Hello Fellow listserv members,

A few of you know me as I have written to you directly and another few =
may remember the infrequent posts that I have made.   I'm not a PWP, my =
father is.  I monitor this listserver in order to supply him with info =
and to better educate myself about this disease.   This has been an =
extremely rewarding and fruitful occupation cheifly because of the =
herculean efforts of the many dedicated people who post messages here =
frequently.  My family and I have gleaned an extraordinary amount of =
useful information.  In part it provided my father with the info and =
confidence to go through a pallidotomy, with remarkable results.  It has =
also given him useful suggestions concerning medication, diet, and =
lifestyle aids.  It has given us means to help spur the political =
process in a direction favorable to pwp and it has allowed us to meet =
and interact with some trully fantastic people.  Once again, all of =
these things have been and continue to be extremely valuable.  If you've =
read this far you're waiting for the BUT, so here it is:

Recently there has been an inordinate number of posts which I can only =
characterize as insulting, demeaning, and lets face it =
counterproductive.  I don't wish to spend anymore effort dwelling on =
these posts other than to make this suggestion.  Time and again =
listserve members have commented on how helpful this list has been in =
their lives.  Do any of you think that in saying this they refer to =
posts centered around personal attacks?  I suggest that before we post =
something to this list we ask ourselves, is this post going to be =
helpful to my fellow pwps, caregivers, or affected family members?  If =
the answer is no, maybe a better way to vent, if venting is required, is =
to send a private message to the person with whom you take exception.  =
After all, many of these discussions simply don't require an audience or =
a cheering section. =20

Though my suggestion may sound sanctimonious, I really don't feel that =
way.  In fact as I write this I'm wondering if the glass walls in my =
house will cut me to ribbons when the rocks start flying back in this =
direction.  But I really hope that my suggestion may give some of us, =
myself included, a moment of pause before we hit the "send now" key.

Finally, I'd request that if any of you take exception to this post, =
PLEASE respond to me privately.  The last thing I wish to do here is add =
fuel to the fire.

Oh...almost forgot... none of the above applies to yam salesman.

Sincerely,

Lew Coggins
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Nerka on the undernet