Home schooling? You know, it's not just for scary religious people anymore.

Buffy ,'Beneath You'


Bureaucracy 1: Like Kafka, Only Funnier  

A thread to discuss naming threads, board policy, new thread suggestions, and anything else that has to do with board administration and maintenance. Guaranteed to include lively debate and polls. Natter discouraged, but not deleted.

Current Stompy Feet: ita, Jon B, DXMachina, P.M. Marcontell, Liese S., amych


Jon B. - Dec 26, 2002 10:11:52 pm PST #1517 of 10001
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!

Thanks for that, Denise. As was said upthread, he's been formally warned. Next time, he's suspended.

One comment:

I was surprised that he didn't get more of a negative reaction from you guys when he first began posting.

That's because our first reaction is, correctly I believe, Do Not Feed the Energy Creature (DNFtEC). Many times, if you ignore someone like that, they will just go away; If you try to argue with them, they will take it as encouragement and post more.


Rebecca Lizard - Dec 26, 2002 10:13:21 pm PST #1518 of 10001
You sip / say it's your crazy / straw say it's you're crazy / as you bicycle your soul / with beauty in your basket

It's like he's mocking everyone on purpose. I was surprised that he didn't get more of a negative reaction from you guys when he first began posting. I was waiting for someone to tell him off. It's not even necesarilly the content of what he says so much as the presentation and tone of it. You guys have more class...much more. This guy comes off as a demented pervert getting off on making people squirm.
Out of the mouth of a kinda-newbie.

It's a hard call, because half of me was going, This child is just new, and eventually he will catch up, and then he will look at his old posts and die of shame; and the other half was going, If he were saying anti-Firefly things with exactly the fevor and tone he uses for pro-Firefly slogans, we'd have called him a troll.

My halves have united. He may be deliberately antagonistic; or he may just be stupid. But whichever he is, he is it *too much* for him to be a valuable, or even tolerable, member of this board.

That is my vote.

t edit

And

Thanks, Denise, for phrasing that so well.

wrod.


billytea - Dec 26, 2002 10:13:23 pm PST #1519 of 10001
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

Thanks for chipping in, Denise. It's good to get a different perspective on this.


§ ita § - Dec 26, 2002 10:13:55 pm PST #1520 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I think the "do not feed" works for folks like averagejoe. Less so for someone who might actually participate in a conversation for a second or two.


Jon B. - Dec 26, 2002 10:16:49 pm PST #1521 of 10001
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!

I think you're probably right ita, but I still think it should be the first line of (non-)attack.


§ ita § - Dec 26, 2002 10:17:35 pm PST #1522 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Oh, not arguing. Just explaining. They are two very different troll mindsets, but it's hard to tell which is which off the top.


Jon B. - Dec 26, 2002 10:21:10 pm PST #1523 of 10001
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!

Yep. Absolutely.


Denise - Dec 26, 2002 10:32:58 pm PST #1524 of 10001

No problem. I just hate to see you guys over here agonizing over trying to be fair to everybody, when if he put even half that effort into monitoring his own behavior, there wouldn't be a problem. Some people just don't "get it" because they simply don't want to. No amount of words, explanations or warnings from any of you, logical though they may be, can fix that. You guys run a great board. If he doesn't want to acclimate himself to become a part of it...*shrugs*...the hell with him.


DavidS - Dec 26, 2002 10:34:06 pm PST #1525 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Thanks, Denise - well said.

Also well said...

Please have respect for our there-when-you-got-there mores. If you offend them without having intended to, we will tell you, politely, as we do and did; then, your path is (I feel) to absolutely take a polite, apologetic tone. If you feel you were warned too hastily, or within a double standard, you absolutely may argue with us; but your basic tone *must* be a polite one. This is our sandbox. You are the newbie. Argue; but you must be brilliant to make us change our minds about something we've already had sixty thousand posts in the Bureaucracy thread about; but, then again, it is possible. Be polite and brilliant. Certainly. Surprise us.

This could almost go in the FAQ. And Kristen's point is also valuable. His lack of responsiveness to being told he was offensive is telling. It's a good Red Flag for all of us to keep in mind when we're looking at these situations.


DavidS - Dec 26, 2002 10:36:23 pm PST #1526 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I just hate to see you guys over here agonizing over trying to be fair to everybody, when if he put even half that effort into monitoring his own behavior, there wouldn't be a problem.

Ah, this isn't agonizing. You should've seen it before we set this board up. That was a lengthy discussion. Actually, I think these are good test cases for us to learn how to patrol our beat. We do prefer to err on the side of inclusiveness - that's always been a strong community value.