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I was in total agreement with you until "And we'll all be one big, happy
family!" Now you've gone too far.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jones, Donna [mailto:DJones -at- zebra -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 1:40 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Nipping Noses (Was: Not done on the blank page yet!)
-----sueahrenhold -at- ameritech -dot- net wrote:----- <snip> My nose has been well and
properly nipped. Don't expect me to ask any more questions.
-------------------------------------------
Sue,
Your questions were perfectly within what is expected and allowed on this
forum. Please don't feel put off by some of the replies that you received.
You have every right to ask a question here and to expect relevant answers
without having your credentials questioned. That doesn't happen every
time... I mean, it usually doesn't happen... Well, okay, it happens most of
the time, but you learn to grin and bear it. The people here have a lot of
knowledge, but some are a bit brutal in the way that they choose to share
their wisdom.
Guys, if your wife asks you, "What do you think of this dress?" do you go
off on a tirade about how someone else has critiqued that dress before and
tell her that she ought to research it rather than wasting your time by
asking for your opinion? (Maybe you do...)
People shouldn't have to do a thorough search of the internet or the
archives before posting a question. Not everyone has been subscribed to
Techwr-l for years, so not everyone is aware of what has been discussed
before or what the topic was called another time around. Plus things change,
so even if something was discussed previously, the methods or preferences
discussed before might have changed. And not everyone has the time to poke
through the dozens or hundreds of messages containing rebukes and bickering
when they're trying to find the one message that contains a legitimate
answer to the initial question. Do you have any idea how many messages have
been generated in the last two days with the topics "Silly but important to
me," "and then," and "This page intentionally left blank"? How would someone
go about searching for answers relevant to the initial questions?
Come on everyone. People shouldn't have to include their resumes to prove
that they have the right to propose changes based on what they learn here.
Let's take it as a given that people wouldn't be asking questions if they
didn't feel that they had those rights. When someone asks a question, answer
it or ignore it, then move on. If you know that a topic was discussed
before, find a link to a relevant message in the previous discussion and
reply with it. Don't spend half the day belittling the person, who was only
looking for help from what should be a good resource, or arguing about the
punctuation and grammar in the initial message. This banter might be fun,
but it clutters up someone's search for information. If you must go off on a
tangent, change the subject line (as I did here) so people know you're not
answering the initial question. This will help everyone accomplish what they
need to. People who ask questions will get the answers they need while
others can joke with each other or discuss the fundamentals of the English
language. And we'll all be one big, happy family!
Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. I'm pretty thick skinned, so flame away
at me if you must. I'm not afraid to stand up for my opinions, plus I just
put on my flame-retardant underwear. So nah-nah! :-)
Donna
Donna L. Jones
--------------------------------------
Technical Writer II
Zebra Technologies Corp.
Vernon Hills, IL
djones -at- zebra -dot- com
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