Re: Provocation? Damn straight.

[Joe Fockler <jfockler -at- IPHASE -dot- COM>]

Matt Ion, The Soundman -- sounding off for many of us!

Give Matt room to breathe. I've enjoyed all of his contributions to this
list. Even if you disagree with his opinions or ideas, you have to admit
that he writes extremely well. More example of good writing principles.

If you are a little testy and just want to flame someone, flame me. I bet
that I'm faster than anybody on this list at hitting the "D" key. If you
don't believe me just load up your keyboard and meet me in the streets of
Dodge City (in front of the saloon :)

joe

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program ...


Matt Ion writes:

+ This is prompted by the number of responses I've received to my little comment
+ to "Skhan -at- wb -dot- com", to wit, "You're so cute when you're in a snit."

+ Okay, it was deliberate provocation.  No, wait.  Provocation?  Nah.  A
+ "tweak".

+ Nobody - NOBODY - that I know in real life, either on a personal or a
+ professional level, is this uptight about PC crap.  Most of them are irritated
+ by it as much as I am.

+ So I wonder, why is it I can't act and talk the same way in here, with other
+ professionals, as I can in "real life"?  Or are ALL my real-life friends and
+ business associates just unenlightened boors?  Maybe I'm not meeting the right
+ kind of people?

+ I try to participate in subject and threads that are on-topic for this list.
+ I try to be helpful when I can.  Unfortunately, it seems I can't do so without
+ someone biting my ankle for being "politically incorrect" - be it
+ inadvertantly insensitive, to blatant and intentional anything-ism.  Now I
+ know how a mailman feels going into a yard full of schnauzers.

+ Okay, so my comment was deliberately intended to smack someone back.  So sue
+ me.  Considering the constant abuse I keep getting in my inbasket while just
+ trying to be myself, I think I've been remarkably restrained.

+ Okay, okay, so I should just wipe ALL adjectives and adverbs from my
+ vocabulary.  I should write all my postings as completely bland, devoid of any
+ personality.  That would solve the problem, right?

+ Sorry.  That's fine when actually writing a technical document, but I really
+ don't see it being necessary for interacting with collegues on a daily basis.
+ As has been pointed out so many times before, it becomes impossible for one to
+ concentrate on the POINT of the whole job when one must spend all one's time
+ concerned with who's going to be annoyed next.

+ Other people have their "pretty little heads" and "bright lassies" - these are
+ phrases that are as often as not regional ("bright lassies" sound SOOOOO
+ Scottish) and while they may offend your PC 'sensibilities', they may be compl
+ etely innocuous in the writer's native location.

+ So it starts to become, not just a matter of one person forcing on another
+ their ideas of what "politically correct" should be, but their concepts of
+ what it is coloured by their particular environment or location.  Let's try to
+ remember, this is a GLOBAL network, and "offensive" in one language may be
+ common, completely acceptable, or even considered a compliment in another.

+ So it all becomes pretty pointless anyway.

+ Personally, I would dearly LOVE to get back to the gist of what this list is
+ for and not be bothered with this anymore.  Unfortunately, it seems that the
+ only way I can do that is, as I said, become just another bland,
+ character-less automaton at the keyboard.  No opinions, no humour, no nothing
+ for fear someone might not like it.  "Just the facts, ma'am" (no, wait,
+ "ma'am" is sexist).

+ So, if anyone has any questions I have a response for, expect direct mail
+ only.  No more will anyone have to worry about my knowledge or experience
+ gracing the public airwaves.  No more will I add to discussions of dtp
+ software, sentence structure, or just WHY it's "i befere e except after c".

+ Thank you all very much for such a lovely start to my day.  I must now go to
+ work.

+ Matt




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--
   Joe Fockler                "Success is when those who know you best
   Interphase Corporation      love you the most."
   Dallas, Texas 75234
                                                 -- unknown
   jfockler -at- iphase -dot- com
                               "Great works are performed not by strength
                                but by perseverance."

                                                 -- Samuel Johnson

                                "Success is going from failure to failure
                                 without loss of enthusiasm."

                                                 -- Winston Churchill