SAP-WUG Traffic

[Mike Pokraka]

Since my posts and my name were involved in the beginnings of this, I
would like to add a couple of non-inflammatory comments and perhaps a
request or two.

If you have not read it, please read point 1.5. of the FAQ: "Why is nobody
asnwering my question?".
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/2012
Not to make my time writing it worthwhile, but because I wrote it for
everyone's benefit and to improve the quality of this list. I think these
are sensible suggestions.

Generalizing beyond the recent posts, something to bear in mind on the big
ol' net is that it is a global community. Different cultures have
different ways of expressing themselves. I have been fortunate enough to
have worked at extreme ends of the spectrum: at one end are over-friendly,
anti-confrontational societies where 'yes' can mean 'yes' or 'no',
depending on what the person is thinking. At the other end of the scale,
you have Antipodeans and Scandinavians, who will say what they think
without dressing it up to be nice to the other person. That's the way they
are. This happens even among best of friends. You may like it or not, my
point here is to take the dressing with a pinch of salt an focus on the
*content* of the message.
If something is backed up by logic and reason - whether right or wrong
-it's criticism, if it lacks explanation then it becomes an insult. I am
not defending anyones posts, but there is a difference and one should not
respond to criticism with an insult. Accept it, ignore it, or defend it
calmly and with reason if it is unjust.

Lastly, for something a bit more humorous and light-hearted: If anyone
thinks Norwegians are harsh, try a different culture which I currently
have the (genuine!) pleasure of working with. It seems the Finns manage to
shock even the unshockable Australians:
http://www.crikey.com.au/articles/2005/08/09-1203-5620.html

I'm in the South of Finland which is not nearly as bad, but have
experienced the "Any questions" and the "scared witless" bits she writes
about :-)  Still, they are actually very nice people and it has been one
of the best places I've worked at. Figure that one out...

Cheers
Mike

PS: In case anyone is wondering, no I do not know Kjetil personally, never
even been to Norway. I will not give an opinion here of whether I agree or
disagree with the way he chooses to express himself, but I respect his
workflow knowledge he has shared through many (often humorous)
contributions to the list over the past few years.

Susan R. Keohan wrote:
> Thank you Tom, for helping bring us back to the basics.
>
>
> For everyone out there, I *will* be turning on 'Emergency Moderation' if
> there are any more
> inflammatory messages to the list.  What Emergency Moderation means is
> that all List Traffic will
> stop.  The messages will be directed to my inbox, and if and when I have
> the time to read them and
> approve them, I will allow them to be distributed.  I really don't think
> this is a good use of my
> time, and I doubt that anyone else thinks this is a good idea either.
>
> I regret that I may have to use this option, but it's just not right to
> use this forum to take out
> any frustrations.  If you have a beef with someone on the list, take it
> aside.  If you get a
> respectful reply, suggesting that you do some investigation, then do some
> investigation.  If you get
> pointed to a web site, SAP Help, SDN, or somewhere else, check it out -
> there could be good info
> there!  If you are annoyed with a question, then don't answer it.
>
> Please everyone, just  take some time and cool off.  I really don't want
> to shut things down.
> Regards,
> Sue
>