Sam,
In response to your call for frequent users of the Listserv to “GET A LIFE”…..
I understand the way you feel. The way you expressed it, however, is unacceptable and
belittles the honest efforts of practitioners to improve their knowledge and the quality of
the services they provide.
It IS frustrating at times to wade through messages we’re not interested in. I got that way
with some of the consolidation and legislation posts. But if the subject header is not to
your fancy, you can simply delete the post without reading it. It takes less than two
seconds. Maybe it would take up to twenty seconds to delete ALL the posts you’re not
interested in on any given day, two minutes to delete a week’s worth of unwanted posts.
If your main issue is that list e-mail is too entangled with your personal e-mail, use your
program’s “mail filters” to sort your email into spearate mailboxes. That way you can just
check to see if you’ve got personal email, or list email, etc. You can even use these filters
to automatically delete posts from people whom you especially don’t like to hear from.
If you feel that too much bandwidth is being used to discuss a topic, a simple post
suggesting the parties take it off-list would be nice. I’ve seen it happen on other
listservs and usually the people are glad to continue their discussion more privately. Just
ask, it’s okay! Would everybody agree to do just that??
Also, not all of us use work time to go on the computer. I happen to commute by train, and I
use a laptop during my commute. My work day is spent doing just that, working. Are you
going on-line at work?? Not me. I use my personal e-mail account and participate on the
list on my OWN time, because I consider it important to stay informed and to ask the opinions
of other who may have much more experience than me. I’m sure there are others who feel the
same way.
What did we frequent posters do before the creation of the list? Well, I’m not sure I can
answer that for all, since I only recently became certified and the list was already in
existence. I imagine pracitioners shyed away from trying new things, because there was not
such a forum in which to ask questions, compare notes, etc. This list can be a tremendous
tool, if you want it to be.
Sam, you have valid frustrations. Please do pay attention to be a little more considerate of
others in voicing your criticism, though.
Bill Lifford, C.P. (a frequent poster and contributor to the list, and damn straight I’m
going to continue to be)
