Redeem your 
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
First let me say that I think Pogo is full of Saints. How you deal with people in all walks of life cannot be easy, but your organization makes it look like a piece of cake.
With that said I would like to address the players that constantly complain about how hard the Challenges are in chat. Personally I love a Challenge that takes awhile to complete as well as a little skill in doing so.
I take the high road and keep my fingers off the keyboard, while I would love to tell them to get a life and remind them that Challenges are not mandatory. Maybe the best thing would be to block chat, but I do love some of the players positive comments. Advise please.
Content Just to Play
| Dear Content Just to Play,Thanks for the kind words!
You are wise to take the high road here. The fact of the matter is that people chat about the difficulty of a Challenge regularly. And when we have an excessively difficult or time consuming Challenge, that chat often comes across as complaining. However, I don’t view it as simple complaining. I see it more as commiserating over a shared experience. If you look at a recent Letters to the Editor column, you’ll see that one letter writer discusses how she didn’t enjoy the badge much, but she loved the people and the chat. Challenges offer players an opportunity to chat with each other about something they all have in common. My guess, is that many a friendship have sprouted due to complaining about the difficulty of a Challenge. But, that doesn’t mean that everyone enjoys watching the complaints fly through the chat. And certainly some of the complaining is worse than others. So, my suggestion is to mute those folks who are complaining. If everyone is complaining and you want to choose to unmute the few folks you do want to hear from or just keep the chat alive so you can monitor your progress, here’s what you can type in the chat window to mute everyone:
And then you can go through the Who’s Here list and pick those folks you want to unmute. Simply click on their names and choose “Unmute”. And when you’re ready to unmute the entire room, type this:
I do hope that helps! And remember – it’s just a game. While the complaining might seem like a bit much, many folks are actually enjoying themselves. |
Hello Ms. Netiquette,
I was recently in a room working on this week’s Badge. I usually enjoy watching the chat and sometimes I join in. I like to keep my chat on to watch my progress towards my Badge.
However, this one room I was in, several people were talking about illegal drug use. (“toking up” and what kind they like.) Maybe they were just all talk and no action. So, I tried a funny comment about opening the windows to let the smoke out. Many people liked it but the others kept on talking. I did what you would say “Mute them.” Then I wandered over to look at the User Agreement. I didn’t see any violations that would fit this.
It’s illegal to smoke it, but what about talking about it? Just wondering.
Maybe I’m just getting old. But I just like my Earl Grey on the rocks.
Thanks, Nettie.
Non-Smoker/Toker in California
| Dear Non-Smoker/Toker in California,
Well, you raise a very interesting question. Generally, the Terms of Service is clear on illegal drug use:
Promoting illegal activity is a violation. However, when it comes to marijuana it does get a little blurry, as there are several states that have legalized medical marijuana, including California. And no doubt, there are players who do use it for its medicinal benefits. And I imagine that if two people suffer from cancer, or Multiple Sclerosis, or another affliction where marijuana helps alleviate the symptoms, their discussion could include some joking around. So, in cases where they’re discussing marijuana, I’d simply mute them. However, if they’re discussing the joys of illegal drugs, like cocaine, heroin, etc… then you should feel free to report the abuse. One more “However” – before reporting abuse, do be absolutely sure that you’re reading the conversation correctly. I once entered a chat room where it looked like the room had gone crazy with drug references, only to find out that a parent was trying to find out what slang words were currently used for drugs, as she had concerns about her teenager. Had I reported them, they might all have been punished for simply trying to help! |
Dear Ms Netiquette,
I just read the letter from “Think Before You Judge”. I think this is a subject that affects people on POGO as well as in real life and it would be good to reinforce it.
I recently had Cancer and had to have Chemo. As a result of the Chemo I became so weak that I could not stand for more than 5-10 seconds or I would fall down. Needless to say I was not able to walk around a store to shop like I used to be able to. I used the power wheelchairs at the stores and no, I didn’t look like I had a disability either.
I wore a wig or a scarf to cover my bald head. I didn’t lose a lot of weight. I am only 57 and do not look my age. I look way younger. Other than zapping my strength, I looked healthy as a horse by all appearances. I did get a lot of looks in the stores for several months until I could walk again.
In fact, the greeter at a local big box department store yelled at me when I tried to take the wheelchair out of the store and to our car so my husband could lift me up in the car. He rudely told me I couldn’t take the wheelchair out of the store and that I shouldn’t be riding it anyway as the chairs were supposed to be for people who needed them, not for joy riding around on.
I was absolutely floored. The greeter treating a customer that way? Unreal! I promptly pulled off my wig and showed him my bald head. I not so nicely informed the man that I was going through Chemo and could NOT walk. I never waited for an answer I just headed out the door.
So “Think Before You Judge” is absolutely right. People should “Think Before They Judge”. Be it in Pogo or out in real life. Like “Think Before You Judge” said, I see many people slamming others or making fun of them in chat because they were chatting with a friend about some illness or ailment that was going on with them. One person rudely said they were sick of hearing peoples sob stories and other very rude things. I’m glad that they are blessed with good health, but the day will come when they are not. I wish people would just stop and think before they type something in chat that could be hurtful to others.
Thank you for your great column and listening to me. I do hope that you see fit to publish this as it gives a different type of slant on why people who appear healthy do NEED the wheelchairs and should not be put down for it.
Bald in Montana
| Dear Bald in Montana,
Thank you for giving us another example of why it’s so important to be aware of those around us. We never know what someone might be going through, and your example serves as a shocking reminder of how assumptions can really hurt. The greeter you experienced, we can hope, did learn from this and we can hope he is more sensitive in the future. The mute function is a wonderful mechanism that can be used to hide any chat. If you don’t want to read about someone else’s medical condition – you can use the mute. If someone is complaining about Challenges and you don’t want to see it, mute ’em. If you’re tired of watching judgmental people, mute ’em! People boring you by discussing their use of meds? Mute ’em! |
