Scientists in lab coats tell us that when we see someone make a
mistake, we experience a specific kind of pain. It is the same kind
of pain we would feel if we were making the mistake ourselves. In my
experience, it feels kinda like frustration. A common human response
to this feeling is to try to “help” the person making the mistake.
It’s not so much that we want their existence to be more pleasant, we
just don’t want to have to suffer vicariously over lessons we’ve
already learned. I think this is a pretty common way for information
to move around, especially information about how to do things.
My wife hates when I “help”. She comes from a very polite family. I
come from a family that, in aggregate, thought inflicting physical
pain was an acceptable and effective way to communicate. My peers
behaved in much the same way, but replaced charlie horses and joint
locks with sarcasm and insults. I try not to be like that, but I
suppose she and I are calibrated to different norms. While I intend
my “OMG NOOB LOL! u r doin it rong dumbass” to be a friendly and
helpful tip, for some reason it makes her tense and unhappy. Women!
Over the years I noticed that advice delivered on the spot does no
good. So I just sit there, writhing on the inside, and occasionally
ask, “may I do that for you?” It is not really a good solution.
Fortunately, this blog has exactly one regular reader. She knows that
if she stops reading, it will hurt my feelings and I will cry but I’ll
cry on the inside and not even tell her for a couple of years and then
spring it on her out of nowhere. And so, I am going to talk about
effective Googling.
continue reading
A week ago I wrote my MP. I posted the body of my email two posts prior to this one. Just now, this response came.
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From: "Braid, Peter — Riding 1" <BraidP1@parl.gc.ca>
To: "XXX@gmail.com" <XXX@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 14:35:24 -0400
Subject: RE: War resister vote
Thread-Topic: War resister vote
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Mr. Pelletier,
Thank you for taking the time to contact our office. I
apologize for the delay in replying.
With regards to the issue of student politics; as a Member of
Parliament, Peter aims to encourage all students to become engaged
with government and the political process, whatever their party of
choice. Whenever an opportunity is provided to meet and talk with
a student group, he tries to attend, if other commitments allow.
With respect to a discussion about student politics, Peter will
leave that to university students themselves to debate.
Peter was invited to address a group of students about his
campaign experience.
As the MP for Kitchener-Waterloo, Peter tries to meet and talk
with as many constituents as he can, to listen to their ideas,
suggestions, and points of view.
This invitation provided an opportunity for him to connect with
the students of WLU, which is in his riding.
All the best,
Mark Yolkowski
Constituency Assistant
Office of Peter Braid — MP
-----Original Message-----
From: Braid, Peter — Assistant 4
Sent: April-07-09 1:41 PM
To: Braid, Peter — Riding 1
Subject: FW: War resister vote
Eric Merkley
Constituency Assistant
Peter Braid, M.P.
Tel: (519) 746-1573
Email: braidp6@parl.gc.ca
________________________________________
From: Braid, Peter — Riding 1
Sent: April 01, 2009 10:33 AM
To: Braid, Peter — Assistant 4
Subject: FW: War resister vote
-----Original Message-----
From: XXX@gmail.com [mailto:XXX@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Mike Pelletier
Sent: April-01-09 9:56 AM
To: Braid, Peter — Riding 1; Braid, Peter — M.P.
Subject: War resister vote
I am very disappointed that you chose to vote with your party rather
than your conscience in yesterday's Citizen and Immigration vote
regarding American war resisters. I am also distressed that you have
not yet released a statement condemning the strategies endorsed by
some of your close colleagues regarding using phony student
organizations to dishonestly obtain additional funding and voting
power.
I am a local property owner in postal code XXX XXX.
Mike Pelletier
519-XXX-XXXX
http://omegle.com I always wanted to make this. I’m glad it’s been done decently. It’s like ICQ’s random chat, but you can’t specify a partner profile. Which is actually nice.
I’ve had about a dozen conversations in about an hour. Few people would converse for long, disconnecting abruptly. One of the few good conversation was interrupted by a local network hiccup. It gives rise to frustration, annoyance, boredom and eventually to exchanges like this:
Connecting to server...
Looking for someone you can chat with. Hang on.
You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
You: Internet complaints dept, this is Joe Smith, how can I be helping you?
Stranger: BINGO!
You: There is no Bingo here sir
Stranger: I was told there'd be punch and pie
You: No sir you were misinformed I am regretting to say
You: Do you have a problem with the Internet sir?
Stranger: how can you be regretting?
Stranger: I have a problem with your grammar
You: It is a custom where I am from.
You: Boston.
Stranger: Ah Bean-town
Stranger: did you go to public schools?
You: Yes sir that is the place I and my many many siblings come from
Stranger: how many siblings do you have?
Stranger: was your mother a crack whore?
Stranger: how many baby daddies does she have?
You: This is Joe's supervisor Hank Smith. I am told you have a problem with your using the
Internet sir?
Stranger: I was wondering why you would hire someone with such horrible grammar
You: That is not a problem with which I can be helping you today sir
Stranger: I see now that Joe has relenquished his bonehead crown, we have an heir to the
throne
You: I hope your Internetting is experienced as most satisfactory sir
Stranger: *headexplode*
Your conversational partner has disconnected.
I sent a short email to my MP, Peter Braid this morning:
I am very disappointed that you chose to vote with your party rather
than your conscience in yesterday’s Citizen and Immigration vote
regarding American war resisters. I am also distressed that you have
not yet released a statement condemning the strategies endorsed by
some of your close colleagues regarding using phony student
organizations to dishonestly obtain additional funding and voting power.