Recently more and more people have been saying that on the vexforum I sound angry. This kinda confuses me because while I am argumentative, condescending and often considered disrespectful, I am also joking and quick to laugh at my own mistakes as much as others.
I am saying this for 2 reasons
1 I am hoping someone can explain what I do that sounds angry.
2 To try and explain my behavior so others don’t misconstrue my quirks for anger.
Generally, when someone is behaving in an argumentative and condescending manner, they tend to be angry. That’s probably why some people think you are angry. Another indicator can be when you end a lot of sentences in exclamation marks… but I haven’t seen you do that for a while now.
I’ve never really thought you were angry… argumentative, but not angry. 
I think quirks is exactly what it is. Add a disclaimer in your signature or something if its really an issue. You’ve never seemed angry to me, just weird 
Just tell them you need a hug
I’ve never thought of you as angry, you do have a dark sense of humor which I, for one, enjoy. Don’t worry about it.
I personally dont see you as angry or offensive however you do have a weird sense of humour which separates you from everybody else. I find your sense of humour funny and people just need to know that you are less serious and more humorous than other people on the forum which some people see as offensive. if people could see through the formality of it all and then they would see your quirky sense of humour.
Is it just me, or does that seem to be really common in robotics students?
Maybe its the profile picture:D
I agree with the statement that people assume in online interactions that when someone is arguing they are angry with the present view of the thread or someone on the thread. It is all because a lot of human communication is done with facial expressions and body language. On forums all of that is taken away so the reader’s brain is just interpreting the text so it is hard for them to see sarcasm or the tone the writer of the post is trying to get across.
I try to be very careful in how someone is going to interpret my text so I like to add the smilies to add expression.
I don’t think your angry but hopefully this might help
But everybody :mad: gets annoyed at this 
guy that is really 
confused and needs 
emoticons to get across his point 
(sorry, had to do that)
But seriously, this goes for everybody, I get more judgemental over the way people use emoticons than the way they talk. Please, please, don’t overuse them!
Why do you sound so angry elliot? your such a hypocrite! :mad::p;):):o
Not at all. Looked through a few pages of your posts from your user link and did not see anything agregious.
Then agian, I get to listen to Foster in person on a near-weekly basis! Woo hoo! So my noise filter is set high already…
Foster’s posts are more like topic hand grenades spinning people up rather than him sounding angry directly. Well, mostly…
See - emoticons! Without them, the sarcasm just is not 100% guaranteed. It’s the safety net of posting.
Must do this: :eek:
Though we’ve sometimes stood on opposite sides of an argument, I appreciate your candor. More often than not, I probably sound overly whiny (removes clothespin from nose to breathe).
Hi Tabor
I would say you sound much more mad than angry (Note emoticon is to indicate pun used with humorous intent)
I too enjoy your directness of comment. It is just your style. Some people will see this bluntness as offensive, while others much prefer this to ■■■■■-footing, long winded comments.
Keep up the good work, Paul
Look, It’s Tabor!
http://wolfsgamingblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/angry-birds.jpg
Really though, I don’t see where anybody gets the “Angry” tone from.
PINNING !!!
Dropped my phone laughing so hard. It is true I can get a little spirited with rule arguments. Vex is what I am passionate about so it makes sense.
I am glad to know most people don’t think I sound angry. I will try and watch how i come off a little but I hope the people who think I sound angry could show me an example.
The General Forum is for discussions regarding the VEX Robotics system. I’m going to move this thread to somewhere more appropriate.
I didn’t read through all the replys here and hardly post at all on this forum but wanted to add some input as a mentor and someone who is ofter misunderstood …
You yourself said " I am argumentative, condescending and often considered disrespectful". These are not good traits to have. Some may think or say its you being you but working on these 3 things would go along way. It would also help with the misunderstanding of you being angry. You have a passion for VEX and it seems you like to “help” with your replys, To be taken more serious and less on the angry just consider working on not being so argumentative, condescending or disrespectful.
In the world of text. Its hard to read and gather emotion from words all the time. If you were argumentative condescending or disrespectful in an past post alot its pretty easy for them to think you are that way in all your post.
I’ve met Tabor on one occasion and must say he was one of the nicest people I’ve met. Extremely friendly and very quick to welcome our team to, well, the vex community.
Argumentative - I think he was referring to the fact that he is quick to argue if he believes someone else is in the wrong. I don’t think this is a necessarily bad trait because if you don’t let the management know that you are upset with their decision then they may continue to make bad decisions in the future. If you a respectful in your arguments, as Tabor has shown himself to be, then I see nothing wrong with it.
Condescending - Sometimes it’s tough not to sound condescending and frankly, your post about Tabor sounds “condescending.” It’s tough not to on the online community because, as you yourself said, it’s difficult to understand emotions in text.
Disrespectful - I agree, a bad trait to have, but I don’t think I know of anyone who considers Tabor to be disrespectful.
TL;DR: Tabor is a nice guy