Fr Steve, I'd like to nominate this as the thread with the most digressions in recent memory (which for me is about 5 minutes).

One of the (many) things I have never quite grasped about this board and its customs is the criticism leveled at those who take a thread off on a tangent.

Some folks apologize when they do so. Some folks kvetch at those who do so.

In what sense is this a bit different from what happens in conversation all the time? I want to talk about the ball game. You want to talk about what you had for supper last night. We end up talking about the weather.

Same deal here, eh?