Did I do something wrong?

[Gillg]

jbml
Thanks for your very interesting comments.  Although I found my remarks to the other person acceptable, it's possible that he/she interpreted them in a different way, however, having received a second rambling and abusive email, I decided that the only way to deal with this was to refer it to GR, who appear to have resolved the matter.

[groom]

Have the names been removed, Gill?

[Gillg]

Yes, they have, Groom, so I'm grateful to GR for taking effective action.

Gill 

[groom]

That's really good to hear. Perhaps it will also show the tree owner that they have to take more care in the future and that if they had responded to your original, polite request they wouldn't have come to the notice of GR.

[mike175]

... On the internet, however, we are all reduced to a state of autism; and I believe it is this absence of non-verbal prompts which leads to the sudden and unexpected rows-over-nothing for which internet discussion groups are so notorious ...

Isn't that why emoticons/emojis were invented? 

[jbml]

Mike - yes, it is ... and they help a lot.

I have found that many people are sneeringly dismissive of the usefulness of emoticons. I have never understood this attitude myself.   

But then again, they offer me a facility which enhances my online communication capabilities over and above those which I enjoy IRL; whereas for non-autistic people they merely offer a partial replacement for a facility that they may not actually appreciate they have been deprived of. Maybe this goes some way to explaining the different viewpoints.

[gaffy]

I imagine that you didn't do anything wrong, in life there are some folk who interpret assistance and advice as being 'told off' or 'told what to do', and even the most diplomatic of approaches would elicit the same sort of response that you received. Anyway, sorted, and not worth you losing a second of sleep over it.

[Gillg]

Thanks gaffy.