Conch-l is an UN-moderated list.  What does this mean?  It means that what
you post to the list is redistributed to everyone on the list without
anyone checking it for spelling, punctuation or netiquette (see:
http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/net/index.html).

This WILL NOT change because I DO NOT intend to play mother to all 400 plus
people on this list.

Everyone has an occasional bad day and multi-year subscribers will often
vent on the list a bit more than new subscribers who are more concerned
with what other people may think of them.  New subscribers will ask
questions that have already been discussed to death.  We also all have
replied when we didn't mean to (if you haven't you will - trust me).

If I have to I can and will remove a subscriber from the list.  I don't
think this is the best option since I do know so many of you and CAN'T
BELIEVE you all are not capable of conversing in a polite productive manner
about molluscs.  From my point of view molluscs are the most diverse,
complex, amazing group of animals on the planet.  The people I have met who
work with molluscs and collect shells are just as interesting as the
molluscs they collect.  There are billions of questions, wonderful stories
and just plain interesting stuff to talk about so why waste time on other
things.

Here is a suggestion that I hope you will all consider:

If you are upset, angry or just in a bad mood - DON'T REPLY RIGHT AWAY!

Erase the email address in the 'To:' line so that YOU CAN'T REPLY RIGHT AWAY.

Compose your response and then WAIT.

RE-READ your response SEVERAL times during the next TWENTY FOUR HOURS.
Spend a little time venting at your computer instead of the list.  It will
make you feel better.

If at the end of that time you still want to respond - CONSIDER CAREFULLY
should your response be sent to the WHOLE list of 400 people in over 35
different countries AND become part of an archive on a web site that anyone
anywhere at any time can read OR should you send it directly to the person
who wrote the email that got you upset?

Maybe they didn't mean what you thought they meant.  Maybe they have a
unique sense of humor.  Maybe they don't have as good a grasp of the
English language as you do.  Why don't you send them a personal email
politely explaining that their email hurt your feelings and why.  Most
people if given a chance are not as bad as their email can make them seem.

Amy, list owner


Amy Edwards, Program Coordinator ------ [log in to unmask]

Georgia Museum of Natural History    --------    phone (706) 542-4137
University of Georgia            --------            FAX 706-542-3920
Athens, GA 30602-1882       --------       http://museum.nhm.uga.edu/
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"A man's mind, stretched by new ideas, can never go back to its original
dimensions."             Oliver Wendell Holmes