All too often on the Boards, people start getting involved in personal disputes with each other. Grudges are carried, fine, that’s human nature. What do we all say whenever people start slinging their mud all over the place? Why, we begin chanting our catchphrase: “Take it to E-mail.”
This is just common sense, ladies and gentlemen. While a rant is nice, and a debate is (usually) fruitful, we DON’T want to hear about why you hate someone because of what they’ve done in the past. So, you take it off the Boards and to private communication, and everything gets settled there, right?
WRONG!
Half the time that this happens, the person receiving the E-mails, being too spineless a dipshit himself (or herself), screams “harassment!” They get one fucking E-mail and think that counts as harassment! Half the time, these private E-mails which are meant to clear the air between two people are said to get reported to your ISP!
“Oh, but he used the word ‘fuck’ in the E-mail! It’s harassment!”
Listen, you pussy-willow jackass, “dirty” language does not harassment make. Especially if you’ve just been using the SAME goddamn language when addressing the person on a message board. What’s wrong, it’s okay for you to rant and rave so all your friends can see your oh-so-colorful insults, but if someone has the cajones to continue a discussion in private you suddenly have as much spine as Ned Flanders?
Grow the fuck up. If you don’t want people sending you less-than-fluffy E-mails, don’t act like a jackass on the Boards. And if you’re getting this supposedly-harassing E-mails, then the problem probably isn’t everybody else… it’s probably YOU.
Nah, nothing specific, Euty… just a thought that’s been bouncing around inside my head for a while (there’s a lot of space in there for stuff to bounce around).
“SPOOFE Bo Diddly, owner of the first certified Tesseract Skull. Enter the oropharynx and turn left, and you find his inner cheek flap. Enter his oropharynx and turn right and you find yourself at the Country Club Diner in Northeast Philadelphia, on Rt. 73.”
What can I say, you’re one of a kind. (a moment of silence so we can all hear the sound of an ass being kissed.
Thank you.)
Now, SPOOFE. I’ve more than once wanted to take a very emotionally charged slamfest into E-mails. Both times, I was told, " NEVER E-Mail Me !!!". Okay, I can take a hint and so keep it in a public forum. Wish I’d taken it private but then, what battle is worth permanent banning? No battle, IMHO.
E-mail harrassment is the same as telephone harrassment or workplace harrassment. It is harrassment when it is unwanted, the perseon recieving the e-mail asks for it to stop, and it doesn’t stop. One e-mail is not harrassment.
One email does not harrassment make. Asking for email no more must be respected, even if it means OP is basically figuratively sticking his/her fingers in ears and chanting “nya, nya, nya I don’t like hearing this, nya, nya” while cowering behind their trembling monitor.
A person should support their arguments and be prepared to answer to what they posted. To the Pit, if need be, but don’t post unless prepared to defend/support those posts. The board is not a place to graffitti and walk away. Those are taggers: people who masturbate onto buildings and train cars and message boards their life’s crowning acheivement—a Looky-what-I-made without any accountability.
Most of the non-“hey Sua, how’s it hanging?” emails I’ve gotten from Dopers were the “You were kidding, right?” I am always forced to respond, “yep, I was being sarcastic.”
That, of course, doesn’t include my SDMB cyberstalker, but those emails were just too stupid to be considered harrassing.
Dry humor is an acquired taste, Sua. Just think of your particular brand of it as a rite of passage. If someone gets it, they’re obviously of a more refined sensibility. Although exceptions can be made for newbies who just aren’t used to you…
It’s very convenient to make oneself the victim, especially when the e-mail was private and the other 999 Dopers who read about the episode have no idea what was really said. I have no doubt some people really do make nasty claims, but most of the time I’m sure it’s just someone taking it private because that’s what they think is more appropriate. Perhaps they get a little heated and say something stupid. Use common sense! Get over it! The asshole is not going to crawl through your modem and choke you by your scrawny neck! And if he is so inclined, I can guarantee he can find you, hunt you down, and shoot you WITHOUT sending you an email first. If you’re so genuinely worried about the chance of somebody going nuts and coming to kill you, maybe you should treat all those “potential psychos” on the boards a little more gently. Otherwise, accept that some crotchety e-mail communication may happen when you get into it with people. Make it an opportunity to find common ground, not ratchet the dispute up yet another notch. Your average hothead can be cooled off pretty fast if you’d make an effort.
I once took umbrage at a joke a radio personality made. I sent him an email at the station and CCed the program manager. Not once did a term like “gnathumper” roll off my fingers, nor was there a hint of threat. Apparently a few other people sent him emails over the same episode, and some of them may not have been gentle in their language. Whatever. He sent ME a reply saying that these “threats” were serious and “his lawyer” had “been in touch with the FBI” who was very interested in these “harrassing emails.”
Thank you, Cranky. As the 2001 Annual Contributing Secretary for The Potential Psychos of America, I, too, would appreciate it if people would give our members a little more respect.
Although exceptions can be made for newbies who just aren’t used to you…