I don't think it's about political correctness, it's just about being a community where people feel welcome.
Thanks, Bradly On Sep 11, 2012, at 6:28 PM, Guyren Howe <[email protected]> wrote: >> 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 -- SD Ruby mailing list [email protected] http://groups.google.com/group/sdruby
