Just to be clear, I didn't ever say to Sooz that I "needed the beads more than she did!" why would I say something like that?
Back When, she emailed me to accuse me of being greedy, and "driving up the lampwork prices on EBay". (I had offered what I thought was a fair price of one to two dollars a bead, for three big strands of beads.) She said that she expected that I would "back off and give other people a chance for once."
I responded, politely, that I was finished, I only wanted the beads that I got, and that I did in fact have a deep need of the beads- I wasn't buying them to hoard or just to make her miserable. I had three huge shows coming up and needed a bunch of beads to make a ton of jewelry with. I was happy to pay a fair price for them, from artists that I respect and admire, and didn't attempt to snipe in at the end and get them for a song.
I never implied that I was more entitled to them than she was, only that I WAS entitled to buy them for a fair price in a public auction, and shouldn't be harassed about it by a fellow bidder who didn't know me from Eve. I didn't report her to EBay, although what she did was against the rules and could have resulted in her suspension from bidding.
That was it, as far as I know. she apologized to me over the email and I never heard from her again. And then I guess she just started leaving mean little posts here and there, now and then. She was rude in this thread, and there is no point in defending what she said, because it wasn't right for her to say it. She can have her opinion, of course, but to defame someone in writing, in public, is a serious matter and should be done with more consideration.
I'm not worked up about it, because I'm not a very uptight person. But I'm not going to be quiet about it, either, if I feel that something so negative to me, and so off target, is just sitting out there. In general, I'm careful in how I deal with others and I wish that people exercised more self-control when contemplating a negative posting about another person on the internet. It isn't really any different than if it was published in print. It lives forever, and has an impact on the person that you attack, and is subject to the same rules of society and polite discourse.
kate