Anonymous JO wrote:
>Nancy: Evidently you haven't ever been in a hurry!  Lighten up.  If we
>were critical of every single post, no one would have anything posted
>because we could pick on everyone, myself included.  These posts are
>passionate and I know that I make a ton of typos when I'm in a hurry
>or mad.  Everyone out there needs to quit nit-picking.  We all knew
>what Alicia meant.  No one is perfect.
 
JO,
 
On the contrary, I'm always in a hurry.  And I make a ton of typos
myself, that's why I always proofread and edit, which I always find
necessary to make sure I'm getting my point across.  I agree, no one is
perfect, certainly not me.  I'm dyslexic and somewhat aphasic - listening
to me try to make a point orally can be painful!  Writing anything
requires a lot of re-reading and editing on my part (including this
post).
 
My main point was simply: if anything is worth doing, it's worth the
time it takes to do it right.  If words don't communicate what the writer
intended to communicate, they're just wasted.  Which I guess is OK on the
fml; we're all of like mind concerning our ferrets, and I can just skip
over the posts I can't understand.
 
But if one is trying to make a serious point, then the writing should
be taken more seriously.  This is ESPECIALLY true when writing to a
government official or the media on behalf of a cause.  In that case,
one is automatically representing others involved in that cause, and
should be mindful of that fact.  If a writer is perceived as emotional
and/or uneducated (keeping in mind that the reader most likely doesn't
personally know the writer and can only judge the words they're reading),
this not only doesn't help, it can even hurt the cause.  I wasn't
singling out any one person, I was simply trying to make the point that
getting a serious message across is important enough to make the extra
effort required to do it effectively.
 
I don't want to belabor this on the fml, but since you posted
anonymously, I couldn't respond privately.  BTW, your post had no typos
and was very clearly written - I understood you perfectly! :)
 
Nancy
[Posted in FML issue 4251]