adby wrote:
Adbys reply
I just went to school for English from 2007 to 2009 June 14 i just graduated with honers after you guys just shot down my ability to write i am afraid to go back TO SCHOOL TO FINISH THAT MEANS MY INSTRUCTORS LIED TO ME.
HOW CAN I GO TO college NOW ? AND FINISH MY STAGE AND SET DESIGN MAJOR?.
I DO HAVE TROUBLE TYPING AND OUTLINING.
Adby,
Thank you for posting a legible and coherant paragraph.
There are a bit more caps than necessary to express what you are saying, but what the hell, why get picky. You checked the spelling, the punctuation isn't atrocious and whats more the grammar is passable. Still a few problems with spacing and formatting. Almost as though you wrote it elsewhere on some other word processor and then cut and pasted it here. But then, there is nothing wrong with doing that, if that is what it takes to make a readable post. You still either need to learn how to use the codes or stop using them. Overall a vast improvement.
If you posted the majority of your posts like the paragraph above, you would be more apt to find people here willing to at least read what you are posting, and those who were reading it anyway wouldn't have to gnash their teeth and pull out their hair with frustration and disgust.
Now if you want people to go beyond just reading your posts and actually be willing to enter a discourse with you on a topic, you will still have to present in a somewhat logical, organized and coherent manner.
Now, in regard to what you wrote and I quoted.
IF what you say is true, and it was a big peoples school and not some nursery school somewhere, then before they would have let you graduate, let alone graduate with honors, any reputable English program would have insisted on you demonstrating an ability to write coherently, logically, and with proper spelling, formatting and grammar.
This means that one of the following three statements is probably true.
1. Either you are lying now about your educational accomplishments,
or
2. It was some remedial school, nursrey school, school for mentally retarded, or some fly by night, or otherwise disreputable operation, maybe online, maybe not, that just wanted to take your money without forcing you to become educated along the way,
or
3. You can write properly and have been able to do so all along, and your failure to do so was a deliberate action.
If number one is correct then just apologize and go away. Stop bothering me, I do not have any time for those kind of lies or for you. I will let others state their own position I speak only for myself.
If number two is correct, then I pity you. If it was a nursery school it is your own fault, you are an adult and should have known better. If it was a school for the mentally retarded and you were there because you belonged there then I wish you the best but suspect your dream of a career in stage and set design was never likely to become a reality anyway. But not to worry, stage and set design probably doesn't pay as well as being a stage hand. I don't know how much education you need to be a stage hand but the AVERAGE stage hand in NYC makes well over $200,000 a year. The highest paid stage hand at Carnegie Hall makes over $400,000 annually in salary and over $100,000 per year in benefits and deferred compensation. You see, if I had been smart myself I would have gone off and been a stage hand.
If you went to scam school that pretended to be legit, and yet graduated you without insisting that you educate yourself, I feel bad for you. You should have been more careful. You also may want to consider suing them to make them return your money and compensate you for your time that they used up that you will never get back. Perhaps see if they criminally misrepresented themselves. After you get done wiping your tears and feeling sorry for yourself, pick yourself up and go out and get the education you thought you were getting the last time.
If number 3 is correct, then shame on you. All this time you were both needlessly and willingly making an annoyance out of yourself with no regard for your fellow members of this forum. If that is the case I would recommend you take the following steps.
Step one: Apologize sincerely and profusely to everyone here and then proceed with step two or you just wasted your time.
Step two: Change your ways. Those that follow after that carpenter of yours often call it repenting.
You have severely irritated and offended a great many people here. The folks here, on the average, are much more tolerant of others and their eccentricities, their proclivities, and even their faults than seems to me to be the average on the internet. It is probably for that reason alone you were not run out of here ages ago, with, as I suggested in my previous post, a bucket of hot tar, a bag of feathers and a stout pole. It is probably also for that reason that you ended up here, no other places would put up with you.
Folks here may be more tolerant than average, but you have taken advantage of everyone's patience and tolerance and now it has run out. Not to mention that you repaid us for our patience and tolerance with intolerance. But that was the issue that started this thread, it is a separate issue from what this thread has become.
In my opinion, this thread, what is left of it, has become about no less than your future at WMM and your future in this forum. True, there is only one person here who can banish you from WMM and that is EMG. The fact is he is probably the most patient and tolerant among us.
It would probably require much more provocation that you have provided before he would do that, and to the best of my recollection I have not seen anyone in this thread ask him to do that or suggest that he should. Nor has he spoken up and said a word about any of this. No doubt he does not believe this merits any intervention and will work itself out. If that is what he is thinking about this thread, if he is even thinking about this thread, I would agree.
But regardless of how tolerant and patient EMG is, he cannot govern or change how people on this site feel about you, and I have no reason to believe that he would want to. Still, it should be noted that while EMG could terminate or banish your account instantly, should he want to, and the rest of us can't, it would be a mistake to believe your future on this site is entirely in his hands. Right now I have no reason to believe he is even thinking of you, much less thinking about doing anything about you.
Keep in mind, this is a community, and as a community, collectively we have certain powers and things we can do, with or without approval from EMG. As sfhole2stretch mentioned, we can ignore you, ostracize you, refuse to acknowledge you and if we felt strongly enough about it we could do the same to anyone who refused to join us in ignoring you. Of course if there was enough people who disagreed with those who felt that way, then it would not work so well. But if there are enough that feel you need to be ignored and treated as an outcast it would be very effective even if there were some that didn't go along.
As I said I can only speak for myself and am only speaking for myself. But I can offer my observations. It seems to me that you have come to the place where, at least for many here, you have abused the patience and tolerance of people on this forum for too long and finally worn out your welcome.
There is an old saying, that god protects drunks and fools. Perhaps there is some truth to that. But a fool should not depend on such protection. Rather when a fool has witnessed such intervention they should take advantage of it by avoiding the perilous situation a second time. The protection may not come more than once.
Perhaps that saying is true. There may yet be a way for you to pull yourself out of this sticky pit in which you have become mired. Again, I speak only for myself. But as I earlier mentioned, the community here appears to me to be more tolerant than most.
But that is not your salvation, it is too late for that. Some may say we should turn the other cheek. My grandmother was great believer in turning the other cheek. Wonderful woman my grandmother, in spite of teaching Sunday school for decades. But while she was a great believer in turning the other cheek, if the appropriate situation arose, she would also remind you that turning the other cheek does not mean becoming a door mat.
No, Adby, it is too late for you to be saved by our tolerance. We have turned the other cheek too often and are tired of being treated like a bunch of door mats.
But all is not without hope. The thing that might yet save you is that, at least based on my observations, the people here are not only exceptionally tolerant, but they seem to be exceptionally forgiving.
While I cannot speak for anyone but myself, I suspect that if you were to follow those two steps I set out for you, all might eventually be forgiven.
That is, if you apologize and change your ways.
Or if you prefer to invoke mystical references, confess and repent.
Yes, people are frustrated, angry and fed up. But if you abandon the behaviors that made them that way, conduct yourself well, be courteous when you post It is likely that over time you will be forgiven and once again people will respond to you more normally.
Being courteous when you post is a multi-faceted task that most of us still manage to handle each time we post. You can to. Being courteous in your posts means doing several things.
1st, Make a serious attempt to properly format your posts and use correct or at least decent spelling, grammar and punctuation. It need not be perfect, the goal is to make your posts easily readable. Failure to do this is discourteous and disrespectful to everyone. Post rudely a few times and people shrug and think you ignorant. Do it a few more and they start to get aggravated. Do it all the time, like you have been doing, and eventually they will take no more.
It also means avoiding being overly judgmental or confrontational. You can state your opinions without doing it in such a way that says that whomever disagrees with you is a piece of shit.
It is even worse if you start your post by saying that anyone who dares to disagree with you is bad, evil, garbage, unnatural, etc etc. That does not start a discussion, it picks a fight. And you, my friend, are not in a position to pick a fight. You cannot survive it.
Being courteous means not intentionally doing things that you know annoys others, unless there is a very good reason for doing so and no other means of accomplishing your end. So pay attention to what annoys others in this context.. What annoys others? I will make you a short list. I will not again go back to grammar, spelling and punctuation. I have beat that one pretty good. I would not be surprised to see someone come along and decide my list is too short and add to it. If they do, I would suggest you pay attention. This is not meant to be a list of everything, simply a starting place for you. Perhaps if I set them out more like rules or commandments they would be easier to understand.
Rule 1,
Thou shalt properly format thy posts.
If a post is poorly formatted it is very difficult to read. Some don't bother to read an un-formatted or badly formatted post. Others try to read it and get annoyed before they can finish, if they finish.
Rule 2,
Thou shalt not use formatting codes unless thou usest them correctly and properly.
Be courteous of others, use formatting codes correctly or don't use them at all. When formatting codes are used properly they can make a post look really spiffy and easy to read. But when used improperly they do not do what they are intended to do and garble up the page and make it look like a bird shit on it. Using formatting codes properly is part of Rule 1, proper formatting. But messing up the codes can make a post so unreadable that I decided to give it a rule of it's own. Frequent improper use of formatting codes is unacceptable. Still, accidents with formatting codes, can and do happen sometimes. When they do, remember, that is one of the things the edit button is for. Go back and fix it.
Rule 3,
Thou shalt only post coherent messages.
Nobody wants to read messages where there is either no logic, or if there is, it is decipherable only to the one who wrote it. The purpose of writing is communication. If you want to communicate this is a must.
Rule 4,
Thou shalt refrain from posting rude or insulting comments.
Unless your goal is to start a fight rather than a discussion, or unless it is absolutely necessary to respond in kind to someone, always try not to make rude or insulting comments.
Misunderstandings happen more easily with text communications than with the spoken word. There are no intonations, inflections or facial expressions to use as cues as to someones meaning. With text it also takes much longer to correct or apologize for a misunderstanding.
For this reason it is absolutely essential to avoid comments that could be construed as rude or insulting. This is especially true if you are stating an opinion that you know, or should know, is controversial and likely to be a point of contention. Go ahead, express that opinion, but look for the least inflammatory way of expressing it. Unless of course your goal is to piss off as many people as you can. Right now, Adby, you cannot afford to piss off anyone.
Rule 5,
Thou shalt not change posts after there has been a reply.
Changing posts after someone has posted a reply to that post is very rude and very distasteful. The edit button is not there for you to go back and rewrite entire posts after someone has replied to them.
This is actually one of the most offensive, rude and unethical practices that can take place in a forum. Once someone has replied to a post, if you then go back and substantially edit that post, it often makes it look like the person who replied doesn't know what they are talking about, are confused, or maybe just a plain idiot because they appear to be making irrelevant comments on the post they are responding to. They respond to a statement or question and after they do you change the statement or question.
This is offensive and makes people unable to trust you. They feel they have to quote your entire post back before they reply for fear you will go edit the message they were replying to, giving it a different meaning. If I desired to do so I could easily make you look like the worlds biggest idiot by editing posts. Adby lets imagine I posted to you a question in the forum that read as follows and resulted in the following exchange....
Sarnoga: Adby, what does the stable hand have to shovel from under the horses?
Adby's reply: Horse shit, everybody knows that.
No big deal right. Now, how would you feel if you come back two days later to discover I had gone back and edited my original post. Now it reads this way.....
Sarnoga: Adby, please tell me, what is your favorite food and what did you have for dinner last night?
Adby's reply: Horse shit, everybody knows that.
Or maybe I ask the question as follows.....
Sarnoga: Adby, tell me if you can, what animal is consider man's best friend.
Adby's reply: A dog, what else.
Now I go back and edit my post. We are left with the following exchange....
Sarnoga: Adby, if you could have sex with anyone or anything in the world and wanted it to be the best, who or what would you choose to have sex with?
Adby's reply: A dog, what else.
So, tell me now, Adby, do you see a problem with editing posts after there has already been a reply?
If you want to use the edit button to go back and fix a misspelled word, nobody will complain. If you go back and add something, mark it as added and nobody will complain. But start taking things out or changing a post's meaning and everyone will want to take you out and hang you from a tree limb and rightfully so.
If you don't like what you have written and now think differently write a new message in the same thread explaining that. If you regret something you have written, do not go back and delete it, apologize for it, write something to correct the situation and move on. Unless you have written something so hurtful or damaging that leaving it up is going to create more damage than taking it down, leave it there and explain. If you absolutely have to take something out of a post that has already been replied to, make a note in the post summarizing what you took out and why you did it.
Rule 6.
Thou shalt keep quotes short.
When it comes to quotes please go back and read about codes and formatting.
But even properly formatted quotes from off site should always be brief. If there is something long you are tempted to quote, don't! Summarize it, and then post a link to it. That means don't splatter the forum with off site stuff. If you know of something relevant that may interest others use your post to tell others what it is, why they might be interested, and where to go find it.
Do not quote the entire text of the message you are replying to if it is more than a paragraph or two long, unless you are going to break it into smaller pieces so that it is clear which part of your reply is to which part of the post. It is rude and unnecessary to quote an entire message in one big block. If the message is only a few lines, nobody cares. But if it is more than a paragraph, maybe two, nobody wants to see that again. If they are following the thread, then presumably they just finished reading that whole message. Do not repeat the whole thing again unless you can give a good sound reason for doing so. One good reason might be the other person has a habit of going back and editing their posts after someone has replied.
End of rules.
Ok, Adby, That is enough. I'm tired of explaining how not to be rude. I am sure there are others who would be more than glad to help you with that if you cannot figure it out on your own and if you are willing to listen and apply what they tell you.
Besides, some consider an overly long post rude and I am way past that point already.
Let me summarize for you. I would have done it this way earlier but I wanted to make sure I was clear and I didn't want anyone to think I was being overly terse and curt.
Adby, you have aggravated and offended enough people that things might be close to reaching critical mass.
Adby, your greatest sin is your lack of courtesy and disrespect for those who use this forum. This is demonstrated in your posts and discussed above.
Adby, you are very close to being, figuratively, tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.
There is probably still time to save yourself.
If you want to save yourself here on this forum, use common sense and courtesy and stop making posts that are rude and insulting to everyone for the reasons stated above. (or other reasons)
Adby, amend your ways and over time people have a tendency to forgive.
The process of being forgiven, or getting people to change their mind about the tar and feathers takes time. You might speed up the process by first apologizing profusely and sincerely.
If you are not going to permanently change your ways, don't bother to waste your time and ours with temporary pretense. People may forgive but they do not forget. Go back to your old ways and it will very quickly be just like starting out right back where you are now in the midst of this thread.
I hope I followed my own advise and made this easy to read and reasonably easy to follow. This is not all that might be said on subject of forum courtesy and etiquette. It is just all that is likely to be said by me. I am sure there are others that can put out important things I missed or correct some place I may have erred. If anyone desires to do so that is up to them. I am done with this thread. Finally, adby, if someone comes to you with some good advise or wise counsel you should think about it long and hard before you turn them away.
If you follow the advise in this post, I wish you the best of success in turning things around and I hope you are soon enjoying yourself here again.
If instead you want to continue on as is, as you have been, then please do your best not to speak to me or even mention me. If you return to your old ways of posting, just ignore me, because I will be doing my best to ignore you. If under those circumstances I have to stop ignoring you, I will not be kind.
Sarnoga.