It's the Time of the Crazies
I talked about a technical support complaint at G+ today, but let me tell you guys about a real doozy of a user issue we had this week! Boss and I are still ROLLING!
So, we get a new user. Said new user claims to have 30 years of experience as an investigator and a paralegal. Great, we thought. Then he started answering questions. And providing completely WRONG answers! Things came to a head when someone asked for help with finding a lawyer to handle a Wage and Hour complaint.
New user directed him to the EEOC! *BZZZZT* NO! Wage and Hour complaints are handled at the state level by the state DoL. Two of my HR professionals explain this, and tell the querant to leave the EEOC out of it. New user throws a fit and argues and then pops off with:
This is a discussion forum subject to personal views and assessments.
Well, no. And dude, who are you? You've been in the forum less than a week, and you're going to tell people who've been contributing CORRECT answers for YEARS what the purpose of the forum is? I correct him:
This is a legal information forum meant to provide accurate information to people in need of help.
I would suggest you lurk a bit more and get a feel for who knows what around here, before getting indignant at being mildly corrected. ESteele and eerelations are both quite knowledgeable in matters of employment.
HTH.
More fits. Then he decides that he's going to keep posting nonsense, and append "This may not apply in your situation. If that's the case, I'm sure someone here will correct me." Which, of course, pisses off my long-time contributors, because they're literally having to follow him around and clean up after him. Boss and I have been similarly cleaning up where he has piddled. Boss mentions that the guy seems to mean well, but he really doesn't seem to have any idea of the limits of what he actually knows (which so far seems to be "not fucking much".) And this is where it gets HILARIOUS! I send him a PM titled "Mod Note". I don't even bother logging into my Moderator persona any more, as everyone there knows I'm the Mod. I provide Boss with a copy of the note before I send it, as is our custom. We are very transparent in our interactions with other users.
Riply, when I told you the other day that the purpose of this forum is to provide CORRECT information and that you really needed to lurk more and learn your way around, it really wasn't a mere suggestion.
If you are going to continue to participate here, you're going to need to make sure that you're providing accurate information. Merely stating "I'm not an expert, but I'm sure someone around here will correct me if I'm wrong" is NOT acceptable, and it is creating a lot of cleanup work for the people who have been regular contributors for years.
Google is your friend. Please research before you post. Thanks.
I get back three PMs in a row, spaced a minute apart. And die laughing.
As soon as you show me how well you walk on water and make no errors, I'll succumb to your superiority.
You're not in charge here.
ORLY? That's going to come as a surprise to Boss, who explicitly put me in charge some years ago.
Your subject line said "Mod Note". Are you implying that you are an authorized Moderator of this forum ?
I haven't violated any of the terms of use of the forum, unlike several of you long-time members who think it''s alright to insult, demean, and belittle others you happen to disagree with. Especially those who are new to the forum.
Everybody makes mistakes. The difference between me and many others is I make the effort to correct my mistakes. I'm more inclined to correct myself (quite openly, I might add) if the error is pointed out with some level of respect, rather than a public tongue-lashing. Perfection is absent in the law, as anybody with any REAL exposure to the legal system, outside of "Sheppardizing" would understand. I've spent countless hours inside the courtrooms, and learned a long time ago that even written law isn't necessarily how things will turn out. There's a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.
Correct isn't defined by what is written, but rather how it MIGHT be applied. This is how "precedent" comes about in the courtroom. This is why we have attorneys, because there are always at least TWO interpretations of the law. This is why we have Judges, to sort out how the law should apply to the specific set of circumstances that each case presents individually. This is why we have Appellate Courts and Supreme Courts at every level of the judicial system; to redefine what the legislative body intended in drafting the statutes.
I respect your knowledge and skill in researching information, just as I respect that of Mr. Knowitall. What I don't respect is that you both seem to think this is your private "law library" or playground, and unless my toys are the same as yours, I'm not allowed to enter.
Have a little self-respect and you'll learn to respect others. You clearly have never had to deal with actual clients, where you have to mix contempt with patience and understanding.
Ok, you got me.
I see the two worst offenders of the forum rules are you and Mr.Knowitall - and you're both Moderators !! Imagine that. Explains everything. Power hungry !!! No wonder you get away with being insulting and demeaning.
I've emailed Aaron Larson. I doubt he'll respond, but at least I said what I needed to.
You won't see me around anymore. You're both authoritative bullies.
Now, I'm pretty sure most of you know that Mr. Knowitall is Boss' "sockpuppet". He posts with that persona when he can no longer contain the snark. So here we have crybaby n00b tattling to the owner of the forum...about the owner of the forum. Priceless! He didn't send it to Boss' email, either. He sent it to the tech support mailbox, monitored and responded to by yours truly!
Mr. Larson -
I'm generally not one to complain much, but feeling welcome at your website forums is lacking a great deal. I have always enjoyed helping others who simply feel lost when it comes to sorting out problems that may or may not be legal issues. Obviously, I'm not perfect, which is something I already know. However, when I find myself in error, or when somebody else points out that I've erred, I am the first to correct myself.
Two long-time members of the forum (LegalResearcherMissy and MrKnowitall) seem to think that this is THEIR personal forum. They have been quick to JUMP on me publicly, when they think or see that I've made an error, and they exercise absolutely NO respect in doing so. This most likely doesn't sit well with some visitors to the forum, and it especially doesn't sit well with me. I expected to join this forum to be helpful in whatever ways I could. Opinions will vary, and I respect that, but when two long-time members become authoritative and pompous toward new forum members because they feel their superiority glowing, it is counter-productive to the purpose of the forum.
I have been chastised, lectured, insulted, ridiculed, and belittled by these two members. I do not mind being corrected, if that correction is done with respect. I also don't appreciate being singled out about an error, especially when the two participants I'm referring to aren't perfect in their responses, either.
I have not violated any TOS, and I hope to continue participating on the forum.
LegalResearcherMissy even sent me a PM just recently titled "Mod Note", apparently trying to imply that she was a forum Moderator. I don't see anything that denotes her as being in charge of monitoring or controlling the forum. I'd appreciate if you could ask these two to bring it down a notch.
This is your forum, and I will respect whatever your position is.
Thank you,
Riply
*snerk* Asshat didn't even get my name right.
Riply,
This is the technical support mailbox. And you're complaining to Missy!
It's my responsibility to set members to rights when they're not fitting in well. The instruction to lurk more and learn your way around is standard in any decently run forum meant to educate, not simply opine. Aaron is well aware of the PM that I sent to you, because I gave him a copy of it first. You had the opportunity to straighten up and fly right, to get a feel for the forum's well established culture and norms, and have chosen to kick and scream instead that it's not conforming to what you want. That's not how this works.
Frankly, our long time contributors - who make a deliberate effort to provide accurate legal information and push for others to do the same - are far more important than your fee-fees. No need to worry about coming back. You're no longer welcome. No need to complain to Aaron, either. He got a copy of this before you did.
Boss has promised to stop treating the forum as if he owns it, and has asked me to stay on top of both of us, as we are clearly upsetting people who are more in tune with the stated and obvious purpose of the forum.
Many days, this job is pure comedy.
So, we get a new user. Said new user claims to have 30 years of experience as an investigator and a paralegal. Great, we thought. Then he started answering questions. And providing completely WRONG answers! Things came to a head when someone asked for help with finding a lawyer to handle a Wage and Hour complaint.
New user directed him to the EEOC! *BZZZZT* NO! Wage and Hour complaints are handled at the state level by the state DoL. Two of my HR professionals explain this, and tell the querant to leave the EEOC out of it. New user throws a fit and argues and then pops off with:
This is a discussion forum subject to personal views and assessments.
Well, no. And dude, who are you? You've been in the forum less than a week, and you're going to tell people who've been contributing CORRECT answers for YEARS what the purpose of the forum is? I correct him:
This is a legal information forum meant to provide accurate information to people in need of help.
I would suggest you lurk a bit more and get a feel for who knows what around here, before getting indignant at being mildly corrected. ESteele and eerelations are both quite knowledgeable in matters of employment.
HTH.
More fits. Then he decides that he's going to keep posting nonsense, and append "This may not apply in your situation. If that's the case, I'm sure someone here will correct me." Which, of course, pisses off my long-time contributors, because they're literally having to follow him around and clean up after him. Boss and I have been similarly cleaning up where he has piddled. Boss mentions that the guy seems to mean well, but he really doesn't seem to have any idea of the limits of what he actually knows (which so far seems to be "not fucking much".) And this is where it gets HILARIOUS! I send him a PM titled "Mod Note". I don't even bother logging into my Moderator persona any more, as everyone there knows I'm the Mod. I provide Boss with a copy of the note before I send it, as is our custom. We are very transparent in our interactions with other users.
Riply, when I told you the other day that the purpose of this forum is to provide CORRECT information and that you really needed to lurk more and learn your way around, it really wasn't a mere suggestion.
If you are going to continue to participate here, you're going to need to make sure that you're providing accurate information. Merely stating "I'm not an expert, but I'm sure someone around here will correct me if I'm wrong" is NOT acceptable, and it is creating a lot of cleanup work for the people who have been regular contributors for years.
Google is your friend. Please research before you post. Thanks.
I get back three PMs in a row, spaced a minute apart. And die laughing.
As soon as you show me how well you walk on water and make no errors, I'll succumb to your superiority.
You're not in charge here.
ORLY? That's going to come as a surprise to Boss, who explicitly put me in charge some years ago.
Your subject line said "Mod Note". Are you implying that you are an authorized Moderator of this forum ?
I haven't violated any of the terms of use of the forum, unlike several of you long-time members who think it''s alright to insult, demean, and belittle others you happen to disagree with. Especially those who are new to the forum.
Everybody makes mistakes. The difference between me and many others is I make the effort to correct my mistakes. I'm more inclined to correct myself (quite openly, I might add) if the error is pointed out with some level of respect, rather than a public tongue-lashing. Perfection is absent in the law, as anybody with any REAL exposure to the legal system, outside of "Sheppardizing" would understand. I've spent countless hours inside the courtrooms, and learned a long time ago that even written law isn't necessarily how things will turn out. There's a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.
Correct isn't defined by what is written, but rather how it MIGHT be applied. This is how "precedent" comes about in the courtroom. This is why we have attorneys, because there are always at least TWO interpretations of the law. This is why we have Judges, to sort out how the law should apply to the specific set of circumstances that each case presents individually. This is why we have Appellate Courts and Supreme Courts at every level of the judicial system; to redefine what the legislative body intended in drafting the statutes.
I respect your knowledge and skill in researching information, just as I respect that of Mr. Knowitall. What I don't respect is that you both seem to think this is your private "law library" or playground, and unless my toys are the same as yours, I'm not allowed to enter.
Have a little self-respect and you'll learn to respect others. You clearly have never had to deal with actual clients, where you have to mix contempt with patience and understanding.
Ok, you got me.
I see the two worst offenders of the forum rules are you and Mr.Knowitall - and you're both Moderators !! Imagine that. Explains everything. Power hungry !!! No wonder you get away with being insulting and demeaning.
I've emailed Aaron Larson. I doubt he'll respond, but at least I said what I needed to.
You won't see me around anymore. You're both authoritative bullies.
Now, I'm pretty sure most of you know that Mr. Knowitall is Boss' "sockpuppet". He posts with that persona when he can no longer contain the snark. So here we have crybaby n00b tattling to the owner of the forum...about the owner of the forum. Priceless! He didn't send it to Boss' email, either. He sent it to the tech support mailbox, monitored and responded to by yours truly!
Mr. Larson -
I'm generally not one to complain much, but feeling welcome at your website forums is lacking a great deal. I have always enjoyed helping others who simply feel lost when it comes to sorting out problems that may or may not be legal issues. Obviously, I'm not perfect, which is something I already know. However, when I find myself in error, or when somebody else points out that I've erred, I am the first to correct myself.
Two long-time members of the forum (LegalResearcherMissy and MrKnowitall) seem to think that this is THEIR personal forum. They have been quick to JUMP on me publicly, when they think or see that I've made an error, and they exercise absolutely NO respect in doing so. This most likely doesn't sit well with some visitors to the forum, and it especially doesn't sit well with me. I expected to join this forum to be helpful in whatever ways I could. Opinions will vary, and I respect that, but when two long-time members become authoritative and pompous toward new forum members because they feel their superiority glowing, it is counter-productive to the purpose of the forum.
I have been chastised, lectured, insulted, ridiculed, and belittled by these two members. I do not mind being corrected, if that correction is done with respect. I also don't appreciate being singled out about an error, especially when the two participants I'm referring to aren't perfect in their responses, either.
I have not violated any TOS, and I hope to continue participating on the forum.
LegalResearcherMissy even sent me a PM just recently titled "Mod Note", apparently trying to imply that she was a forum Moderator. I don't see anything that denotes her as being in charge of monitoring or controlling the forum. I'd appreciate if you could ask these two to bring it down a notch.
This is your forum, and I will respect whatever your position is.
Thank you,
Riply
*snerk* Asshat didn't even get my name right.
Riply,
This is the technical support mailbox. And you're complaining to Missy!
It's my responsibility to set members to rights when they're not fitting in well. The instruction to lurk more and learn your way around is standard in any decently run forum meant to educate, not simply opine. Aaron is well aware of the PM that I sent to you, because I gave him a copy of it first. You had the opportunity to straighten up and fly right, to get a feel for the forum's well established culture and norms, and have chosen to kick and scream instead that it's not conforming to what you want. That's not how this works.
Frankly, our long time contributors - who make a deliberate effort to provide accurate legal information and push for others to do the same - are far more important than your fee-fees. No need to worry about coming back. You're no longer welcome. No need to complain to Aaron, either. He got a copy of this before you did.
Boss has promised to stop treating the forum as if he owns it, and has asked me to stay on top of both of us, as we are clearly upsetting people who are more in tune with the stated and obvious purpose of the forum.
Many days, this job is pure comedy.