'Onya, Brian. Well said.
John.
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Swale
Hi all,
For what they're worth, here are my thoughts on the matter.
Actually, I don't at all mind OT talk.
I *do* take exception to undeserved disrespectful and/or downright rude
comment and remarks.
I also get pretty weary of what Mike from the Island complained about during
this last week; people hitting the *reply* button and failing to edit out
endless
signature lines and screeds of reply text that we have already seen 5 and 6
times or more, already.
HTML posting is a pain, but most people now take the trouble to cut it out
and I really like that.
And we all sometimes make mistakes.
I take part in some other groups, and I find most of them pretty dry and
tending more or less to the plain dull side of the spectrum. Some to a
degree
that I also find rude; for example in a certain scanner group, a little
while ago
a newbie asked politely for some defined on-topic information. One of the
*senior* members bluntly told him to RTFM (Read the flaming manual) in this
case, plough through the archives, assuming he knew how to do that (the
senior didn't ask if he knew, or explained how to). I made a mild protest,
saying that it had not been a very friendly and welcoming response.
Guess what. A week later some other newbie made a request in the same
style. This time another *senior* member very politely told him to RTFM.
So I had got through; but not as I had intended {;-( Groan.
Guess also what? That group has none of the camaraderie that this one
has, and I'll bet there are few if any friendships that have developed as a
result of other shared interests in addition to the scanner. Not like this
group.
Yes, we have ( especially those of you who have been in this group for ages)
discussed OMs and Zuikos and all their quirks, inside out and back to front.
So there's some repetition, over time.
But that does no harm at all for the newer members, and we get new
members all the time; if there is repetition. And I certainly need my memory
jogged sometimes.
I like the back-chat and the revealing of other interests. It has helped me
get
to know many of us, also through off-list letters. I have enjoyed meeting
list-
members visiting my home city, and clearly many of you have enjoyed group
meetings in Germany, Australia, UK, USA and where-else I do not know.
Rightly or wrongly, I feel I now have a group of friends all over the world
whose friendship I value and which matters to me.
The exhibitions and sometimes exchanges (eg TOPE, Bob Gries' summer
and winter solstice exchanges), and people putting up web-sites for group
viewing and comment all add to this feeling of community.
I know my interest in my OMs ( I once had two) has grown and been
maintained enormously as a result of being here, and I like to think I have
developed improved photography skills as a result also. Not to mention the
enabling !!
Other benefits too; I have just this week received back from Melbourne my
little XA, brought beautifully back to life by a list-member, Robert Kan. To
me
this is not merely a matter of commerce; every time I pick it up I now think
of
the friend who gave it new life.
So. I don't know where this group is headed, but I do know I'd hate it to
become a dry, matter-of-fact On-Topic only group. If that happens, the group
will shrivel to a mere nothing. The sparks of friendship that give it
vitality will
dwindle greatly. I think that to use some discretion in what is posted, and
to
quit bad-mouthing other people, should work wonders to the quality of OM
group life. Sometimes it is better to just say nothing.
Brian
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