Reference starting at the bottom.
Here's the dilemma, Jackie.
I have some time throughout the day, a few minutes here and there - sometimes it's long enough to read through an entire thread, but usually not. I can start at the top or at the bottom. I used to start at the top and sometimes I still do, but I found often I had said things that were already said or that the subject had changed. I could break it up and read an entire thread in several sessions except I will have 1) lost my train of thought and 2) forgotten anything I'd read earlier. (Cursed with a small short-term buffer.)
I try to scan the new topics, but I only read a small fraction of posts generally unless it's raining outside and the kids are out with their mom.
Beyond this - if I get someone else's idea stuck in my head or their words stuck to my lips or fingertips - it's not done by purpose but only because it resonated, I guess, and I inadvertently osmoted it. Maybe subconsciously I'm thinking "Gee, I wish I'da said that." Consciously I don't recall having read those particular words. In your case, I'm sure I started at the end and didn't read yours. I blurted a random brainfart that came to me.
It's a poor excuse for plagiarism or being conversationally boorish, of course, but it's not like I go out of my way to imitate other people.
k
