinionated (myself included at times, I am the first to admit it... I'm not out to win a popularity contest), but it is just taken at face value. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on things... even when they disagree or just have a slight difference in some ideas with others who have been here a long time. Eventually, if left alone, the subject dies out.
Yes, Mary and Mirjam seem to have butted heads a few times over whatever opinion one had that the other didn't agree with... but after a few rounds Mary lightened the mood, or tried to, about it all. Personally I think that would have just let it all fade away without other people throwing comments into it as well. Mary is certainly not like *some* of those real nasty people who say hateful things about Mirjam because she is Jewsih, she is just voicing her own opinion on some things. I have chatted with Mary in emails away from the newsgroup and find her to be a very nice and likable person.
There are some people who you either like or dislike, while others almost everyone likes... or dislikes. I think Mary likely falls into the first catagory... but then so do some of the rest of us. *shrug*
Just my opinion... off my soapbox now! ;o)
*hugs* Gemini