Well, I've been a member of this community for 4 or 5 years, and right now I feel anything but welcome :(
Andreas On Sep 11, 2012, at 9:09 PM, Bradly Feeley <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 -- SD Ruby mailing list [email protected] http://groups.google.com/group/sdruby
