August 19, 2004
Remove Poems?

Today I got an email from one of the people which I posted their poems. They ask that I remove it (quite nicely). I'm not quite sure if I should remove them when people ask or not. I didn't ask for the poems. For background, I used to run the Perl Poetry Contest for The Perl Journal. Somehow, the email address I used for submissions must be published somewhere as a poetry contest thing. I've asked multiple people where they found my address, but nobody answers. So, I have no idea where they get it, and no idea why they submit to me. It's not like I have some poetry contest site, as you can plainly see. Since I get a lot of poems (I still have about 15 waiting for me to post) submitted, I figure I may as well share them and poke fun^H^H^Hcritique them.

Should I remove them when someone asks me nicely? Ask me rudely, no way.. but nicely?

Posted by Kevin at August 19, 2004 10:52 AM
Comments

Remember the "Golden Rule": "Do unto others as you would have done unto you."

Posted by: Oingo on August 19, 2004 1:22 PM

But, I wouldn't send poetry to random emails I find on the internet for a contest I know nothing about. So, I wouldn't "unto" in the first place.

Posted by: Kevin on August 19, 2004 1:42 PM

The person that mistakenly "unto'd" a submission to you asked nicely to have you remove it. If the situation was reversed and you asked nicely you'd probably appreciate the removal as well. I totally agree with you that they would have to ask nicely for this consideration of course. Think of it as an exercise in empathy and compassion.

Posted by: Oingo on August 19, 2004 6:36 PM

Yes, I would appreciate it. But, that doesn't mean I should remove it. Empathy is an action of understanding, not an action of action. I am empathetic that someone would send their poetry to someone who didn't ask for it and then saw it posted on their journal. I'll save my compassion for real suffering.

I made a compromise. I removed the persons name from the poem. I think that's fair.

Posted by: Kevin on August 19, 2004 7:06 PM
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