Climate Change

First of all, I hate email forwards. Second, I especially hate email forwards that say, "The world is going to hell in a hand basket and the only way to stop it is if you sign this petition and then tell all your friends and family." Grrrrr! I hate those. Does anybody really think they are effective? I think it's bad netiquette. What's also bad netiquette is including everybody's email address in the "Cc" section and not the "Bcc" section.

What has sparked this tirade, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you. My cousin's husband sent out an email to sign some petition that opposes a climate change tax that Congress will be looking at in the next month or so. My dad reacted to that email and then my other cousin's husband reacted to my dad's email. Apparently, they really don't like Al Gore. At all. Not even a little tiny bit. Well, that's okay. My best friend doesn't like Al Gore and he's still my best friend. Last I checked, supporting Al Gore wasn't a requisite for being my friend. But, I would have problems if my best friend sent me an email saying "We hate Al Gore and wish he were dead. Please sign this petition if you feel the same way."

So, I responded to the exchange of emails, respectfully requesting they only forward family news. Now, I'm more than happy to read somebody's political rantings on their blog. I dunno, getting a forward is like somebody showing up at my house and saying "Hey, I've got this presentation I'd like you to hear." (Uh oh, crap. That's what I did half of my mission.) Reading somebody's blog is more like being invited to a Pampered Chef party. I know they're going to try to sell me something, but hey - I get some free food out of it. Now, if you show up to my house with a large pepperoni pizza and a 2 liter of Coke, then maybe I'll listen to your spiel about whatever petition you want me to sign. If you satiate my belly and slake my thirst, I might even sign the damn thing!