It's deja vu, all over again.

This is a transcript of a recent telephone conversation between Otsego Farms owner Jim Webber and another stable owner (SO) who shall remain unidentified.

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JW: Hello. This is Jim Webber speaking.

SO: Hi Jim, this is **** *****. Have you got a few minutes to talk?

JW: Sure ****. I've gotta get down to the training barn by 4:15 to check on Quasar, but I can spare a few minutes. What's on your mind?

SO: There has been a formal complaint lodged against you for negative comments you made in the Insider regarding the quality of horses on the auction page.  I got wind of it and thought I'd give you a heads-up.

JW: What the f*** are you talking about?    Wow, seems like this conversation has happened before.  Does this seem familiar to you?

SO: Nope. Anyway, you criticized another owner about their auction decisions.

JW: Yeah. So what? Is that illegal?  Jeez!  Are you sure we haven't had this exact conversation before?

SO: Not in my recollection.

JW:   OK, so what is the problem?

SO: Evidently, some owners feel that you should keep your opinions to yourself because you night be screwing up their potential deals. They feel that by verbalizing your opinions, you are forcing others to rethink their decisions. Furthermore, they feel that the criticism may exacerbate the feelings of inferiority that some new stables experience.

JW: Dammit!  Are you f#*king kidding me!  We've had this discussion before.  I know it!

SO: Ummm...are you allright?

JW: I guess so.  How about this as a compromise? I'll keep doing exactly what I want, and you can tell them to eat sh*t.

SO: I knew you were gonna say that.

JW: So did I.

END OF TRANSCRIPT