Date:         Sun, 10 Mar 1996 14:48:49 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Kristopher B." <kbrzesc@pb.net>
Subject:      Re: Trip Logs and Tehachapi Runs

> I use the internet primarily for private communications, private posts easily
> outnumber my public posts by a hundred to one.  I post articles publically
> when I feel they will be appreciated by a fair percentage of that particular
> list's subscribers.  Such appreciation is rarely indicated.  There are always
> the polite few whose responses I value, but there is also always the impolite
> few, for whom I suspect even news of the Second Coming would be greeted with
> derisive and scatological comments.  Indeed, the impolite posters are a
> constant.  No matter what the content of the post, they take the time to find
> something negative to say, although their numbers are usually balanced by
> more positive responses.  In the case of the Tehachapi run, the impolite
> nay-sayers outnumbered all others.
> 
> After posting my question about future trip reports my mail box was jammed
> with traffic. I lost track of the positive responses somewhere around the
> hundred mark.
> 
> So this is a general Thank You to the list.  You've shown me what I should of
> realized all along, that the quiet majority who find some value in such
> positings far outnumber the noisy few who do not, and even when a post is not
> appreciated, it is tolerated, for it reflects a media and form of expression
> that if trampled will ultimately cause more harm than good.
> 
> I made a concerted effort to respond to each of you individually but fear
> several messages fell through the cracks.  I offer the above partly in
> explanation for my lack of manners but also to encourage you to share your
> experiences with the list and to not be put off by the sharp retorts of a
> disgruntled few.
> 
> -Bob

	I really never posted to the list too much due to the constant 
bickering about how the list should be used, whether it is the silly: "post 
what kind of vehicle and problem on subject so I can delete what I don't 
need" to the ridiculous  outcry of Bob's postings...

	If there was any reason I dropped the Vintage Vw listserv and 
subscribed to this one was primarily of Bob's posts...  He is the only 
member I have read every post from.

	Yet all of you can somehow complain about the one facet I enjoy about 
the list?  How come you don't send hundreds of messages to all the people who 
send private messages publicly to the hundred's of list memebers?  How come 
you don't complain about the people who quote a three page message only to 
have a comment at the bottom of it like:

	"Why don't you give 'em to Steve? :)"

Or some kind of understood inside joke that is not only not funny, but a 
waste of time?

	With all the governmental regulation that is going on, the only true 
voice that an individual has now is voting (which you can debate on your own 
privately) as well as public postings.  If the writer feels that there is 
something to share to everybody, he/she posts.  If you are interested, you 
read; if not, you delete...

	I've heard it before, "Oh, I get hundred of messages a day and I only 
read five!  Stop posting crap."  I've said that to myself as well... but then 
I learned that if you keep your eyes fixated on the message line, you can 
simply hit delete... That's the "D" key in pine, or click on Delete on 
browser of your choice...  What use to take me an hour a day while I was on 
digest mode takes me mere minutes.

	Listen... I don't enjoy reading the same questions about the merits 
of an 009, or if californians are going on a picnic (since I live in New 
York), and I don't want to hear about a mechanic in Alabama, who didn't know 
the difference between a 34pict3 and a 30pict2 (or whatever!), but I do enjoy 
reading about real problems about vans that I can learn from, and I do enjoy 
reading posts about restorations and treks.  And I do enjoy reading Bob's 
posts.

	If you don't like wasting bandwith, complain about the idiots who 
quote whole messages...  Complain about the morons who ask Rich if he is 
going to the bug in on a forum of hundreds of readers because the poster 
wasn't smart enough to jot down his friends email addess... 

Or you could do the smart thing... unsubscribe or go to digest mode.. It's so 
easy I will tell you how to do it...

Send email to:
	LISTSERV@LENTI.MED.UMN.EDU

Leave Message line blank and in body of message write:

	UNSUBSCRIBE VANAGON

OR

	SET MAIL DIGEST


--Kris


PS - Bob, I am sorry I didn't personalize this to you, but I wanted to make 
sure you read what I sent, just in case you unsubscribed.