Here's an example of a recent interaction (I summarized others' writings, since this was all by private email):
Mensan to LG newsletter editor:
You left out my birthday for the second year in a row! This is disrespectful!
Editor to Mensan:
Well, M, the reason your birthday has not been displayed is that you either didn't supply it to the office or you requested that they not share it with the Local Group. You can fix this by modifying your PDQ, or you could at least tell me your birthday and I'll get it right next year.
Mensan to editor (copying me as Comm Officer):
If you have lost my info, then admit it and do some research before you foist the organization's ineptitude on me! Your reply, beginning with "Well, M" is demeaning, if you wish to retain me as a member, reconsider your attitude when replying to editorial questions in the future.
Robin to Mensan:
Your birthday information is not lost. I checked the national database to determine what privacy flags you've checked, and it does appear that you have flagged your birthdate as information not to be shared outside of the National Office.
Generally, editors just pull each month's set of birthdays from the national database and publish it. If you have that checked as private, but you told previous editors of the newsletter to override that privacy concern, perhaps you told the former editor, not the current one. I know [previous editor] has been ill, and it might be that he neglected to pass that on to Mr. New Editor, who in turn, neglected to ask if there were any members who required special attention.
To update your Personal Data information and privacy options, please go to
https://www.us.mensa.org/pdq
You'll need your membership number and password to get in. If you do not have your password handy (it was on your renewal notice), you can contact webservices@americanmensa.org and they'll get it for you (when the office is open, of course).
Mensan to Robin:
I NEVER flagged anything! There is no necessity for me to "update my personal information." Please rectify this situation.
Robin to Mensan:
Sir,
Your belligerent tone is inappropriate when asking for other volunteers to assist you. The default is to not release your private information. You apparently never chose to change that. However, if you will confirm that you are authorizing the following releases, I will forward your reply to the staff who will click the appropriate boxes for you when the office opens. If you want it changed sooner, you may do so yourself online at www.us.mensa.org/pdq .
Below are the ten options. Let me know if there are any you wish NOT to release to the general membership.
[list of options]
Mensan to Robin:
My "belligerent tone", as you call it, is because of having been ignored for two years. The original reply from [the editor] set the hostile tone. To be instructed to correct something for which I am not responsible is annoying. After all, I did not have the problem for 16 years, so why am I the one who has to correct it?
and then he authorized all ten releases, which I forwarded to the staff at the office to check for him. Good thing, because my next reply was going to be something about "too much vinegar and not enough honey-- fix it yourself."
2 comments:
I can't help but wish, when I read this sort of thing, that there was a group just like Mensa except with TWO criteria for membership: Evidence of intelligence, and evidence of NOT BEING A TOOL.
Hang in there, Robin. Many of us appreciate you. I do.
Mr. Mensan is clearly in the wrong.
That being said, I would have left out the following two sentences:
"Your belligerent tone is inappropriate when asking for other volunteers to assist you."
"You apparently never chose to change that."
All that does is put him on the defensive. Nothing good ever comes of that. Save those thoughts for the blog post. :-)
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