I know my tone can often come across as harsh, so if it does, I
apologize in advance. I see your point, but I disagree with it and
this is simply some of my reasons why.
On Monday 30 July 2007, tigg_teagan wrote:
> Hal,
>
> If an entire post was made that looked like your example, I would
> have never said a word. I would be in total agreement with you and
> probably wouldn't have troubled myself to read it. But that isn't the
> case with the post in question. We are talking about a missing comma.
> She put the question marks in the middle of the sentence for emphasis
> on the question. The majority of people out there don't use
> punctuation correctly. Personally, I am horrible about putting
> clarifications in parenthesis (which is a big no-no). My professor
> would have put my head on a pike for the preceding sentence.
I don't worry about rules like the clarifications you mention. I'm
talking about basic readability.
My typing and writing varies quite a bit in quality, depending on my
level of exhaustion and during the past 5 years I have yet to be above
the "halfway point." That example was my writing. It was my work at
the worst, written at a time when I was drained. I replaced the
word "example" with "post." When I'm reading an example, I've been
clocked at something like 120 WPM when I type, or something close to
that. I don't remember exactly and I don't care. I can tell you I
have to slow my typing to less than 60 WPM so I can read what I'm
typing and watch for red words that signal typos. There are times when
I can be much better (tone the example down by 50% or so). There are
rare times, when I'm zoned, like an athlete in the zone, where I can
focus and just glide, but that only happens when I'm writing my own
stories and usually I have them in my head word for word and have been
re-writing them for weeks before I start writing.
I know my posts have had a strong effect on this board. I've heard from
people that have used my posts (and others) to make decisions, to help
others leave MLMs, and to understand what those close to them are going
through. I have to go through a lot of work to write a post. If I
just posted without taking time to clarify a post, then, by your own
admission, they would not be worth reading and what I say would have no
effect.
More importantly, though, this points out that our message, our
statements, are judged by the clarity of our writing. If I write as I
would without help, my comments are not worth reading, but if I clarify
them and punctuate them, then they are worth reading. You have, in
essence, admitted that my point is valid. The difference would then be
in degree. Where is the line? What makes a post readable and what
prevents it.
The work it takes for me to write a post is also why I don't easily
accept excuses of, "It's hard for me to write." As I said, I used to
teach special ed and heard, "I can't do this, it's hard," all the time.
Yes, sometimes it is hard. That means there's a choice: work hard and
be understood, or don't put in the effort and just slide by. My
students did well because I didn't let them slide by. While nobody
here is my student, we are all here to help others and people do judge
us on how we present ourselves. In this case, all that can be is our
writing.
> I also don't think we can criticize someone from another country for
> the slang used, which you didn't, but others have made reference to
> it. I know that people from other English speaking countries have a
> devil of a time understanding much of our American slang. Heck,
> people from the East Coast would have a hard time understanding much
> of my Southwestern slang. That's part of why it isn't appropriate to
> use slang in business communication. Well, that, and it's just
> unprofessional.
Thank you for noticing *I* didn't say anything about the slang!
> And, Trevor, I totally understand what you are saying. Where I live
> there is an odd blending of Spanish and English and many people
> native to the area speak what we call "Spanglish". If you don't speak
> both languages fluently you are going to be hard pressed to follow
> the conversation. The thing is, they do it without even realizing it.
> It isn't a deliberate attempt to be difficult to understand, it just
> comes naturally to them. And, personally, I am not talking about
> freedom of speech at all. I am talking about a punctuation error and
> consideration that the poster is from another country that uses a
> totally different method of speech than the average American. On
> every site I frequent there is someone from another English speaking
> country that will use words or phrases that I don't understand at
> all. If I can't garner the meaning from the conversation I do,
> indeed, ask for clarification. By the same order, I have also seen
> them ask for clarification of an American phrase or word. It goes
> both ways. So, no, it isn't really about freedom of speech, it is
> about considering the cultural differences when speaking to someone
> from another country.
>
> So, if the post had been totally unreadable, then the answer is:
> "yes, I would have disregarded and skipped it". But, I just don't
> think that was the case with the post in question. <shrug>
It may have been easier for you to read than some others. I visit New
Mexico at times (my sister owns a ski lodge there). I've been confused
by Spanglish at times, but when I've heard it, people were speaking it
in casual conversations. I never heard it in what seemed like a
professional setting. That's an important point. While this is not an
overly formal forum, it is a permanent one. It is also a semi-public
one. It is also one where people seek help. If we don't take the care
to write so people can read what we say, we aren't helping people.
Personally, I think drawing a line and saying, "This is unreadable," is
actually doing someone a favor by refusing to enable lazy behavior.
Hal
