its quite sad that people don't always mean what they say.. nor do they say what they mean. no wonder the communication process is so damned complicated. worse still, people tend to insist that they are saying what they mean and meaning what they say even when its clear that this can't possibly be true. they take umbrage at the very suggestion of inconsistency. so are we all obliged to spend our lives working out what's really going on while simultaneously being careful about how much information we then pass on.. and how much we withhold?