...but I don't remember that conversation at all. I'm not saying it didn't happen, just that it made little impression on me, so you needn't worry about it.

Maybe you are putting more stress on it than it deserves.

And there are advantages to this medium.

You can take your time and think over your message before sending it on its way. You can also take your time and think over your correspondent's message carefully before you respond to it. That's why the duck always wins.

No one can see you're a short, overweight old guy who needs a shave and a haircut, dressed in shorts, dirty wifebeaters and Okabashis. (Think: a Cheech Marin who doesn't work out but still has all his hair, although I do admit to being compared to Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and Paul Simon when I was a young studly macho boogie dude.) I'm a lot better with a keyboard than I am with the "physical". I also know how to pick my ground before I do battle.

The one thing I do try to do (perhaps not always successfully) is come across as someone I am, not as I would like to be.