Dear Ferret Folks-

Yesterday, Robin wrote:
>In a message dated 1/5/2008 12:00:23 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
>Alexandra, oops I mean Anonymous writes:
>
>that SOMEONE in Tennessee whom I WILL NOT NAME (Wolfy) because I am NOT
>TRYING TO START SOMETHING (Wolfy) has started a home-based car-washing
>business using sudsy ferrets that she drops on people's cars. The sudsy
>ferrets scamper all over the cars and cover them with soap.

Me??? I would *never* genuinely slander someome behind the craven
shield of the "Anonymous" format. No, I'm not into cowering like a
snarling, flea-bitten cur in the shadows and assaulting someone on the
FML without giving that person a good look at my name while I did so,
so that the person in question could face his or her accuser, the way
we do it in this country. Nope. I respect my fellow FML'ers enough to
remember that they have *feelings*, as Eri so wisely posted the other
day. I quote:

>Next time, before you go pounding away at that keyboard to vent your
>frustrations at the name on the screen, remember that there IS a
>living, breathing, warm human on the other side of those words. And
>words CAN hurt you, people.
>
>And they have.

It seems like people are really happy to punch things into their
keyboard that they simply *would not say* if they had to face the
person they were kicking around real, live, and in person. Add the
"Anonymous" label to their remarks so that they can't be called on
their nastiness, and it's pretty ugly what happens in computer forums.
Like this one. Lately. A lot.

Now, point this out in my own, peculiar sideways fashion? Oh, I might
do that. Yeah. I don't advocate the elimination of the "Anonymous"
posting option. It's especially important for people who might be
living somewhere where their ferrets could be confiscated if the fuzzy
little guy's existence became public knowledge, say the folks living
in CA, HI, or NY City. Anonymity is an issue for people who might be
living in housing that doesn't allow for the presence of ferrets. There
may be people confronted with a troubling personal problem, or a legal
problem involving ferrets.

As far as personal criticism or voicing a concern goes, if you don't
have the sand to say something to someone's face when you are mad,
maybe you should think twice about posting it mad. Or at least think
twice about the language that you choose to post in. This isn't just
a problem on the FML, it is a problem on the net as a whole.
E-communication is a whole 'nother art. You can't see the faces of the
people you are "talking" to. Do they look shocked, puzzled, upset by
what you are saying? You don't know, when you are communicating with a
keyboard. You're just typing. You can't use your good primate skills,
refined over millennia and learned in the cradle, and get that "face"
feedback that we rely so heavily on in live company.

I might point that out. Yup.

Alexandra in MA
P.S. Wolfy steals silverware. Watch out.

[Posted in FML 5844]