Re: Busted

[tnas@dtpdirect.nl (Tom Nas, DTP Direct bv)]

Hi Trisha (and other listmembers),

This is the first time I've written to any list I'm on about inter-member
relations or lack thereof. If any of this posting is A. irritating to
anyone or B. not clear because of my being a non-native English speaker,
please reply ONLY to me direct on tnas@dtpdirect.nl. I don't like any
flamer taking this to the list as well.

It appears that the touchy reactions of the people on the list and the
short fuses are typical 'net things, that seem to occur more on discussion
lists than in regular life- at least in my experience. There are a few like
that in every crowd, but my opinion is that everybody has something to
contribute and that someone out there, or perhaps more of them, are
interested in what you have to say.
As we're all only human, it's logical that someone, somewhere, reads a
message of yours on an off day/after being kicked out of bed by a
spouse/put down by the boss/having had to deal with an angry customer or
colleague, etc. etc. BTDT!

I totally agree with you that some people on this list have a 'strong
personality' and let the rest know as much regularly. My rule for this is:
if I feel the urge to post an irritated remark to someone, I type it up to
get rid of my irritation, then let it rest for a while. If, after an hour
or so, I still feel strongly about this and feel my angry retort is
justified, I send it off. In 99% of all cases I just delete the message and
ignore the fact.

If you feel you've been treated unfairly on the list, I apologize on behalf
of the people in question. Not everyone subscribes to the rule described
above.
I agree there's a lot of 'noise' on this list, and I for one probably
contribute my fair share to that. On the whole though, I feel the content
of technical threads, general Audi stuff, racing/rallying talk, joking
around and various other subjects is a balanced one. Sure, some threads
seem to go on forever, and some questions keep popping up but hey, there
are people who *are* interested even if a lot of them aren't.

On balance I feel that this list is very good, with lots of knowledgable
people and the right amount of relevant content vs. humor. Sure, there's a
lot of volume which can be a problem, but I've just accepted this as a
fact.

Hope you don't want to unsubscribe because of a run-in with others. There
are lots of people on the list who do enjoy your contributions, I'm sure.

If anyone on this list is about to flame anyone else: *please* think for a
while and cool down. It's *rarely* worth it to hurt fellow human beings.
Between hard-to-understand e-mail software and difficulties with subtlety
in e-mail, we're all trying.
We really ought to enjoy this list!

Sorry- this is something that cannot be said in two words.

This can hardly be called my $.02 worth, but hey...

Tom

 _______________________________________________________________________
   Tom W. Nas, graphic design                        tnas@dtpdirect.nl
   DTP Direct bv                              Voice +31 (55) 5 790 799
   Apeldoorn, the Netherlands                   Fax +31 (55) 5 790 125

             I think animal testing is a terrible idea;
             they get all nervous and give the wrong answers.
                                 --'A Bit of Fry and Laurie'