Re: Re: Young People With PA--Open Letter to Allmixedup54

[Guest guest]

Dear D,

Well that was really helpful now, wasn't it?

I joined this forum just 3 weeks ago, having been diagnosed in January and have

been interested in some of the postings. I will probably now be leaving the

forum.

Had I realised that we all had to use the correct grammar and spelling, and

adhere to perfect morals and behaviours, I would have joined the 'correct

English' or the 'perfect manners' forum instead. Have you ever given any thought

to the fact that people could have other complaints as well as yours (i.e.

Dyslexia)? Oh dear oh dear - what a mess.

Thanks for nothing.

Steve B

[Editor's Note: Dear Steve, I am sorry you feel the need to leave. It's rather

ironic that it would be over the " correctness " issue, but maybe I have a chance

to convince you to stick with the forum. To Wit:

The last controversy we had on the board--and it dwarfed this one, by a factor

of ten--was over the exact issues you suggest, above. As I recall, it may have

been in September or October, I don't think it would have been in November.

There were some people, one of them actually an editor/moderator, who expressed

their displeasure with all the grammar and spelling errors, and went further,

taking the rest of us to task for not observing the " correctness code " for

internet boards. Our Founder, , was not feeling very well at the time,

and wasn't on the board that often.

I spent that period championing the cause of content over form, of " as long as

we can understand what you're saying, that's good enough, and pretty much taking

exactly the position you do above. (Nothing has changed my thoughts on this,

either.) When came back, she laid it out the way I thought she would,

right along the lines you, I, and the vast majority speak for. We have enough to

deal with, without worrying about all the peripheral stuff. (I'm going to go

back and find the message numbers in question; I'll e-mail them to you, as long

as you're still available.)

Most of the regulars here were involved in that debate, and knew exactly which

side of the debate I was championing; many folk had the same response you did,

above, if we were going to have to be perfect in order to post--and I agreed

completely with them (as I do with you).

I did not take into account that new members since that time might think I was

advocating that " petty properness " in the post you're referring to, and for

that, I apologize for creating a false impression for newcomers.

So, why DID I note those petty little errors? In an attempt to show the

gentleman whose posts I reproduced how easy it is to find fault, and how, from

the receiver's end, his responses to others were considerably less than kind.

That gentleman is quite welcome here, and he is highly motivated and shares

information that is interesting and useful; however, he suffers from what is

generally referred to as " The Arrogance of Youth " --and, as he is probably quite

bright, from the arrogance intelligence breeds, as well. (I am left with the

latter arrogance only, *sigh*).

So, Steve, I hope you understand, and will stick with us. After all, you too can

react sharply before you have all the facts....There was a good bit of top-spin

on your parting shot, " Thanks for nothing. " :-)

[ ] Re: Young People With PA--Open Letter to

Allmixedup54

Dear " Allmixedup54 " ,

I have copied two of your recent posts; I cut & pasted them below,

verbatim. As I wholeheartedly agree with you our forum is ill-served

by those who have mistaken it for, say, the Jerry Springer Show,

please allow me to let you speak for, and to, yourself.

Starting with an excerpt (grammar errors left intact) from the first

post: " im not going to start insulting people i dont know in a

SUPPORT GROUP... Why dont you read the original post before you start

criticizing me, man " .

ALLMIXEDUP POST #1

> man you seriously need to chill out, it was relevant to the post, i

> wasnt complaining about giving it up, give it a rest, maybe some of

> the things that bug you dont rank on MY top ten list, i see people

> talking aobut how they can't do things they enjoy(ed) like sew

> anymore, and i dont start ranting and raving about sewing not being

> on my top ten list of things i cant do anymore and not a real

> problem and how its a giant insult to those with PA or P, you know

> why? its rude and im not going to start insulting people i dont

know

> in a SUPPORT group... Why dont you read the original post before

you

> start critizing me, man

ALLMIXEDUP POST #2

Perhaps you are ill informed my friend, you know very little about

me or weed i would assume, such that good students dont smoke or

eat " weed " . Have you ever had a drink? Trust me, alcohol is far

worse then marijuana ever was or ever will be. I really think its

assinine to make assumptions about those you don't know and things

you don't know the first thing about, many upstanding and

respectable people use marijuana on occasion, hell, im sure many of

the nicest people you know smoke pot on occasion, but they keep such

information discreet becuase of ignorant people like you who label

them as druggies or losers becuase of how they choose to relax.

Really though, im amazed you can be condesending towards someone. I

could understand if I were to replace " marijuana " with " heroine " ...

Ahhh, people like you make me so angry...

(p.s.--There's just one " s " in asinine; you need to reverse the " u "

and the " a " in becuase, because it's spelled because; you lost a

syllable in " critizing " --it's " criticizing " ; where did all your

apostrophes on contractions go--i.e., cant, dont, im,

etc.); " condescending " has two " c " s; there's no " e " in heroin....

Yet, had these been run of the mill posts, I wouldn't have pointed

out these errors--think of all your other posts that have not been

critiqued.

When you say to your fellow members of a group YOU wanted to join

things such as: " ignorant people like you " ; " man you seriously need

to chill out " ; " Perhaps you are ill informed my friend " ; " I really

think its assinine to make assumptions about those you don't know and

things you don't know the first thing about " ; " im amazed you can be

condesending towards someone " ; when you say all these things, it

should hardly be a wonder to you that one or more members are quite

displeased.

I realize there are many groups out there online which seem to thrive

on a rough and tumble, one-upmanship-oriented give and take. This is

not one of those, thank goodness. It is, however, a wonderful

resource for people with PA, and I hope you will treat it as such,

and with the respect it deserves. In that way, you will be treated

likewise.

Thanks.

D.

In closing, please do not misattribute my motivation in posting this:

As far as I can tell from what you've said, we're in general

agreement on the subject of marijuana; yes, alcohol is indeed, by

scientific proofs, far more deadly and hazardous than pot; pot has

legitimate medical uses--in glaucoma, nausea from chemotherapy, and

so on, and in that role, it's no different from all the other

pharmaceuticals with their risk-benefit calculations,

contraindications, side effects, etc. It is, however, illegal;

hopefully, it will some day soon be decriminalized, and regulated

like alcohol.

Please visit our Psoriatic Arthritis Group's informational web page at:

http://www.wpunj.edu/pa/ -- created and edited by list member

aka(raharris@...).

Also,in August 2001,list member Jack aka Cornishpro@... began to

conduct extensive research which he publishes as the " Psoriatic Arthritis

Research Newsletter " , monthly in our email and digest format. Many thanks to

Jack. Back issues of the newsletter are stored on our PA webpage as well as the

archives of the list.

Don't forget that the list archives comprise a tremendous amount of

information (Over three years of messages and answers).Feel free to browse them

at your convenience.

LET'S HEAR FROM SOME OF YOU LURKERS out there! If you have a comment or

question, chances are there is a person who has been around a while who can help

you out with AT LEAST an educated guess for an answer! If not,we can steer you

in the right direction with a good website to go to,

Blessings and Peace,

Atwood-Stack, Founder

Alan , Web & List Editor

Jack , Newsletter Editor

Pat Bias, List Editor

Ron Dotson, List Editor

Orin, List Editor

, List Editor

and any others who help in any way (thank you!)