The ShanMonster vs. Generic Person With No Name [Friday, November 17, 2000]

Generic Person With No Name: You were doing better before! *lol* At least you were responding half of my messages, rather than just rudely ignoring me completely.

ShanMonster: Do you have any idea how many people message me in a day? Not including people I know, roughly 300.

Generic Person With No Name: No wonder, since you leave your ICQ on. *L*

ShanMonster: It was actually off for a couple of hours today. I turned it on about an hour ago, and 11 people have messaged me.

Generic Person With No Name: Clearly, you have the ability to respond. Case in point.... *s*

ShanMonster: I can respond when I'm here..... I'm off to bed soon, though. I'm getting sick.

Generic Person With No Name: Get well soon. *s*

And hey... look. You have no obligation to reply to anyone here, other than the obligations of common decency. *s*

It's just one of my pet peeves. I marvel at how otherwise decent people completely forget their manners, and turn into sociopaths from hell online.

ShanMonster: Thanks! I hardly think I'm a sociopath. I could just leave my ICQ on invisible, but then no strangers would message me at all. So, I just delete hundreds of messages every day, only a third of which are in something resembling English. I have no idea why so many Turkish messages are sent to me. It's bizarre......

Generic Person With No Name: Yes.. you could. *s* Strange that you don't, given the HUGE burden that it obviously represents to you.

It seems like a contradiction.... that you'd have a CHAT program open, and resent people who message you to CHAT! *L*

ShanMonster: I don't resent people messaging me. I just separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

Generic Person With No Name: Ah.... so I represent chaff to you? That's justification for rudeness in your world? *L*

ShanMonster: What did I say that was rude?

Generic Person With No Name: It wasn't what you said.... it was what you DIDN'T say. *L*

You're just not getting this at ALL, are you?

Maybe if I type in cyrillic text, you'll pay closer attention.

ShanMonster: You really ought not take a lack of messages personally. If I'm not at my computer, I don't write.

And yes, if you messaged me in Cyrillic, I'd just ignore you. It would come out as gibberish. My computer doesn't have Cyrillic fonts, and even if I did, my Russian skills are gone.

Generic Person With No Name: We just see the whole premise of instant messaging, CHAT programs differently, apparently. *s*

ShanMonster: I think so. I don't answer most of my email, either. Does that make me a sociopath? I think it just means I get a lot of email and there aren't enough hours in the day to respond to it all. I have to draw the line somewhere. Do you suppose Gandhi or Hitler answered all their fan/hatemail personally?

Okay, so maybe Hitler wasn't a good example of a nonsociopath who didn't answer mail......

Generic Person With No Name: Sociopath means someone who doesn't act in a manner consistent with having a conscience. There are various degrees of this. Admittedly, I don't think you're akin to Hitler, but it was a valid reference, nonetheless.

ShanMonster: You believe I lack a conscience because I don't answer every ICQ message I receive?

Generic Person With No Name: Yes.... clearly. It's like standing in a crowded bar, and staring blankly and silently at someone who says hello to you.

ShanMonster: How so? I always leave my ICQ on N/A. The last I checked, that still means "Not Available", as in not available for chat.

Generic Person With No Name: Then why have it on at all!? *lol* That's the whole premise of the program! Or put it on invisible, except for your "file-sending" friends. That would trim the preponderance of Turkish messages you bemoan.

ShanMonster: Now, if I left myself on "Available for chat" and spurned peoples attempts at conversation, I can see how you may have a point. But I do not.

As I already explained, if I put myself on invisible, then people who are not already on my list would not be able to find me online. I do receive valid information requests and site tips from strangers while leaving myself N/A. I respond to each of these.

However, since I am listed as female and have a relatively low ICQ number, I receive an extremely high amount of "cyber" requests, and semi-literate marriage proposals. I choose to ignore the vast majority of these.

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