Q:
A: Most genealogists, and certainly the top 10 on this board, are warm, wise, witty, well-read and, above all, devilishly handsome. There are a couple of trolls lurking about who are frigid, stupid, ignorant and, above all ugly; ugly in mind, body and spirit. Some of them are so ugly they earn beer money by posing for the masks you see in the bargain bin at Halloween. Their only pleasure comes from trying to annoy their betters. So, they give thumbs down whenever they can. Just ignore them. We do. Once in a while a teen, who has been misled by the ease at which he can download a music file or find a picture of Paris Hilton naked, thinks there is a magic web site that will let him type his name, then give him a 12-generation pedigree chart, complete with a family coat of arms for each surname. When we tell him that genealogy doesn't work that way, and that you have to research to find your family tree, he gives a thumbs-down out of frustration. Once in a while it is because the answer is wrong. I used to give thumbs-down to wrong ones when someone asked about cousins. If the correct answer was "first cousin once removed" and someone answered "second cousin", I'd give them a thumbs down. I've stopped since the troll patroll started giving thumbs down all over the place.