Amanda's finally lost it

[Angela Burgess]

No: HPFGUIDX 23548

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
> I think the policies of this list are just great. Anyone who has 
never (a) taught a class in any form, (b) done a presentation, (c) 
been married, or (d) had children will not appreciate how hard it is 
to keep a civil tone sometimes. The image of a snowball down a hill 
comes to mind; things just get out of hand. <

Amanda, I agree completely.  It is so hard when not talking face to 
face to get points across completely as you mean them.  We as a 
society are so used to reading body language, facial signs, etc. in 
addition to listening to what people say that it is hard to grasp 
what someone means when we don't have those non-verbal clues.  As a 
result, postings that were meant light-heartedly or even as a jest 
get taken too seriously and, before you know it, we have an avalanche 
on our hands! 

>For me, this is like a group of friends, some old, some new, who 
come with a built-in common ground and who can now share other 
things. In the course of postings on this list, and later after 
Chatter spun off, I've learned new stuff about Latin, condom machines 
at the South Pole, teaching in underprivileged schools, word 
derivations, and other cultures' cuisines <

Once again, I agree.  One of the reasons for joining this list was 
not *just* to talk about Harry Potter, but to join a group of people 
with whom I have something in common, but who may have different 
views than myself, whether on HP or life in general.  With so many 
people (close to 1900, now?), even an old topic is bound to gain new 
insight with each addition of new blood.  The things that you 
mentioned above are things that I would never be able to discuss 
under normal circumstances, since the majority of my "co-workers" are 
the high school students I teach (for those who don't teach, we can 
be pretty isolated from the other adults).

Anyway, I just wanted to add my two Knuts.  While I agree with 
the "kinder, nicer nitpicking", I think we already *are* kind and 
nice.  If anything, this should just be a reminder to those of us who 
can jump the gun on replying before thinking (myself included), that 
the idea "Think about what you say before you say it" should apply to 
posting as well.

Angela Burgess