People

Russ S

Russ S

Re-Member
Messages
877
Location
New Jersey
Tony C said:
There is an easy remedy for threads you find unpleasant: Do not participate in them. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

Great point, Tony.
I find it amusing that so many people hate this thread so much that they can't stop viewing it.
It reminds me of the people that hate certain talk show hosts, but can't stop listening to their programs.

:main_rolleyes:
 
M_surinamensis

M_surinamensis

Shillelagh Law
Messages
1,165
acharpenter said:
My husband is pretty challenged when it comes to computers - even though he rates as a genius on all scales. We deal with our 2 college kids giving us the lol speak and deal with it.

He mis-spells - doesnt type the correct form of the word and it makes him look dumb online - he gets it
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Speaking for myself, attitude and approach have a lot to do with it too. The way people present themselves often has a lot to do with my decision to participate in a conversation with them. Upon analysis, I am pretty sure this makes me a condescending ass but that's not really news to anyone who knows me. It's just that, if I am going to spend some of my time to communicate with someone, I want to engage people who are showing that they're interested in understanding anything I have to say. That doesn't mean they have to know it all up front, but I'm a lot more willing to interact with someone that gives some indication that they care about what I'll be bringing to the conversation.

It's a lot easier for me to feel comfortable taking the time to talk to someone that seems like they're going to have an open attitude about any information we exchange. It's a lot easier for me to know someone is going to have that attitude if I see that they understand conversational English. Since the conversation is happening on a forum, that means the way they write; it's all I know about most of them.

Forums are a little strange because they're also communicating through time. When I open a thread (because it has an interesting title usually) I see the original post and I also see all the replies and exchanges that have happened up to that point. Sometimes I don't respond because someone else has already said the things that I was inclined to. Sometimes I can watch how the people interact and how the conversation developed and will decide it's just not worth getting involved in... or that something should be added or corrected or answered or commented on, inducing me to post.

I also know a couple people who are intelligent individuals that are well worth knowing who do not communicate well through writing. They usually are aware of this though and make an extra effort when it's important or explain it up front. One of my local herp society acquaintances was dyslexic, brilliant man who had a lot to contribute, but every time he wrote anything online he would include something like "sorry for my bad typing. ask me if anything doesn't make sense" and just that little bit of acknowledgement would completely change the way people perceived him and interacted with him. If it's not laziness, in the case of my friend and your husband, then the person themselves usually puts in a little extra effort.

The woman I'm seeing is not a native English speaker. She's extremely fluent and highly literate in a couple languages... I'm trying to learn her first language and having a difficult time of it. I'm aware that I cannot make myself understood very well, so I work harder at it and recognize that it is my fault when I can't understand or make myself understood. A quality that most (not all, but most) the lolspeakers seem to lack more often than not.

That gets into the edges of my cantankerous prepared speeches about how, when I was a kid we used to put in an effort to make ourselves better and we used to respect the people who already were,* uphill both ways with no shoes! Three hundred and fifty of us living in a shoebox in the middle of the road, we used to have to get up at two in the morning, clean the shoebox, work eighteen hours a day down at the mill for ten cents a month and do our homework on the back of a shovel with a bit of coal.

*this is demonstrably untrue in a couple instances in my case, but I had the decency to feel like a dumbass afterwards.
 
M_surinamensis

M_surinamensis

Shillelagh Law
Messages
1,165
Is Wes registered over here? He usually comes to mock me if I post nothing very much and take over six hundred words to do it.
 
acharpenter

acharpenter

New Member
Messages
204
Location
Minnesota
M_surinamensis said:
Speaking for myself, attitude and approach have a lot to do with it too. The way people present themselves often has a lot to do with my decision to participate in a conversation with them..
Click to expand...

I completley agree with that statement - BUT there are some that deserve some sort of "forgiveness" for thier shortcomings when they attempt to communicate online - know what I mean?

I quoted this for my friends recently. When I quoted it - I said I think I found the male version of me - they all agree:

I am not a patient, forgiving or tolerant person when it comes to animal care. I am a perfectionist, I define right and wrong, proper and improper and I adhere to them rigidly, expecting others to do the same. Many of my interactions with other pet owners consist of me yelling about everything they are doing wrong. I am not a very nice person.

Is what it is all - I think we should give some sort of leeway to people trying to communicate online but I dont think there should be ANY leeway for creatures care.
 
ILoveGeckos14

ILoveGeckos14

New Member
Messages
944
Location
Florida
Russ S said:
I don't even bother to try decoding it anymore. I just pass it bye.
It's a real shame too. The poster might have something interesting to say or a question I could help with.

One more thing, Spell check is available for most browsers and comes standard on web enabled phones. USE IT.
Click to expand...

by*
Sorry I had to. :main_robin: And with that contribution I bid you all adieu. :D
 
M_surinamensis

M_surinamensis

Shillelagh Law
Messages
1,165
Russ S said:
When I grow up I want to be just like M_surinamensis, Only taller and better looking.
Click to expand...

You cannot possibly be better looking than me. I am the best looking. Attached is a picture I have drawn of myself, so you can see how futile your wishes are.
 
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