RE: THANKS! Re: It's time to go (LONG)

["Dan Hall" <dhall -at- san-carlos -dot- rms -dot- slb -dot- com>]

This isn't necessarily a trend on this list alone,
nor solely in electronic communication. In many
ways our entire society is becoming less civil.
But I suppose that's off topic. :-)

I frequently see posts here that I don't agree with.
That's not a big deal - I know I'm somewhat 
opinionated. 

Less frequently, I read a post that I feel downright
irked by.

My rule for replies: If I'm replying to a "hot-button"
issue, I write my reply and let the draft sit for 
20 minutes. Then I reread it. About 1/4 of the time I 
delete it unsent, 1/2 the time I change the wording
to something... gentler, and 1/4 of the time I find
that I was (by some miracle) reasonable, and send it
off pretty much unedited. 

In all of those cases I also try to carefully consider 
whether a reply to the individual or entire list is 
more appropriate.

That last is an important point. I frequently feel
that posters (not to this list alone, but to lists
in general) feel that they're out to "score points"
by attacking someone's post. Frequently this leads
to attacking the person posting (What are they 
teaching them in the schools these days?) I try to
look at my replies and see if I would send them to
the original poster alone - it helps me make sure 
I'm not "scoring a point" at someone else's expense.

Although I know that many people subscribe to the 
idea that lists are "conversation", I'm always
reminding myself that my posts will last forever in 
the Techwr-l archives. That tends to keep me civil.

Usually. 

Except when some... well, never mind. :-)

Dan

Dan Hall
Sr. Technical Writer
SchlumbergerSema RTEMS

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