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[RC] Civility - Joe LongWhy can't we have discussions of policy and programs without getting personal? And, why can't we have a reply to someone that says anything other than "Oh yes, you're so right, what a brilliant insight" without that person feeling that they've been flamed? Folks, we are a diverse bunch. We share a common love of horses and distance riding, but beyond that we have a LOT of different opinions, goals, desires, preferences, attitudes, and personalities. Some people love weight divisions, others hate them. Some love one-day 100's, others are happy to ride LD and have no desire to ride longer, still others live for the multidays. Some love the competition for placing, others couldn't care less where they place but just want to enjoy the trail with their horse and their friends. That doesn't make any of us "better" than those "others," or worse. The important thing is that we are in this sport together, and should be supportive of all of our diverse approaches and interests. We need to respect each other for our differences as well as our common ground. During the recent discussions of weight divisions and the National Championship ride, a prolific poster here sent me a private e-mail taking me to task for promoting "my" agenda istead of accepting what "everyone" likes. By "everyone," of course, he meant what he likes. More recently I received a private e-mail from a person with great power and influence in the AERC warning me that I was making a "grave mistake" by "insulting" him and by calling for changes in weight divisions and the NC. It was IMO a blatant attempt at intimidation. Unfortunately, not the first time intimidation has come into play where weight divisions are concerned. One of the things that Internet newsgroups, website discussions and maillist suffer from is a loss of civility. It's often been pointed out that without body-language cues, and without the inhibition of looking the person you're communicating with in the eye, words come across more harshly. Let's at least try to remember this, and to remember our common interests, and be as civil as we can. And along with that, to not be too quick to see insults where none are intended. -- Joe Long jlong@xxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.chiprider.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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