arndt@lymph.DEC (03/07/85)
My dear Mr. Perelgut;
So glad you liked my "elegant defense of (my) net contributions." I must
tell you that I throughly enjoyed your posting to me. It always gives me
a warm feeling when someone tells me that they don't like me or my ideas
and then gives silly reasons as to why. Or in your case, really no reasons
at all.
As for your not accepting a job at my site, aside from the question as to if
you could actually GET hired here, I, even though you think me "an idiot at
best and probably a complete asshole" would have no trouble seeing you work
here. In the performance of my job I meet all kinds of people and have no
trouble really getting things done with or through them. So I don't see you
as a challenge. From the tone of your voice, even without the smiley faces,
I beleive you would have trouble reaching my level of management anyway.
Who knows, by getting the kind of reaction I have from you and your friends
(if they also wouldn't want to work at my site) I may be doing DEC a service.
After all, one of the most important skills needed in the business world, not
often mentioned much less taught in Business School, is tolerating and working
with ALL kinds of people. If you think the way to deal with difficult people
or situations is to withdraw, I believe you are badly misinformed. Think about
that.
I, and others, find it very interesting to speculate about the reasons for
the kind of anger my postings elicit from certain minds. It appears to be
a gut reaction. A visceral intolerance of a cast of mind in some way feared,
perhaps? In any case I invite you, and your clones, to defecate in your hat!
(Naturally, if you DID work at DEC with me I would invite you to do something
less messy if this were the issue we were discussing.)
As to the question of my piece "Do The Great Moronic Masses Need Electronic
Hand Jive" I can only say that, having read L Chabot's latest comments on the
use of 'smiley faces' I am confirmed in my opinion! Chabot has the most
unconsciously charming facility for self-parody that I have seen in a long
time. Her wandering off into the many versions of 'smiley face' into every
wink, nod, shrug, grunt and whistle reminds one of Dr. Doolittle and the
amimals! To me such business smacks of not being able to comminicate in the
first place!!
I have always held back from using the 'smiley face' because its use feels to
me to be too 'cute'. Something for net.girls! One has to draw the line
somewhere. Next 'smiley faces' will appear on my lunch pail and my boxer
shorts!
The question of what is convention in the MEDIUM we use here on the net will
soon be of greater importance as the world goes 'on line'. I would hate to
see the Philistines and those less able to express themselves set the
'standards'.
Nanu, nanu
Ken Arndt
"To be great means to be misunderstood."
PS To Jeff Sonntag. Hi guy. Sorry you "hate the way (I) post what is
apparently a personal message to the net". But how else do you suggest
I respond in public? After all, it is a PUBLIC item that has prompted
those replies from me that start To . . . . The great unwashed masses
out there would think, "there he goes again, getting beat up in public",
and we can't have that, can we. Besides, what really is the difference
between saying who it is I am replying to in the title or in the message?
Sure you might be able to "n" (Unix twits) a posting quicker if the title
were more content specific. You're a crank, but you can keep your hat on.