What's Wrong with People?
What's wrong with people?
Have we been for so long removed from a functioning Catholic culture that no one remembers how to behave themselves properly?
Am I the only one who thinks that, when you wish to write to a complete and total stranger to offer commentary on something that person has written, you should:
1) Politely address that person by name - by last name, initially, until that person gives you permission otherwise ("Dear Mr. Doe")
2) Give some indication as to which written publication you wish to critique ("Regarding your essay, 'The Spotted Marmot,' ...")
3) Sign your letter so that your intended recipient can respond in kind ("Sincerely, Jack")
I got an email in my box this morning from an individual behaving so boorishly that, had this person come to my front door and attempted to conduct business in this manner, I probably would have thrown him/her off my front porch.
Here is but a sample:
What is this rambling, incoherent nonsense? Sentences starting without an uppercase letter, lack of proper punctuation, words like "theologin" and "deciples?"
This is how the email began. No "Hello Mr. Michael," no "Dear Jacob," not even a "Hey Stupid." Just - bam! - and we're running off at the mouth.
Though this individual references my "long and lengthy explanation on who has the authority," there is never given a specific reference to any of my articles. I have no idea what this person is talking about. A blog entry? An article on my site? Something I've written for a periodical?
The email is not signed, either, so I have no clue who wrote this.
I responded as follows:
The response? I quote it here - all of it, every last word:
Ok. Still no proper address, still no proper farewell, and still no proper capitalization or punctuation.
I'm either dealing with a 10-year-old or an extremely inept teenager. Boy or girl? Who knows? I will have to refer to this person as It.
Having already given It a chance to correct It's initial gaffe, and seeing that It had no plans of writing a proper email, I responded to the effect that It had just committed the same errors in the second email as in the first, and that this second email only served to confirm in my mind that the Internet really is a breeding ground for incompetence. I concluded by telling It to "go away," since I really don't have time for this nonsense.
Finally, I got somewhere. It revealed It's name, although the name is unisex enough that I still have no idea if It is a male or female.
Now, I clearly indicated to this idiot that if It wasn't going to behave like a decent human being, then I had no interest in continuing the conversation.
To any English-speaking individual, this would be a clear sign to either a) respond with a more polite and human tone, or b) do as asked and simply "go away."
But we're not dealing with a normal It here.
I got another email in response, filled with more lower-case sentences, apostrophe-deficient words, spelling errors, etc., more rambling about my erroneous views (but still with no reference to a particular essay or article), and this charming ending:
Now, isn't that just what I asked It to do? It must have thought this was a good response, because It then adopted the "go away" response and used it in the next two responses.
Glutton that I am, I reponded again, explaining the basic rules of courtesy when communicating via written exchange. I invited It to take a deep breath, think through what It really wanted to say to me, and then compose a decent email, incorporating these principles of politeness.
Here is the final response. You gotta love this stuff.
What is wrong with people? What savage tribe does this person belong to ("my people are warriors"?!) that they a) initiate contact with a person and ignore all the rules of "unnecessarry [sic] politness [sic]", b) get called on the carpet for it, and then c) insist that they don't have to follow these rules because you responded unfavorably to their initial rude intrusion?
My goodness ... this society is going to hell in a handbasket!
I have to go lie down. I've enough of the "warriors" today.
Have we been for so long removed from a functioning Catholic culture that no one remembers how to behave themselves properly?
Am I the only one who thinks that, when you wish to write to a complete and total stranger to offer commentary on something that person has written, you should:
1) Politely address that person by name - by last name, initially, until that person gives you permission otherwise ("Dear Mr. Doe")
2) Give some indication as to which written publication you wish to critique ("Regarding your essay, 'The Spotted Marmot,' ...")
3) Sign your letter so that your intended recipient can respond in kind ("Sincerely, Jack")
I got an email in my box this morning from an individual behaving so boorishly that, had this person come to my front door and attempted to conduct business in this manner, I probably would have thrown him/her off my front porch.
Here is but a sample:
where do you get your authority, from the apostles or was it directly from Jesus christ? I am not a pastor or a theologin. just someone who wants to know God better.
but your long and lengthy explanation on who has the authority is in my opinion not realy what God intended for humanity. Did not Christ admonish the apostles to go and make deciples of all nations?
What is this rambling, incoherent nonsense? Sentences starting without an uppercase letter, lack of proper punctuation, words like "theologin" and "deciples?"
This is how the email began. No "Hello Mr. Michael," no "Dear Jacob," not even a "Hey Stupid." Just - bam! - and we're running off at the mouth.
Though this individual references my "long and lengthy explanation on who has the authority," there is never given a specific reference to any of my articles. I have no idea what this person is talking about. A blog entry? An article on my site? Something I've written for a periodical?
The email is not signed, either, so I have no clue who wrote this.
I responded as follows:
Dear Anonymous:
It is not usually considered "good manners" to address
someone via a written communication without either
addressing that person by name or identifying yourself
by name.
Neither is it conducive to good conversation to
critique someone's ideas, as expressed in some kind of
public writing, without giving that person a clear
indication of which article/essay/interview you are
critiquing.
--Jacob
The response? I quote it here - all of it, every last word:
yeah right!!
Ok. Still no proper address, still no proper farewell, and still no proper capitalization or punctuation.
I'm either dealing with a 10-year-old or an extremely inept teenager. Boy or girl? Who knows? I will have to refer to this person as It.
Having already given It a chance to correct It's initial gaffe, and seeing that It had no plans of writing a proper email, I responded to the effect that It had just committed the same errors in the second email as in the first, and that this second email only served to confirm in my mind that the Internet really is a breeding ground for incompetence. I concluded by telling It to "go away," since I really don't have time for this nonsense.
Finally, I got somewhere. It revealed It's name, although the name is unisex enough that I still have no idea if It is a male or female.
Now, I clearly indicated to this idiot that if It wasn't going to behave like a decent human being, then I had no interest in continuing the conversation.
To any English-speaking individual, this would be a clear sign to either a) respond with a more polite and human tone, or b) do as asked and simply "go away."
But we're not dealing with a normal It here.
I got another email in response, filled with more lower-case sentences, apostrophe-deficient words, spelling errors, etc., more rambling about my erroneous views (but still with no reference to a particular essay or article), and this charming ending:
if your [sic] so full of Gods [sic] grace why do you have to call me names. [drivel snipped] if you really wanted to end this you would not have responded back. but you are a hyprocrite so you GO AWAY!!!
Now, isn't that just what I asked It to do? It must have thought this was a good response, because It then adopted the "go away" response and used it in the next two responses.
Glutton that I am, I reponded again, explaining the basic rules of courtesy when communicating via written exchange. I invited It to take a deep breath, think through what It really wanted to say to me, and then compose a decent email, incorporating these principles of politeness.
Here is the final response. You gotta love this stuff.
Sorry but I was not raised or schooled in such politeness and ettiquette. My people are warriors and we don't waste time with unnecessarry [sic] politness [sic] unless people are polite to us. and you were the one who started with the names!!
My advice to you now is JUST GO AWAY!!!
What is wrong with people? What savage tribe does this person belong to ("my people are warriors"?!) that they a) initiate contact with a person and ignore all the rules of "unnecessarry [sic] politness [sic]", b) get called on the carpet for it, and then c) insist that they don't have to follow these rules because you responded unfavorably to their initial rude intrusion?
My goodness ... this society is going to hell in a handbasket!
I have to go lie down. I've enough of the "warriors" today.
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