There is a "message view setup" menu, at the top-right of each message. There, the last option is "disable/enable auto-quote".

The view of time and simultaneity being relative is, indeed, quite confusing, and contrary to "common sense". So is the Theory of Relativity in general. (By the way, Quantum Theory also offers you some points of view which are quite contrary to common sense.) Perhaps a comparison with space can help understand this viewpoint, though not necessarily accept it: an old-fashioned view might think that "up" and "down" are absolutes. It is now quite clear that which direction is up, and which is down, depends on the observer, i.e., in which direction does gravitation happen to pull you.

In the same sense, an event may be perceived as "before" or "after" another, distant, event. No yardstick exists to tell which is absolutely right, and there is a general tendency in science (is that the "positivist" philosophy? not sure about the names) to consider only those things that can be measured, as "real". Now, this takes us to very philosophical discussions, as to what "reality" really means...

We might imagine a superior being, outside this Universe (let's say, God) who can overview the entire Universe at once, beyond the limitations imposed upon us mere mortals. (I like that auto-link <g>.) However, I am not sure whether this sort of thoughts (which I have entertained at one time or another) really brings us any closer to understanding how the Universe really works. Perhaps it might, but I am not sure.