Good morning all,
Judging from the numerous replies I have received to my email
yesterday concerning rude and arrogant replies to beginners queries to aspects
of birding on the chatline, it appears I have hit on a very important topic.
Most people replied that they were afraid to put anything on the chatline for
fear of ridicule and every
email supported what I was saying. Remember, we all had to start somewhere, and
no doubt we all made mistakes with identifications; I know I did and way back
then there were not too many people around to help me. In this technological
age it is all too easy for someone to sound like an expert when they are not.
All I am asking is that people engage their brain before answering queries. It
isn’t that hard is it?
As for those of you who a concerned about asking questions,
there ARE people in COG who can give you a courteous answer so don’t be
put off by the idiots. You will soon learn who to trust and who to ignore. You
can always do what many members have done – put a filter on the names of
those “experts” who annoy you. If you can’t get satisfaction
from the chat line or feel intimidated, I am always available to help out as
are most of the members of “my” bird banding crew – Anthony,
Harvey, Richard, Stuart etc or other members like Steve Holliday. I won’t
guarantee we can answer everything but at least you will be treated
courteously.
If you do feel sufficiently upset by someone’s manner
on the list you can always complain to the chat line co-ordinator, David McDonald.
Mark
PS rather than sending any replies directly to me, I suggest
that a reply to the chatline will highlight people’s concerns in this
matter. Thanks.
