Subject: Re: castaway humor (fwd)

From: [email-masked] (Thomas Boudreau)
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 18:35:01 -0300

>Louis,
>
>I'm very sorry that your sense of humor atrophied some time ago. Humor is one
>way of stimulating the brain and is an expression of creativity.
>
>One of the geeks
>
------------------------------------->

    Thank you Mark...  you said it all!!  :o)

another geek:

«»Thomas B.
«»N.S. Can.
«»[email-masked]
«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»-«»

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From: Steve Smith <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 96 16:15:02 MDT

Our email list seems to have controversy over non-blacksmithing
content. People will be people. Everybody likes to get their two cents
in--telling a joke, complaining about the joke, complaining about the
complaints. The same cycle shows up in magazine letters columns.

The big difference here is that the letters are the sole content of
this 'publication'. I don't have any problem with humor or other
non-blacksmithing subjects as long as they are clearly labelled (which
they have been). If I want to goof off (I'm on email at work), I read
the jokes and commentary. If I need to clear out my mail list quickly,
I delete any that don't look like blacksmithing.

The problem comes in when people don't delete; when they read stuff
they don't want to (despite labelling) and get irritated. They send
replies, others (just as bad) send replies back, .... The act of
complaining is against your self interest! Replies generate more of
the stuff you wish hadn't shown up in the first place! Just sit back
and wait for the stuff to blow away that you don't want to read.

What's more, while everyone is following the rusty nails, or the
jokes, the blacksmithing conversation dies down. This is the real
bummer. Write dem jokes, talk that hammering, delete instead of
complaining. You aren't going to change human nature.

--
Steve Smith
[email-masked]