At 5:47 PM -0500 2/16/2000, Tom Neff wrote:
>I know this intellectually, but somehow it still bugs me that whether
>they're sweethearts or A-holes, when you track down the truth about those
>complaints,
It bugs me, also -- so generally, I don't track it down or give
myself reasons to get upset. separating the job function and the
emotions is easier said than done, but it tends to reduce conflict a
lot.
I used to see part of my job as educating users, the old "so that you
don't hose over the next mailing list" schtick. These days, I'm just
not convinced it's worth the time or hassle, and I"m not sure what
good it does -- and you're arguing with someone who's generally not
all that receptive to the feedback in the first place. Why get ulcers
over it?
So I generally keep my mouth shut, sit on my hands or whatever. As
bill cosby once said, parents don't want justice, they want quiet.
I've gone from justice and the american way to quiet.
And I've found most users don't want excuses or reasons. They simply
want results. I can't say I blame them. So I try to comply. Maybe I'm
getting old or something, but things I used to take really seriously
just aren't worth fighting over any more. Or perhaps I'm finally
getting a sense of perspective, I dunno.
I used to think it was important to try to work out usage issues with
users -- now, I tend to be a lot more likely to just blow a user off
the system and argue about it later. I've had too many trolls play
games looking for just where they can draw lines in the sand. An
occasional person who just doesn't get it quickyl sometimes gets
burned, but mostly, I just don't waste time with trolls any more, and
I don't spend a lot of time explaining to users like the "I've been
trying for months..." -- because neither side really cares about
anything but resolution. So I resolve.
>Just to make myself clear: I am under no illusions that these resources,
>even if prominently mentioned in the welcomes and FAQs for lists, will make
>a significant dent in USER ignorance.
I think it does, actually. But it's the old problem of how to judge
how well education works on usenet: you only see the failures.
>It is the specter of a MANAGER coming here and
>posting "I heard something about a modem tax..." that makes me want to
>re-cite those resources weekly.
um, where I work, it happens. And usually, the poor, well-meaning
person is well educated, quite quickly. And you smell the smoke
coming out of what used to be their cube....
--
Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
and say 'Man, what are you doing here?'"
