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1) I get the digest version of the list. I often assume (perhaps mistakenly)
that the issue has been addressed sufficiently by the time I get to it. If I
really feel I have something to offer, I usually respond directly to the
poster rather than the list. Why? To avoid clutter. How many times do you
read through a thread and find five or six people saying essentially the
same thing?
2) I'm not the best e-mail communicator. Sure, with friends, I'm great. But
after I've spent six hours working through a new function in our software,
banging my head against the wall trying to figure out all the dependencies
and take care of them so I can continue, going into SQL to try and get a
different perspective on the data, and then realizing that the problem
wasn't me but a bug in the software... well, I'm not very eloquent at that
point. In fact, I'm rarely eloquent even with a good night's sleep on a day
when nothing has blown up in my face (yet). My main concern is not
necessarily looking stupid (I've got enough experience with looking stupid
that I've elevated it to a performance art), but that my post could be
misinterpreted. The last thing I want to do is start a freakin' war on this
list because I was too brain-fried to write clearly. There are enough wars
on this list without me unwittingly helping a cause.
3) See the war statement above. There are quite a few issues on this list
that have emotional triggers. If I'm just an adequate e-mail communicator on
a neutral topic, I become downright horrible when a post really yanks my
chain. And sometimes, I probably do have a good point or two to offer. But I
refuse to get involved in those topics, as much as I would sometimes like
to, because the only way to improve the situation is to not contribute to
it. When I feel certain that I can contribute to a topic and address the
ISSUE only, not criticize individuals, and that others will treat my post in
the same way, I may consider posting. Not until then.
Karen R. Casemier
Senior Technical Writer
Provia Software
616.974.8729
karen -dot- casemier -at- provia -dot- com
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