I don't know if the weather is the culprit or not. But I do know that in the last month, several people have gotten fed up with the list because of personal attacks, name-calling, and other "not nice" behavior.
I think it's the weather. Maybe even lack of sunlight. I was recently privately flamed for something that was just a musing on an inoffensive topic.
Last year I was unlucky enough to work for someone who communicated by email and had a really brusque style. I noticed that my brain actually supplied a tone of voice to go with the message! I heard her speaking to me, but since my own brain supplied the tone it changed with my mood.
If she sent "the letter is in the file" one day I might hear that in a calm, reasonable tone, and another day I might hear an angry "the **letter** is in the **file** (you !&#(@$*( fool you...)" And of course I'd get angry because not only was she mean to me, but in fact the letter was *not* in the file, which is why I had emailed her in the first place. I must admit, though, that I never allowed my irritation to make me be rude in return.
So I guess the reason for all this rambling is a recommendation that you should just wait a day or so before you send that flame! And, re-read the original message before you compose your angry post, because you might just have been listening to your own voice rather than the poster's voice.
By the way, I have a feature on my e-mail that allows me to send messages automatically to another mailbox. If someone's posts really irritate you, you can just set up your email to send that person's posts to Trash before you see them. Then you won't have to deprive yourself of the entire list just to avoid the person who is your pet peeve.
Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada)
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