[cobalt-users] Suggestion to Zeffie

["Rodolfo J. Paiz" <rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Zeffie,

Forgive me if I'm out of line, and feel free to make whatever use of my
comments you wish. I'm only trying to help. I've waded through the entire
"Wish List" debacle... post after post after post. It eventually dawned on
me that you do actually know what you're doing, and you would like to see
everyone get along and Cobalt products humming happily in the background.

In short, you're not a bad person, and you don't mean anyone any harm. More
than that, you're trying to help yourself and others and you've accumulated
a great deal of knowledge in this area. However, the reactions you received
from darn near everyone (including myself) were downright hostile. Why? I
have concluded (for whatever it's worth) that the primary reason is
civility. If I may use a sexist analogy, a beautiful woman will get sexual
attention from 95% of men; but the same beautiful woman, dressed in filthy
rags and covered in cow manure, will get attention from less than 1% of men.

Allow me to suggest (or tell me to go to hell, if you wish) that you try to
be a little more formal in your writing, and that you dispense with the
exclamation points and so many other points of emphasis that make it look
like you're shouting and gesturing angrily. Remember, we all interpret your
writing and imagine "how it sounds."

Also, drop the profanity and stop insulting people personally. Among certain
friends it's a form of affection; in a forum like this it wins enemies.
Also, it's completely unnecessary and counterproductive. Please go through
your recent archives: you'll find that every time you've said something
calmly, you've received answers that were calm and respectful and
appreciated your input. Then, every time you've sworn at someone, you've
receive answers that insult you back.

It's--finally--clear to me that you know what you're doing and your
intentions are good. But (a) others may not realize this, and (b) I started
off despising you, then moved to respecting you. Why not skip that first
part?

Again, just my $0.02, for whatever it's worth...

------
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>