[Kaitlyn S]

el mister, on 2017-February-01, 07:55, said:

If that's well-articulated and well meant, I'd hate to see clumsy and patronising.
Nonetheless, your advice to keep a friendly tone is well-taken and I apologise for any tin-eared comments from me - we can of course disagree on a friendly basis.

I can also disagree on a friendly basis. Many beginners who play only the most basic of conventions, if any, post questions here, and get answers from the experienced players involving conventions that beginners shouldn't play with their peers.

You are apparently not one of those. I did not know that when I answered your question, and depending on who you were, my answer could have been the only worthless one or the only worthwhile one. Your response tells me that you are probably a seasoned bridge player who has picked up some of the attitudes of certain other seasoned bridge players. That's fine, I'm used to that. However, some players who bid nothing but naturally and don't want to hear about gadgets and esoteric bridge theory might enjoy my response in a sea of answers explaining how some convention might help. I can only hope that the next poster will be one of those, for if I get several posters like you in a row, it may drive me away from trying to be helpful.

In theory beginners are supposed to post in the B/N forum so that the others can answer in a way that will be understood by the OP; but most don't know that and aren't willing to read all the "read this first" information that tells them, so they post in the Expert forum thinking that this is the way to get answers from experts, and some of the experts respond in a harsh or condescending way (How dare you enter our forum with this drivel?) which only serves to make the poor beginner wonder why he plays bridge in the first place.