Re: List minders - reply from a list minder.

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005, Robert W. Schramm wrote:
>
> I woulld agree that some rotation system could be instituted, but the list
> minders must be chosen with care. After all, we don't really want "Big
> Brother" constantly watching us all do we? The list minders must avoid
> heavy-handedness. They must use a certain amout of tact and understanding.
> Its not an easy job and I, for one, would welcome a vacation from the
> responsibility.

Let me suggest that the new "rotation" might consist of all women, as the
current rotation has been all men... OK, that's going to go over like a
lead balloon... but if my cursor were behaving, instead of running wild, I
would again be a bad person and put Maureen Dowd's column from Sunday op
ed in the NY Times -- or a few sentences anyway -- on the list. (And I
reserve the right to reserve the right.)

No, I am not Maureen, but it struck me as a remarkable coincidence -- the
timing, that is.

However, while I very much appreciate (and mostly, or largely agree with)
Bob's comments above, I think it's worth mentioning what a friend of mine
who is on MANY lists (I don't know how he does it) said on the topic... He
said some of the lists he likes best have no "list minders" at all, and do
get into major kerfluffles... So what happens? They just run their
course, he says, and folks get over it...and life goes on.

There is, if things don't go absolutely to hell, much merit in letting
folks express grievances, in fact the inability to express/accept
"personal" remarks is often the hallmark of a dysfunctional family (and
what keeps shrinks in their bread and water).

Which is to say, it's possible that the "cure" (ban on anything
"offtopic") could be worse for "the list" than the "disease." And a steady
stream of "just the scientific facts" would be a bore, especially since a
lot of those "facts" have been repeated many times. I'd also suggest that
those troubled (rather than fascinated) by these digressions really really
could simply delete without reading. In fact why they don't is another
interesting question. (Is it like rubbernecking at a 3-car pile-up?)

PS: About those dichromate crystals: Did the room get cold?

Judy
Received on Mon Mar 14 03:44:12 2005