Great post David . . . I agree that it is easy to get totally sidetracked and "sucked in" to a very bad situation when one is treated like you were, or like I was recently. I wrote about my ethical connundrum in the current
Next Wave "Tooling Up" article.
In my case, I let a very questionable situation turn me into a revenge-filled zombie, working round the clock to make sure that I could "get even" with the guy who pulled the stunt. When a friend pointed this out, I looked at it another way. I had indeed gone way over the top. I found that my time spent thinking about it was far worse than the wasted time I had as a result of this person's unethical manner of dealing with me.
You are very right that you can get labeled by taking action against such people, and in most circumstances it is indeed best to just walk away shaking your head.
Dave Jensen, Moderator