Well I just read thru this post and found it entertaining , informative, and containing a lot of good thoughtful comments and philosophies. Seems like there are two under currents here closely related, so I'll throw in my 2 cents on each, making a grand total of a 4 cent contribution.
I lean toward the philosophy of treat others how you would have them treat you. Even thought it's tiring to answer the same question over and over and over, after you have cared for someone with Alzheimer's, you tend to view it a little differently. When someone asks (or posts) the same ol same ol, we have a choice of how to respond. We can either allow ourselves to become irritated and bark back a simple answer like "I just told you!" or "Go take a search!" while our blood pressure climbs. And if we're feeling particularly vindictive we might add "Don't you remember?" or "Did you bother to do a search?", adding a little guilt and insult to the injury, further alienating the individual. Or we can take a breath and pretend this is the first time we have heard the question and answer it with the respect it deserves, and feel good about our response. So for me it's a simple decision, do I want to feel irritated and pissed, or would I rather feel good because I helped someone out? No brainer.
True, thin skin has no place on the internet, but it has no place in life either. Thin skin is a self-inflected disorder and it is curable. There are no drugs needed, the cure is already pre-loaded into our firmware, just not initialized. I do not believe that anyone can hurt anyone's feelings, no more that anyone can hurt mine. This is not to say people can't be hurtful -happens every minute of the day, but whether or not I feel hurt about someone's hurtful comment or actions is a decision I make, albeit involuntary most of the time, it is a decision nonetheless, and we all have the ability to make it on the spur of the moment. I can choose to feel hurt and retaliate or flee (default programing), or I can choose to blow it off and ignore it, or I can choose to question the motivation for the derogatory comment or action, and start a dialog with the upset party. All this is to say, if everyone stopped for a second before acting out, we would not have, or need the PC movement. I believe people need to be responsible for their own feelings -as well as their actions, and not leave it to a "Movement" or "Policy" to protect us from "All those mean people", and retreat into "Safe Places".
Now I know I'll never convince the grumps and Trolls here to lighten up any (you know who you are!), you guys are still necessary to show the contrast of the eternal struggle between good and evil, and help us good guys appreciate just how sinister the Dark Side really is. So you guys just go on being who you are, and we'll keep pointing out to everybody just how mean and evil you all really are.
Hey
@thoneter, screw you back you jerk! Oh, you wanna make somethin' out of it? Fine! I'll meet you in the parking lot after school and we can settle this the good ol fashioned way!! ...And that goes for any and all of you who don't like what I have to say about it!