hello all

allow me to share an experience from my last convocation.

an individual is receiving an honorary doctor of laws from a university.

he stands up and begins his speech by saying he must remain neutral as to the receiving of this degree. should he take the usual route of humbleness and proclaim his obvious unworthyness then he would be, in effect, insulting the individuals of the honorary degree selection committee and the president and chancellor of the university for not having the proper sense to bestow the degree on him. by proclaiming his humbleness, he'd be questioning the reputation of the university and the education of its learned members.

but, he also cannot proclaim his worthiness, for to do so would be outright boasting, certainly not an acceptable english custom. it is never polite to be a braggart.

so, he must remain neutral. however, what he may do is express his gratitude to the university, his surprise and his feelings of happiness.

i hoped simply to achieve the latter. express gratitude to the individuals thanking me, express my surprise and the obvious happiness that came from reading such lovely emails.

i was/am very hesitant about this post and i am willing to delete my original message. i do not expect a return on my contributions. i'd simply like to follow the same spirit as was shared with me a few months ago during my convocation

many kind regards and thanks for your well wishes. i am continually amazed by the individuals on this board. i have never seen such a fine group of individuals in my seven years of interneting

yours,
firefly

(edited 3 minutes after post for spelling mistakes and to add material i neglected to mention)

[This message has been edited by fireflyreaction (edited 12-22-2001).]