Regarding Mr. Devour' s comments: as a language prof. and a literary type, I have been interested by the real care we have to take in electronic communications. M. Devour's advice below is so accurate!
I am still learning to take great pains to be polite and circuspect in every message, as it is very, very difficult to convey the right tone otherwise. Best always to err on the side of politeness. I know how often I feel pained by messages sent to me; some seem blunt or downright rude. Often, this is clearly not intended. JBB "M. G. Devour" wrote: > Connie, Nina, Lucy, everyone, > > I intended to deal in private with this, but y'all got away from me > while I was poking at the keyboard. > > Several errors are being made in this exchange... > > Nina wrote: > > To me, an animal's health and welfare is not being considered if its > > ears are cropped. Nature makes an animal a certain shape for a > > reason. What if someone decided to crop your children's ears because > > they thought it "looked better," or wanted to show your children off > > according to the latest fashion? > > First, Nina, whether Lucy (kimdane) follows the breed convention of > cropping ears or not is irrelevant to the subject of our list. In fact, > I'm sure it's almost a religious issue among animal lovers, all the > more reason to ignore it *here*, or to deal with it in private e-mail > if you must. > > Indeed, would the dogs be better off with CS, whether or not they're > trimmed and cropped? If yes, then go for what you are being offered -- > a chance to improve their condition! > > Connie wrote: > > Kim ignore people like this . They aren't all like her. > > Connie, your reply is harsher sounding than you probably intended, and > if not, was indeed too harsh. Responding in kind to remarks that offend > you only escalates an issue. > > You also replied publicly. Something needed to be done, and could have > been done through private e-mail. It would have been preferable to > work through me if you felt a public action was needed. No playing List > Cop, please! > > Another part of *why* so many of our remarks can offend others is the > tendency of e-mail to amplify emotional effects well beyond what we > intend. Any critical remark, no matter how benignly intended, is > percieved untempered by a gentle tone of voice, soothing inflection, > sympathetic look, or non-confrontational body language. > > Every one of us needs to understand this: Stand up, point your finger > at the screen and recite your words in a stern or angry voice and > you'll approximate the emotional tone of your writing. Then rewrite to > make sure your meaning comes through! <grin> > > Lucy, I am sorry your welcome to the list is not up to the standards > we hope to maintain. To walk in, introduce yourself, and have a brawl > break out is *not* the best first impression! > > After all this, you really are in a good place to learn from folks who > know a lot about CS, and can help you sort fact from fiction among > competing claims. Your loved ones, whether canine or human, stand to > benefit from learning all you can. > > At this point apologies all around, in private or on list, would be > about the only way to minimize ill feelings. Please, lighten up, be > gentle, soften the tone, thicken the skin. I dunno what more we can > do. > > Peace, folks, > > Be well, > > Mike Devour > silver-list owner > [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] > [[email protected] ] > [Speaking only for myself... ] > > -- > The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. > > To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: > [email protected] -or- [email protected] > with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. > > To post, address your message to: [email protected] > Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html > List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
