IT was explained

I've had it explained to my satisfaction, thanks. Delete this thread!

Far be it from me to step on a mod's toes, Sultan, but here is my take:

You PMed AoA to ask for a thread to be deleted. He PMed you back, saying he would close, but not delete it. (I don't know what the PMs actually said, nor do I have any desire to.)

Sharpe just renamed his thread to "Please Delete Me", and Lefty took him at face value and deleted it.

If sharpe had PMed AoA with a request like yours, I think he would have gotten a similar reaction to yours. It's not so much a double-standard as two mods who handle things slightly differently.

Actually an error on my part. I saw the thread title "delete this thread", and not yet knowing the posters had been enabled to edit their thread titles, I thought it was just a 'pushed the wrong button' thread. I started to delete it and with inertia clicked confirm before it sunk in that is was a real thread with an edited title. The typical procedure is to close but not delete threads upon the author's request, subject to approval by the moderator, who is not obligated to grant the request.