I love the comments that people make on Work Matters and want to do all I can to encourage everyone to keep them coming. We are now at over 800 comments here and I can hardly wait to read the next one. The comments made in response to my last post on Southerners, Civility, and the Culture of Honor are great examples. I love the range and thoughtfulness. Everything from one commenter who sensed some homophobia in the email I put in the post (I still don’t quite see it, although the asshole is described as effeminate, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with his nasty behavior)to Bill’s charming comment and story:
We Southerners – I am Virginian by birth (Like John Carter, a fighting
man of Mars!) and Tennessean by choice for many years now – are
particularly assholey when it comes to affronts to women. A young man
once accidentally bumped and spilled my wife’s tea at a big outdoor
event – he was just being exuberant and was bigger than I, and
immediately apologized – but suddenly he found this older guy telling
him in a flat voice that he needed to buy the lady another glass of
tea. I don’t know where that person was hiding in me, but he was out in
a flash.
Not bad, huh? I have learned an enormous amount — and had some good laughs — from your ideas, stories, and facts. I have also tried to be open minded and, when people put up comments that I disagree with or that are negative. I nearly always have leave them-up except they are spam, in extreme bad taste, or I think they might hurt someone. But — after trying to avoid it for months — I finally decided to screen and approve comments before they go on the blog.
The first reason is that the amount spam in these comments keep increasing — from advertisements for real estate, to porn, to travel sites. I am getting several of these a day now. The second reason is that I have had some intermittent problems with
posts that are just a bit too nasty for my tastes. In one case in
particular, I felt my inner jerk rising and I started composing a nasty
and arrogant reply Fortunately, I erased it before posting it
because, well, I sounded like an asshole. It also made me realize that
I had reached the point where it was best for my mental health to start
screening and approving comments. Doing this bothers me a bit, as I like the idea of allowing the free
flow of ideas. But a bit of screening seems better than unleashing a rash
of asshole poisoning here — which would be in bad taste, upset me, and
be hypocritical to boot.
I promise to get your comments up quickly (except when I am on vacation) and to approve nearly everything substantive. I say "nearly" because I reserve the right to delete stuff that is too nasty or that will turn me into temporary asshole right here on my own blog.
As always, invite your comments!
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