Melba's Jammin' <barbschal...@earthlink.net>

In article <L8adne0zqMOeM8HanZ2dnUVZ_tajn...@comcast.com>,

Maybe, but the 'unknown caller' isn't necessarily a telemarketer.  Phone
numbers don't show up on caller identification units for a variety of
reasons.

Many of the people who were interested in good food and serious cooking
have moved on.  They got tired of the crap long ago when it wasn't
nearly what it is now.  

Usenet has changed, and the way people relate to each other has changed.

In my opinion, too many people have decided that r.f.c. will be their
personal blog, their Yellow Pages, their confessional,  their
veterinarian, their soapbox, and their playground for bullies.  

Too many have latched on to the "we're like a big kitchen table where
you sit around and argue about all kinds of stuff."   My mom would have
said, "Get the hell out of here and go outside and fight if you're going
to be like that!"  Mom ran a tight ship.  She was The Moderator.

Rec.food.cooking does not have moderator.

Too many think that r.f.c. regulars are their family and that you can
say anything to family.  

Too many don't "get" that too much of the stuff lately simply does not
belong here and instead say, "Well, if you don't like it, just killfile
it or ignore it."  That attitude, I believe, is tacit support of the
'anything goes' mentality that is so prevalent.

It's difficult to resist the seductive temptations that appeal to the
part of us that wants to "be helpful" in an OT thread (sure, sometimes I
do open the OP)  because it is so damned easy to get out ‹ you just stop
replying to the thread.    And it's easy to let your ugliness show
because it really is pretty unlikely that someone is going to show up at
your door and punch your lights out.  

Too many refuse to ask their questions in an appropriate group because
they "know the people" here.  There's a joke.   If you "know" them so
well, why don't you have their private email addresses (they're your
"friends," remember?)  and ask privately?   Yeah, I DO ask my computer
questions on the computer groups and the folks where I've asked have
always been straightforward with their responses and the differences in
opinions are put forth with civility not with venom and bluster.  

I understand thread drift, how the discussion can morph into something
it was not, and I'll bet that's not what you're talking about, either.  

-Barb

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007