Vent about MSE

RobertoMoir

BargainGalore wrote: »

Unfortunately there is little MSE can do accept ban certain people who may then come back on as a new user, just like the real world in life you always can get rude, arrogant or unsympathetic people

Sometimes posts can be interpreted the wrong way too

Sometimes people interpret any answer that doesn't tell them how to get exactly what they want out of a situation regardless of what they're entitled to or what would be "fair" as rude. No I don't understand it either.

wigmaster

Regarding the subject of googling for things, has anyone else ever become stuck in a 'google loop', where a helpful-looking thread appears in a search - but when clicked on, the thread in question only contains smart comments such as 'Google is your friend' - really irritating.

MrsTinks

Firstly - spammers New users now have to reach a certain post count before they can post links - it won't eliminate them totally but it will certainly annoy them and slow them down

secondly - if anyone is rude then there is a neat little function on each and every post that allows you to report that post - if you feel the user in general is abusive you can add a note and Abuse will look into it (and they do!).

I've been accused of many things - being rude, abusing my BG powers and many other things... unfortunately as a BG I don't have the luxury of ignoring people so that their posts don't annoy me sometimes wish I did!

I do get fustrated at times when people ask for help to get out of paying their debts - if you can't afford to then fair enough - circumstances change and people loose jobs. In those cases I'll do what I can to advise them. But those who start posting and straight away with "how can I get out of paying this debt?" instead of "help i'm drowing and I don't know what to do!!".

Ultimately it's an open public forum - people won't always like the answers given, but on the other hand there is no reason to be out right rude when replying to peoples posts

*MF*

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well, the polished old case fastened to the wall and the shiny receiver on the side of the box.

I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother would talk to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person and her name was "Information Please" and there wasn't anything she did not know.

"Information Please" could supply anybody's number and the correct time.

My first personal experience with this genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement. I whacked my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible but, there didn't seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give me sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger finally arriving at the stairway.

The telephone!

Quickly, I ran for the footstool and held the phone to my ear.

"Information Please" I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.

"Information."

" I hurt my finger" I wailed into the phone. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.

"Isn't your mother home?" came the question.

"Nobody's home but me," I blubbered.

"Are you bleeding?" the voice asked.

"No," I replied. "I hit my finger with a hammer and it hurts."

"Can you open your icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a piece of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.

After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me that my pet chipmunk, which I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then there was the time Petey, our pet canary died. I called "Information Please" and told her the sad story. She listened, then said the usual thing grown-ups say to soothe a child. But, I was inconsolable. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?"

She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "You must remember that there are other worlds to sing in."

Somehow, I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone with "Information Please". "Information," said the now familiar voice. "How do you spell fix?'" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston.

"Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home and somehow I never thought of trying the tall, new shiny phone that sat on the table in the hall.

As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity, I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane landed in Seattle. I had about half-an-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then, without thinking about what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please."

Miraculously, I heard the small clear voice I knew so well.

"Information."

I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess you must be healed by now."

I laughed, "So it's really still you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?"

"I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls."

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. - "Please do," she said. "Just ask for Sally." - Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, "Information." - I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" she said. "Yes, a very old friend," I answered.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. Sally had been working part time in the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago."

Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute. Are you Paul?"

"Yes".

"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said, "Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean."

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

***************

Just a story ... but maybe it has a moral? One about how we can help others, and the effect we have, even unknowingly, when we do?

moonrakerz

yorksrabbit wrote: »

Well thanks a lot, moonrakerz.

It's that kind of post that's going to kill off MSE completely.

Anyone coming on here to mention any of the following self-help aids:

is just spoiling it for everyone.

(Be even worse, they actually recommended any MSE user to have the above installed, on-screen, in their IE Links Toolbar -- so don't do it!)

Please go and post somewhere else, you're just a party-pooper.

I am afraid the meaning of your post totally escapes me !

Just as a matter of interest, it may interest others to know that one of your very first posts on MSE started:-

"Many a happy hour must have been spent by the writer of the verbal diarrhoea below to feed his delusion of being A Very Powerful Person in charge of A Very Powerful Business."

......a most meaningful contribution to the aims of this site - and of course, VERY polite !

Melissa22_Mum

I couldn't agree more, I've not read any other posts on here so excuse me if I repeat any one elses view point. This is an ever increasing problem on forums. People seem to think they should litter your posts with procrastinating, I'm on my high horse, your stupid for thinking that, have you not thought of 'insert obvious reason here' this. Shouldn't you have done this, I would have done this etc etc I could go on forever.

It's seriously annoying, so is the 'it's a public forum so I can say what I like' reason. The majority of the time people ask for the advice of other people who may have been through similar experiences. Adding your two cents rarely does no good what so ever and pee's everyone off!

so2006

I an annoyed with MSE for the same reason as OP and also because i was trying to give away free hosting (As i have the space so why not give it away for free!!) and one of the mods deleted the thread.

Forget it, There is no point being so dedicated now lol

ts_aly2000

*MF* wrote: »

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well, the polished old case fastened to the wall and the shiny receiver on the side of the box.

....

Just a story ... but maybe it has a moral? One about how we can help others, and the effect we have, even unknowingly, when we do?

This is wonderful. Thank you so much for posting your story.

dixie06

Totally wholeheartedly agree with the OP.

moonrakerz wrote: »

Example: About 2 minutes ago I posted an answer to a query about passport validity - this question comes up on an almost daily basis - why do people keep asking the same questions ???? It has been answered dozens of times already and I got 306,000 hits on Google. It really took the person longer to type out the question than it would to find the answer !

This is a prime example.....if it made you cross the question was asked why on earth did you bother replying. Until quite recently I actaully could figure out how to search the forums, perhaps that person had the same problem??

moonrakerz

dixie06 wrote: »

Totally wholeheartedly agree with the OP.



This is a prime example.....if it made you cross the question was asked why on earth did you bother replying. Until quite recently I actaully could figure out how to search the forums, perhaps that person had the same problem??

I'm sorry, but do you need a degree in Nuclear Physics to use Google ?