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Thread: Apparently, this is becoming a thing, again...

  1. #1
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    Default Apparently, this is becoming a thing, again...

    I'm not quite sure why the claims that I bought my son a Mercedes using Pangolin money is being brought up again on Facebook, but apparently that narrative is being resurrected.

    I really don't participate on Facebook very much any more, because of all of the vitriol that is found there -- plus I think that, on balance, Facebook has not been good for humanity.

    Nevertheless, here's a link to the whole story that I posted here on PL nearly four years ago:
    https://www.photonlexicon.com/forums...were-wondering

    Bill

    PS: In an interest in full disclosure, since the time the post above was made, Pangolin has purchased a used Tesla Model X as a company car. I find it amusing that -- apparently to make a point that I'm foolishly using Pangolin money, people are choosing a narrative that I bought my son a used Mercedes 5 years ago (totally not true, as you will read in my post), instead of foolishly using Pangolin money to buy a used Tesla Model X!

    I mean -- dudes, if you're trying to make the point that I'm foolishly using Pangolin's money, at least use something more recent and more exotic! ;-)

    PPS: We still have the Toyota Highlander and it's what I am driving today!

  2. #2
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    Hi Bill,

    I'd lead with, not true, but what I do with my money is my business. But that's it just me. Don't let the bozos get you down.
    "There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso

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    I didn't follow what happened back then but what you purchase or do in your family circles is none of peoples business.
    You shouldn't have to explain yourself to anyone.

    I think it's really a typical example of people just trying to get under your skin Bill.

    We really appreciate what you and your team are doing for the industries creators and we know parts of Pangolin' proceeds are put back in the industry in one way or another.

    I could name 3 people right off the bat directly who came in this industry and were encouraged and supported to grow because of you guys and I bet many many more can be named.
    I am for sure one of those 3.. you guys supported me on the software side of things when I was a young kid with a no money dream and believed in me.. I would not be in this industry pursuing a love of labour otherwise.

    You went as far as sending me some of your books with encouraging messages towards the passion I found (lasers).. a young kid who was very socially awkward/insecure and those things did a lot to me..
    I don't think people realize that or are taking business to a personal level where business is sometimes fierce/harsh (as the nature is of a competitive industry).. People who talk ethics in the industry going for these low blows are irony because they can't even show some ethics themselves..
    Last edited by masterpj; 07-02-2020 at 07:03.

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    swamidog is online now Jr. Woodchuckington Janitor III, Esq.
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    Quote Originally Posted by masterpj View Post

    I could name 3 people right off the bat directly who came in this industry and were encouraged and supported to grow because of you guys and I bet many many more can be named.
    put me on that list. i discovered the pangolin and ilda websites while at university and was totally inspired.
    suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.

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    I use the money I get from Spaghetti on hookers and blow. Does anyone have a problem with that?

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    swamidog is online now Jr. Woodchuckington Janitor III, Esq.
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnYayas View Post
    I use the money I get from Spaghetti on hookers and blow. Does anyone have a problem with that?
    only if you don't share!
    suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.

  7. #7
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    mixedgas is online now Creaky Old Award Winning Bastard Technologist
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    Bill,
    What you do with your money is up to you, provided you never sell Pangolin to Evil Communists , Evil Socialists, Evil Investors, Evil MBAs, Dennis Rodman, or a Big Lighting Company.
    Enjoy your car, which if it is like every other EE's car on the planet has a back seat loaded with gear, instruments, documents, dead chips, and twenty year old Radio Shack receipts.
    ~
    If you move to Bozeman, Montana, you will find Range Rovers , F-450s, Tahoes, Suburbans, and tracked vehicles as the minimal company car for the ninety or so optics technology companies located there. Because of the winter and the probability of hitting a Moose or Deer.
    I got picked up at the Airport by a brand new Range Rover while on business, there.
    ~
    So a Tesla in Florida is probably a good idea, just keep the dynamic braking working for all those toll booths.
    ~
    Given what you do for a living I'd be far more worried if you kept a '78 Dodge Dart or a Box Truck as the company car(t).
    ~
    A Benz is lunch Money compared to what a certain Laserist mutual friend of ours drives. YET, No one is complaining about him...
    ~
    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 07-02-2020 at 11:47.
    Qui habet Christos, habet Vitam!
    I should have rented the space under my name for advertising.
    When I still could have...

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    Default Facebook *is* the problem

    Quote Originally Posted by Pangolin View Post
    Facebook has not been good for humanity.
    100% on point, Bill!

    Facebook has become a cancer; a drama-laden cesspool of disinformation that absolutely caters to the lowest common denominator. I used to enjoy keeping in touch with people on FB, but I had to force myself to stop using it because some of the content was so hateful. Your latest experience is a prime example of the sort of nonsense that ends up on people's "feed". (Ugh)

    How is it newsworthy to know what car you drive? Or what car your son drives? Are people really so petty that they need to drag your family into a crazy public argument about your *private* finances just to take a stab at you? To what end? I mean, why is anyone even discussing this in the first place?

    What's worse is that now this sort of hate-campaign has been applied to political and social matters, making the platform nothing but a hive for propaganda. It definitely is not good for us. (On the contrary, it is demonstrably very, very bad for us.)

    Quote Originally Posted by masterpj View Post
    I could name 3 people right off the bat directly who came in this industry and were encouraged and supported to grow because of you guys
    Only 3, PJ? Surely more than that! I am good friends with at least 25 people who have received *personal* assistance from Bill himself - assistance that had lasting impact on their hobby, and in a few cases, on their career in the laser industry as well. And that's just the one-on-one support directly from Bill that I'm personally aware of. I'm sure he's done this sort of thing in private with lots of other people, and that doesn't even begin to take into account what Bill has done in public at laser enthusiast's meetings and trade shows, or what Pangolin has done as a company for the industry as a whole.

    If someone wants to have an honest discussion about Pangolin's corporate policies, then fine - have that discussion. I'll even admit that I don't agree with all of the decisions they've made. The key is that we would be discussing the FACTS about how the BUSINESS operated. That is an honest discussion we could have.

    But attacking the company president on Facebook for personal decisions regarding his family are dishonest and just plain wrong. (All the more wrong when it's clear that they don't have their facts straight in the first place.) So yeah, to hell with those folks. (As our lab director is fond of saying, "OFF is the direction in which they may fuck.")

    Quote Originally Posted by JohnYayas View Post
    I use the money I get from Spaghetti on hookers and blow. Does anyone have a problem with that?
    HAHAHAHA! Priceless, Gary! And no, no problem at all buddy.

    Adam

  9. #9
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    Thanks for the note Adam,

    I think what's getting lost is that the whole thing is false. One long-time Pangolin hater was trying to make a point that I'm using Pangolin money to buy my son a Mercedes, and they fished on his Facebook page to find a photo that he and I mocked -- just for the sole purpose of making a FB photo. The reality is that my son bought the Mercedes himself with insurance money he got from nearly losing his life in a car crash!

    Of course the facts don't matter if they don't fit the narrative...

    Anyway, thanks for the kudos. It's a damn shame there's not a SELEM this year. I was really looking forward to seeing everyone!

    Bill

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pangolin View Post
    I think what's getting lost is that the whole thing is false. One long-time Pangolin hater was trying to make a point that I'm using Pangolin money to buy my son a Mercedes, and they fished on his Facebook page to find a photo that he and I mocked -- just for the sole purpose of making a FB photo. The reality is that my son bought the Mercedes himself with insurance money he got from nearly losing his life in a car crash!
    I remember the story from years ago. I even e-mailed one of the people who participated in the argument on Facebook. Basically I asked them what the hell the point was to all of this - why was this even remotely relevant? Their answer was that they were upset because they had once heard you say something about how the people at Pangolin were down-to-earth folks, and to illustrate that point you made some off-hand comment that you didn't drive a Mercedes, but rather a Toyota.

    So fast forward to several years later when that person was incensed to learn that your son was going to be driving a Mercedes (despite the fact that he didn't work for Pangolin). That was their sole justification for all the drama. (Yeah, it's every bit as brainless and petty as it sounds!)

    I told him I couldn't fathom how someone so smart in other matters could be so petty and misguided when it came to this topic. For starters, who gives a damn what car you or your son drives? More importantly though, their whole premise was false. After all, *you* don't drive a Mercedes - that was your son's car. And your son doesn't work for Pangolin. So even if they could be excused for being so petty as to bring up a flippant remark from a casual conversation with you so many years ago, they'd still be dead-wrong because your original comment was still 100% accurate.

    Turns out that this particular person had a long-standing beef with Pangolin - one that I should point out had already been hashed out in the court of public opinion and had *not* gone their way. I guess they figured that since they couldn't win on facts, they would instead attack you on character, however misguided their attempt may have been.

    I bowed out of the conversation at that point, reminding myself that you can't fix stupid... But I guess someone couldn't leave it alone, which is why the whole issue has resurfaced on Facebook. Sigh.

    It sucks that you have to go through all this again, but I think you know that it's being done by a tiny minority. It's just that Facebook gives everyone a voice, no matter how wrong they may be. And drama spreads faster and gathers more "likes" than facts ever will.

    It's a damn shame there's not a SELEM this year. I was really looking forward to seeing everyone!
    You and me both, man - you and me both. In fact, I'm pretty sure that *everyone* was looking forward to the event, and cancelling it no doubt hit everyone pretty hard. Sorry about that folks! Painful though it was, it was the right thing to do.

    Adam

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