Type Like Your Friends Are Here

Erin Holohan Haskell

Our house is located between two major roads and people tend to cut through the neighborhood during their hurried commute. They zip around curves and don’t realize that kids might be walking by on their way to the school bus. We don't have sidewalks here. So the neighbors got together and put up signs that say, “Drive Like Your Kids Live Here.” An interesting perspective, isn’t it?

I’ve been thinking about these signs and the Heating Help community. We have a lot of people here with different perspectives and opinions. We’re not going to agree with one another all of the time. And when you’re behind a keyboard, it is easy to speed along with your typing and say things you might not normally say if you’re face-to-face with someone.

In the past, we held an in-person event called Wetstock and Wallies gathered offline to get to know one another and discuss topics. We noticed that people who tended to butt heads online were friendlier and more respectful to one another in person.

With that said, I’m going to put up a new sign in this online neighborhood and it is Type Like Your Friends Are Here. (Because they are.) We’re all here to learn and share and there's something humbling to that. We know you work hard and have long days and we appreciate you being here. Just think before you type and don’t run anyone over.

Here is a gentle reminder of the site rules.

Thank you and happy heating season!

NY_Rob

Well said Erin!

There is something to be said about being civil to one another...

With that in mind, even though there are some dust-up's now and then... look at what the guys are doing for that woman up in Sterling CT.

Erin Holohan Haskell

Thanks for highlighting that, @NY_Rob. There are a lot of big hearts here.

nicholas bonham-carter

Well said Erin!!--NBC

Sailah

Couldn't agree more. I participate in another forum and the conversation gets more rowdy. But we're all friends in person there so we know that the latitudes afforded are because we have a personal bond.

Always try to keep things helpful, respectful and positive because that's just the type of environment that Heating Help is.

Thanks for your leadership and reminder on this Erin.

Erin Holohan Haskell

Thanks, @nicholas bonham-carter and @Sailah.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, Dan used to say something like "pretend you're in my living room". No guest ever needs to be rude in their host's living room! A lot of Wallies do try and keep the peace, even when things get heated. This is a most civilized forum and Erin is absolutely right in wanting to keep it that way.

Yours, Larry

Steamhead

So when is the next Wetstock?

Tim McElwain

You never know who is reading what you type and then they judge you by what you said. How about a Wetstock in Providence so I do not have to travel as I am getting to old for all of that, Would love to meet some of you new WetHeads!

EBEBRATT-Ed

A welcome reminder Erin,

For the most part most on this forum are pretty respectful I think.

Tim McElwain

Yes the language on some sites is terrible.

willasdad

Here’s yur Sign! Kudos Erin, Drive like your kids live here, should absolutely be a theme we take into many other areas of our lives.
In another recent thread, Nibs points out how he appreciates coming to the site after reading the days news. Because people are here to be helpful. And learn. And I too, greatly appreciate that this the theme here. I’m a long time removed from the heating field, and often the more technical stuff is over my head, but I pick up stuff here and there. But What I really enjoy, is the atmosphere that’s here, and that I can log on to positive people helping people, in many ways. This site is cataloguing historic information that was earned with blood and sweat, so that others can learn and be helped. It deserves great respect, as does it’s creators and caretakers.

HVACNUT

Guilty, I think sometimes.
Nobody here wants me to type like my friends and I do. My membership would explode.
I need to start typing like theres a lady here.

Gordy

Funny how social media, and forums have cultivated a hidden boisterous mentality in some. So long as the only upfront, and personal confrontation is the keyboard, and a monitor........

Always speak like there is a lady in the house. However I have crossed paths with some mouths of lady sailors

nicholas bonham-carter

Another valuable effect of this wonderful website is in giving us the practice of good communication.
The quote from Einstein is very apropos here,”if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it”.
I always try to proof read my posts, asking myself if I stated things clearly enough for anyone without previous exposure to steam problems to understand, using good grammar, as well as checking for spell-check anomalies.—NBC

Fred

Guys, "Ladies" aren't the delicate, "on a pedestal mounted objects" they once allowed themselves to be. Kindness is not a gender issue. JMHO

Erin Holohan Haskell

Great points all around. Thank you!

Erin Holohan Haskell

Steamhead said:

So when is the next Wetstock?

We were thinking about having one in late September. Stay tuned.

Larry Weingarten

Yaaaaaaaayy!!!