[HANASHIR:12212] Listserv Al Chet

[Adrian Durlester <adrian...>]

Chaverim:

Saw this posting on another list, and thought I'd use my prerogative as
list-owner to post this slightly off-topic but humorous list.

Hope everyone had an east fast.

-Adrian

LISTSERV REPENTANCE

For the sin we have committed in posting copyrighted material to the
listserv,

and for the sin we have committed by forwarding virus warnings, NEA
appeals,
and dying child requests.

For the sin we have committed in harshly judging other List members by
their
spelling or use of punctuation,

and for the sin we have committed in posting a message without spell
checking it first.

For the sin we have committed by raising our voice through the
over-use of capital letters,

and for the sin we have committed in lowercasing the pronoun "I" as an
original and clever expression of language.

For the sin we have committed in rushing to delete overly long
messages and those with the name of a digest on the subject line,

and for the sin we have committed in responding to the List by simply
pressing the Reply key.

For the sin we have committed in posting "unsubscribe" and other server
commands to the List itself,

and for the sin we have committed in enjoying what were obviously
private
messages sent to the List in error.

For the sin we have committed in assuming that anyone with e-mail also
has
access to the Web, U.S. television, and the spiritual foundation with
which
we were raised,

and for the sin we have committed in believing that our gentle digs and
tongue-in-cheek comments could never be misinterpreted.

For the sin we have committed in analyzing an innocent comment to death,

and for the sin we have committed in failing to recognize that for some
List
members, rebutting one piece of a post is the best way to show that the
whole message was taken seriously.

For the sin we have committed in posting how everyone should take it
easy
and not be so sensitive,

and for the sin we have committed in feeling personally insulted by
another
List member's inability to master netiquette and an undetermined portion
of
their real world lives.

For the sin we have committed in trying to post attachments to the List,

and for the sin we have committed in believing that our bonds with the
List
community were a replacement for neighborhood, volunteer, and other real
world attachments.

For the sin we have committed in feeling superior to List members whose
self-revelations have actually taught us valuable lessons,

and for the sin we have committed in forgetting that the archives are
searchable, and that sharing confidential information about people who
may
someday seek it out is an act of honesty that could eventually harm the
innocent.

For the sin we have committed in fearing on-line disagreements as
divisive
and dangerous, forgetting that our community is truly multifaceted,

and for the sin we have committed by not attempting to start a new
thread if
the List seemed to need a different direction.

For these and other sins, some are guilty, all are responsible for the
Send
button.


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