Re: Respect

[Bonni_Graham_at_Enfin-SD -at- PROTEON -dot- COM]

Saul Carliner writes:
"This type of carping criticism rarely has any effect other than
humiliating the person who's nitpicked."

Tammy Williams notes:
"What I am saying is we should remember we are talking to other
PEOPLE.  I am a person.  My beliefs may differ from yours, but I
hurt just like you.  Let's try to respect each other!!!"

I have to second this motion, with a rider.  I do think it's ok to
correct other people (since it doesn't have to be 'carping
criticism'), BUT I feel that it should be done in a private
message, NOT publicly to the net.

I'm going to try to follow this (note the word try -- I'm not sure
I'll always succeed).  If I post a "nitpick" publicly, chances are
good that it's because I see it as a distressing trend that I want
to point out, not to "get" the person who made it.  I also try, in
this case, to either use more than one example (anonymous, as much
as I can remember to), or to note it as a trend without specifics.

Sorry, Saul, but I'm not going to let something like "'The man
attached the legs' is not third person" go by completely
uncommented.  I taught high school English for a number of years,
and it is absolutely apalling the number of people who leave
school with no understanding whatsoever of grammar, and then go on
to jobs where they need it.  If it looks like an error made out of
ignorance, I'm going to point it out, albeit privately.  If it
looks like an error due to carelessness or to the use of
conversational style, I'm going to let it slide.

BUT, as Tammy says, there's no need to be rude.  A publicly
transmitted correction like that falls too close to the rude line
for me to be comfortable with it.  I've reached this decision
after a lot of thought, and to anyone I corrected publicly
previous to this decision I offer a sincere (and even abject)
apology.

Bonni Graham                               |
Technical Writer                           | Most software is run by
Easel Corporation, ENFIN Technology Lab    | confused users acting on
Bonni_Graham_at_Enfin-SD -at- relay -dot- proteon -dot- com | incorrect and incomplete
President, San Diego STC                   | information, doing things
                                           | the designer never expected.
NOTE: apparently my email address needs    |
to be typed exactly as it appears here,    |          --Paul Heckel, quoted
punctuation and all, or the system gets    |            by William Horton
upset.                                     |