chat reminder

[justcarol67]

Jen wrote: 
> I actually made it into the chat room the other day, but then didn't 
> know what to do. This sounds silly but I've never been in a chat 
> before--do you just start typing? Wait for a comment to come up on 
> screen? I exited out after about a minute because I felt foolish. 
> 
> Any hints, veteran chatters?
> 
> Jen, who has no problem writing if she can edit but doesn't know if 
> she can hack the chat room.

Hi, Jen. I have essentially the same problem and have only braved the
chat room a few times, usually to find no one there because no one is
in my time zone (Arizona, which is on Mountain Standard Time when the
rest of the Rocky Mountain states are on Mountain Daylight Time--and
England is, what? eight or more hours ahead of us). Anyway, the one
time I found people there, I dared to type in something brilliant like
"Is anybody home?" and actually did get responses. But I had a hard
time keeping up with the chat for three reasons: I have a 56K modem
(boo!); I have trouble making short, pithy comments under a paragraph
long; and I compulsively edit my remarks as if they were posts to a
group like this one. I may give it another shot if I'm ever home alone
on a Sunday and actually remember the chat before it's over, but it
isn't easy for those of us who can't bear to make a typo or word a
sentence awkwardly. (I know, I know. Typos and unclear sentences
sometimes escape me, but they're painful for me when I see them posted!)

Just letting you know that you're not alone in having chatophobia.

Carol