To Those Of You Who Explain Why I Should Shut up — Thanks!

This may seem odd, actually very odd but I like it when someone tells me privately that they think I am wrong about something whether they think I need to rephrase things, I am being too blunt, or anything else. It doesn’t matter if you’re a colleague, a friend, or even a reporter — if you tell me to stop talking about something and shut up and you don’t publish it in your article, then I am quite happy.

Sometimes I’ll get stuck on one topic for too long and can go into the smallest nuances of it. This can be very useful with code, actually extremely useful with code but not so much in conversations, which one reporter was nice enough to point out. I’d be more then happy to talk to a reporter again who will privately tell me to stop talking about a subject and doesn’t write about that incident, then talk to the reporters who ask you the same question 20 times in a row and you give them the same answer 20 times in a row. That’s a waste of my time, especially when they don’t use any of the content. I understand asking a question a few times to make sure they understand the topic and I don’t have anymore to add, but 20 times… that’s just too much.

It’s very useful when people point out that the way I word things may come across wrong, since I am quite blunt and to the point but am not trying to be rude. I am always improving my communication style, so people can understand me better. You can’t win with everyone, but if you can improve so more people can understand what you’re saying and that you aren’t trying to be rude to them, well, that’s quite useful.

Another thing someone has pointed out to me is that I can be impatient. Sure, waiting 3 months or years for something to be fixed may seem like a long time and you feel totally right in being impatient, but when the person has just learned about the issue you need to be patient. It’s important to realize that the person you’re talking to may have just heard about the issue, so while you’ve been dealing with it for months or years and talking to the same company, companies are large. So, you need to be patient. It’s far easier said then done, but it’s something important to do.

If you have a problem with me, I’d really like it if you direct messaged me and explained what the problem is, so I can see if I’ve made an error in the way I come across in my writing or in anything else, so I can correct it for future conversations and even make a public statement apologizing about it if needed.

So, for those of you who are polite enough to privately message me, thank you. You know who you are.