[mcpackieh]

I agree with you except for this part:

> it was mhils who first responded like a jerk.

mhil's response was polite and reasonable. The :-) could possibly be interpreted as antagonistic, but in absence of other clear antagonism, I wouldn't assume it was meant that way even if it might have been. The email is where this exchange went off the rails, everything prior to the email was fine.