...Maybe there is a right time to say to these folks, who needle and spread resentment, "Knock it off!"
But, how to say it so they get the message?
They don't hear our pleas for reasonableness.
They don't realize that countless quiet non-posters read their barbs and are so sickened that they will never visit the CureZone again.
I am good at conciliation. And I know why I am...how I got this way. And I have been at it for decades. Luckily, I believe that there are no 'bad' people, only those who are 'stuck' on some non-productive note.
Still, I am here to tell you that conciliation doesn't work on needlers, for example, nor on 'trolls' (whatever their reasons for doing it), nor on egotists, etc.
Even calling a spade a spade, or telling them straight out that we don't like their tone, doesn't work...it just makes them mad/madder.
So, we who recognize the value of a respectful CureZone, what are we to do?
Shall we hit the "Alert Bad Message" button more often? Shall we demand a "Shame on You" button?
Or, shall we leave, as have done so many good folk before us?
Perhaps we should announce the reasons we leave, naming names...a "Goodbye, because..." letter. But that's drawing a line in the dust, isn't it? "Nyah, nyah, and so's your old lady!"
You know, with all the activity, everywhere, trying to find what people like, how to trick them into buying products, you'd think someone would be interested in what we DON'T like...what turns us OFF!
You'd think there would be POLLS, or something.
If someone stepped into my store, sniffed, and turned around and left...I'd make it my business to find out WHY, in a hurry!
I mean, I'd never have so many customers that I could afford to waste even one.
Yesterday we recieved a parcel. It was a book of road maps, and a copy of the Da Vinci Code. The accompanying 'invoice' had one alarming word on it, plus a "Thank you for your order."
It asked for $4 and some cents, and obviously would lead to more shipments of books...with more 'invoices'.
My husband loves maps. Somehow he had gotten his name on a list, somewhere, that indicated his interest. Bingo! Some book club figured that they could entice map-lovers into their book club by sending out an atlas and the other sensational book. (Smacks of cross-referencing, don't you think?)
Luckily, we knew to pack it up again, write 'REFUSED' on the box, and stick it back in the mail. The sender will have to pay the return postage.
I mean, the first lie was the word 'order'...we didn't.
All that effort to get us to part with our money, on a regular basis.
Why couldn't their 'smart' marketing people see the negativity in that approach? That the public has been through these schemes before, and can spot a con a mile off.
That fair and honest dealings are far more likely to net them good and loyal customers.
Of course, there are dimbulbs out there, too. Those who will actually pay the $4+; and those business owners who will hire 'marketers' for schemes like that...never mind that it tests the law.
How in the world can we change the minds of those who march to a different drummer?
Maybe we can't.
F.