At 4:47 PM -0500 2/2/99, Ken Gourlay wrote:
> Now, I know that I can't expect people to spend a long time sending a
> customized formal complaint for each message they receive, but it's
> frustrating to me the type of responses I got.
> Personally, I've never had
> a problem with unsolicited e-mail (less than 5-10 a week usually).
I'd guess that if you had more of a UBE problem personally, you'd
understand why you get form letters and other less pleasant stuff. I
don't *like* getting that stuff, but I understand where most of these
folks are coming from. I have been known to send out an occasional
"if you really want this fixed, you need to learn how to ask
appropriately", but to be honest, it's not worth the time and hassle.
As Bill Cosby once said, "Parents don't want justice. They want
quiet". As a receiver of UBE, I want quiet. As someone who deals with
UBE complaints from the other side, I also want quiet. Which means
just resolving issues and not getting into arguments about the
message with the messenger.
Some folks deal with things less rationally than others -- some with
cause, some because they're idiots. Just like real life, where
sometimes disagreements get talked out, sometimes people get into
fights, and sometimes people get shot over parking places. I don't
plan to prove myself ethically right, but unable to say so because I
got shot (real or virtually). Life's too short.
> someone posts something off-topic and I get 50 messages saying "don't post
> that stuff" and then "don't respond to everyone on the list" and finally
> "don't tell everyone to stop responding to everyone on the list").
Thats' why all my list rules are very explicit about others not
playing topic cop,a nd why I enforce that very heavily. It can upset
the folks who pull that stuff, but it also keeps those meta
discussions from getting out of control. And as I point out to them,
if they want to enforce the rules, they better know the rules, and
the first rule is, "don't do that" -- and since it's part of the
formal rules, they can whine, but ignorance is no excuse...
--
Chuq Von Rospach (Hockey fan? <http://www.plaidworks.com/hockey/>)
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
<http://www.plaidworks.com/> + <http://www.lists.apple.com/>
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