> I share the concerns that others had about what Andreas wrote. I'm sorry but I (and apparently others who unfortunately have chosen to only agree with me privately) am concerned about needless political correctness in all this.
I am still *completely and utterly mystified* about who would be offended by what Andreas wrote and what about it was offensive. With the best will in the world, I would be unable to avoid in future offending the folks who were offended by this, without understanding what they found offensive about it. > I share the concerns that others had about what Andreas wrote. > > - Would it be appropriate to ask these questions in person during a job > interview at HP? NO. > > - Was he really unsure if the job post was from the same HP that has suffered > losses and layoffs? NO. > > - Did he really care whether or not there was a ping-pong table? NO. > > While I think Andreas had no real interest in this job, even if he did, his > questions could have been phrased more professionally. Is this job safe from > the next round of layoffs at HP? Is there a fun, creative work environment > that maybe includes ping-pong tables? etc. > > Going forward, please email companies directly when replying to job posts. > (We may also create a jobs-only mailing list at some point in the future too.) That the questions posed in Andreas' message were rhetorical tells me nothing about why folks are offended by it. Rhetorical questions are pervasive in discourse and clearly not offensive per se. If I was interviewing at HP, one of my first questions would be about the company's financial situation. This is not a rhetorical question, nor is it exaggeration: would someone please explain to me who was likely to be offended by what Andreas wrote and what it is that they would find offensive? Is it Mark? People who might work at HP? People who are fans of the company? And is the offensive content that it suggests such people would be an idiot for working there? Or perhaps it seems to be laughing at the people who lost their jobs? I really have no earthly idea. > Going forward, please email companies directly when replying to job posts. > (We may also create a jobs-only mailing list at some point in the future too.) Alternatively, going forward, please refrain from being offended by something written in a public forum unless it was clearly intended to be offensive. I maintain that the questions raised (rhetorically, to be sure) were likely to be of interest to other members of the community and were therefore quite appropriate to air publicly. That you happen to dislike the way it was expressed is not to my mind sufficient reason to start this kerfuffle. The etiquette standards for an online community should be concerned with anything that is clearly trolling or offensive. Please understand that online communication is demonstrably informal and easily misunderstood, and adopt an attitude of tolerance in your interpretation. This is much preferable to having a community where everyone feels that they have to walk on eggshells. -- SD Ruby mailing list [email protected] http://groups.google.com/group/sdruby
