"Rampant Rudeness on the Internet: What Would 'Miss Manners' Say?"

Give some people a computer and an Internet connection and they think it's a license for rudeness. What is it about the Internet that causes some folks to take all they learned about basic etiquette and throw it right out the window?

Think about it: Just because your reader can't see you doesn't give you the right to be rude, but there are millions of Net users who feel that it does. I've been called names I'd rather not repeat in polite company and have been replied to in ALL CAPS. I'm not deaf.... THERE'S REALLY NO NEED TO YELL.

I attribute this newfound sense of rudeness to the feeling of invisibility one gets while sitting behind the keyboard. I mean, would you really come up to me face to face and call me a "Jackass" when you can't read simple directions on how to unsubscribe yourself from my ezine? I think not.

In this new digital age it appears we've taken everyday common courtesy and thrown it right out the window. Whatever happened to "please" and "thank you?" My mother, who taught me as a child to call all adults 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.' would have cardiac arrest over the emails I receive on a daily basis.

Remember the "Golden Rule?" "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you." Translation: before you call someone names, swear at them, report them for Spam  or do any other annoying gesture, stop and think. Maybe you did subscribe to that ezine and just don't remember. Try giving someone the benefit of the doubt before firing off an ugly email message that a real live breathing human being with feelings is going to read. Computers may not have feelings, but people do and there's a person behind every email address and/ or website.

Here are the 'Top 10 Do's and Don'ts' for online communication:

1) Don't reply to someone in all caps; it's equivalent to screaming at them.

2) If you receive a newsletter and can't figure out how to unsubscribe, before threatening to sue or reporting the publisher for Spam, politely ask the publisher to be removed. Any ezine publisher worth his salt will be happy to oblige. We really don't want to hold you captive.

3) Try to reply to all of your email messages within 48 hours. If not, many people get annoyed and will think you're avoiding them.

4) If you publish an ezine or blog make sure you place subscribe and unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of every issue or on your site.

5) Don't use foul language in an email; that will get you nowhere. If you're upset about something, please state the problem clearly along with how you'd like to see the problem resolved.

6) If you visit a website and it's not to your liking, don't fire off a nasty email stating what a loser the site owner must be. Remember what your Mom use to say "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

7) Make sure every page of your website contains an email address to contact you. Please don't make me fill out a long form just to ask you a simple question.

8) When replying to an email, keep the original message intact so the person you're replying to knows what you're talking about. Personally I receive over 300 messages a day, so I need to see your message in context -- otherwise, I may not understand it.

9) If you buy or sell products/services online, make sure you're using an online payment service like PayPal.com in order to move money around quickly. Don't make snail mail your only payment option.

10) Pay your bills in a timely fashion. If you owe someone money online don't make them send out 10 emails telling you your payment is overdue. Pay promptly.

So there you have it; my Top 10 rules for being more polite and less rude online. If you incorporate these tips into your daily Internet dealings you'll find the Net a little warmer and a friendlier place to be.
There's enough road rage in the world, so when traveling the information highway please remember that we're all human. Your computer is just a tool used to communicate with others. Please be KIND to them!

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The "Remember When Movie"

At the risk of sounding like my mother, things were different when I was a kid. We actually went outside and played and didn't hang out on computers and play video games all day. We actually used our imaginations and invented our own fun. We didn't need someone to come along and entertain us. If you remember those days fondly watch this movie....."memories like the corners of my mind, misty water color memories of the way we were".........sing along now.....

http://www.therememberwhenmovie.com/

Just an "Old Fashioned" Merle Rant- Not for the Faint of Heart

"Times, They are a Changing!"

When I was a kid if I even looked at my Mother the wrong way it could earn me a bloody lip.Today, that would be called "child abuse," but back then it was called "discipline." Today my mom would be serving life in prison for her past actions. Of course, back then there was actually someone home to raise the kids. That someone was called a Mother.

Today's young generation are severely lacking in manners, respect and responsibility. In our race to have it all, greed has blinded us to society's most important asset "our children." Instead of taking the time to raise them correctly, we throw things at them to make ourselves feel better for not being there. When you're busy climbing the corporate ladder it's hard to keep track of what's going on in your own home.

All of the materialistic things have spoiled kids to the point they expect everything to be handed to them and think things such as driving, which used to be a privilege, is also automatically given to them when they come of age. Don't forget the insurance and new car they demand as well.

Remember when you were younger? If you wanted to drive, first you had to buy your own car and be able to pay for your own insurance. That meant that ugly three letter word, JOB. Your parents made it obvious from the beginning if you wanted something you had to work for it. There were no "car fairies" pulling a brand new SUV into the driveway with a red bow on it like some teenagers have today.

Our cars were not new. They were usually at least ten years old with rust holes so big you could stick your head in them. Sometimes the only thing holding up the exhaust system was a coat hanger. Try getting a 16-year-old to buy something like that in today's world. If it isn't new, they don't want it. They think money grows on trees and Mommy and Daddy should just go into debt so they don't have to be embarrassed in front of their friends.

By not allowing kids to work for what they want, they never learn responsibility. Many times these are the same people still living at home at 24 years old. They're still laying on the couch waiting for the world to hand them something; usually their life. Are parents really doing them any favors by not teaching them to stand up on their own two feet? I think not.

Whatever happened to manners? That used to be something instilled during the early growing years. I called people "Mr." and "Mrs.," as my mother said it was rude for children to call adults by their first names. I said "please" and "thank you," held doors open for the elderly and actually had table manners when I ate at the dinner table.

Somehow along the way in our scurry for the American dollar, we threw manners out the window. Are these lessons no longer worthy of our limited time? I see kids with foul mouths who don't even know what "excuse me" means, let alone ever use it. They've never written a thank you note in their life and are the same people who display no courtesy on our already over crowded roadways. We've raised a generation of ill mannered kids who unfortunately have turned into rude adults.

Without manners and respect how far can they get in this world? A basic understanding of simple etiquette is essential in life. No one likes inconsiderate people, and once exposed as such those that know them will isolate themselves from further exposure for fear of catching the very disease they have.

Society now is quick to blame someone else for everything that happens to them. That's lack of responsibility rearing its ugly head. Along with the "blame game" has come lawsuits. We've become a very litigious society. Why work for a paycheck when you can simply blame others for your misfortune and take their hard earned cash? What we have going on in society today was created by a generation of two parent working households with no one home raising the children. We've brought this on ourselves, and for what? The love of money?

There's a problem here, a big problem. Everyone needs to stop what they're doing and step down from the corporate ladder and listen. Manners, respect and responsibility need to be brought back into child rearing. If it means finding the wise elder up on the hill who still remembers these values and have them teach them to our children or breaking the glass, and releasing these ancient teachings back into the mainstream. Our future depends on it.