Ugly bags of mostly water?
--- () ascii ribbon campaign against html e-mail /\ www.asciiribbon.org > -----Original Message----- > From: Otis L. Surratt, Jr. [mailto:o...@ocosa.com] > Sent: Friday, 28 September, 2012 05:33 > To: nanog@nanog.org > Subject: RE: guys != gender neutral > > Maybe the OP for "really nasty attacks" in hindsight wishes "NANOGers" was > used instead to address the list. :) > > Having "all walks of life" essentially all around, it really makes one > careful to truly think before speaking. Sometimes we miss this with > everything we have going on, but no one is perfect. > > The bottomline is, no one can really sastifisfy any indivdual and their > preference of how they would liked to be addressed. If one is to be offended > or looks for offense they will capitalize on it period. I try much as > possible to avoid those situations. > > When we refer to our clients in a mass communication we either utilize our > tools to auto fix their name to the letter or we address them as "OCOSA > Family" or "All" or "Clients". We are a very family-oriented business and > are "down to Earth." We'd like to believe our clients are apart of our family > and some may take offense but you might or never would know unless an > opportunity presented itself. > > Personally, I practice using the person's name, I am in communication > with...not "buddy", "bud", "pal", "man", "guys", "gal" "y'all" and etc. When > addressing mixed gender groups, I simply speak or address as "all". Thus, no > mistakes. > > When addressing both genders you have to be extremely careful. Ultimately, It > depends on the audience and treating all with respect seems to work for me. > > For example: You could address a group a men and call them "boys". Well, that > might offend some, especially if they are older than you. > For example: You could address a group of young adults and call them "kids". > Well, that might offend some. > > As Owen mentioned saying "human" seems okay and true but then again, because > it's not the norm it raises some question. (Internal thinking process, "Oh > I'm a HUMAN!!!!, well I that is true" then your temperature gets back to > normal) :) > > In general, this is life and I simply have fun and enjoy it because it's too > short. > > > Otis
