Stepping Back
I have decided to take a step back from helping people out for a while. By that, I mean I won’t be answering half of the e-mails that come into my inbox daily — it’s getting to the point where the majority of my incoming mail is someone who can’t get their <table> to sit right or they don’t understand why one thing or another won’t work in Firefox. I haven’t got the time or patience at the moment to answer all of these queries.
This doesn’t affect anyone who’s already e-mailed me — I will get ’round to replying eventually (occasionally it takes a while.. I have mail in my inbox from March even). This also doesn’t affect people using BellaBook/BellaBuffs — you guys get priority support anyway. If any of you get really stuck for help, check out CodeGrrl.
Carina said:
On 08 Aug at 10:21 pm
Yeah, we really do take advantage of your uber-awesome coding skills, don’t we :P?
Rosemarie said:
On 08 Aug at 10:24 pm
I hate it when people ask me for help. Usually because they either end up being really rude to me or else they just can’t understand what I’m trying to explain to them. And then there’s that group of people who ask for your help and then copy some aspect of your site in the process. Hrmph. Maybe I’m not a people person :D
Jem said:
On 08 Aug at 10:26 pm
“And then there’s that group of people who ask for your help and then copy some aspect of your site in the process.” ..yes, been getting a lot of that recently.
Amelie said:
On 08 Aug at 10:56 pm
I’ve had random idiots (one in particular) asking me for help. It’s not to the point of “PLZ FIX MAH TABLEZZ!!1” but it’s usually stuff like “help i get this error in ur script can u hlp plz” and once I’ve dealt with that, they abuse me and say things like “ok can u hlp me wit this utha problem. i cant get dis php thingy 2 werk can u hlp cuz u no php n i dnt” *Rolls eyes* How about NO, idiots.
Bubs said:
On 09 Aug at 12:44 am
ROFL @ Amelie
Stephanie said:
On 09 Aug at 1:45 am
Wow. I’d never work up the courage to ask some stranger for help. I’m surprised so many people do so, that you have to tell people you’re not going to respond to them anymore. Amazing.
Becky said:
On 09 Aug at 2:09 am
I used to do that with every random person who e-mailed, u2u’d or im’d me. It got pretty exhausting after a while and the majority of them were just lazy bastards who used me as their crutch. God forbid anyone learn how to do something on their own. Finally I just stopped replying to threads and blocking people from IM and refusing to reply to e-mails/u2u’s. Needless to say people got pretty angry with me after a while. Learning to do stuff on your own is hard and not nearly as rewarding as conning someone else into doing it.
Melissa said:
On 09 Aug at 3:34 am
Don’t worry I’m sure people will understand. Everyone needs a break every now and then. *checks her inbox* I’ll trade you, mine’s empty! ;) hehe
Jim said:
On 09 Aug at 4:10 am
I’m totally guilty of this. Usually in the “this table isn’t aligned right” department.
Heather said:
On 09 Aug at 4:57 am
Everyone needs a break, and you’re always helping everyone out, it seems… I know you’ve helped me out on several occasions on the Q*BBS. I’ve always tried to use the Q*BBS/forums as a last resort for help if a few hours of increasing frustration doesn’t work. Too bad other people can’t try that, lol
Jordie said:
On 09 Aug at 8:15 am
Perhaps you ought to start writing a column or mailbag of some sort.
Elea said:
On 09 Aug at 9:26 am
You’ve been ANSWERING all the e-mails?? I’m bad enough with getting back to people I know and like; forget about trying to help out strangers who can’t be bothered to look certain things up for themselves… I suppose I’m just not as nice as you’ve been!
Kimmie said:
On 09 Aug at 11:51 am
I either send them a link of some site like CodeGrrl, or I say, “Just steal it off my source. I know you’re going to in the end anyway.”
Julie said:
On 09 Aug at 12:20 pm
I’d never be able to reply to lots of emails. I’d have sent people to CodeGrrl or something from the start. That’s where I post my questions, and it’s always Amelie or you who ends up replying. ;)
Xeronia said:
On 09 Aug at 1:58 pm
I agree with Julie and would have just sent everyone somewhere else – to a forum preferebly. How can one stand getting so many emails?
Stephanie said:
On 09 Aug at 8:02 pm
“I have mail in my inbox from March even” Love, I bet you have one of mine in there from December ;)
valerie said:
On 10 Aug at 3:55 pm
I am really bad about answering email, especially here lately. I feel so bad when I finally get around to responding someone – genealogical query or what not – and realize they had first emailed me several weeks or even a month ago. But man, when you get so much, it’s so hard to just sit there and answer email! As a side note – I am totally digging your current design here. :)