The latest Alliance assignment is to offer suggestions on how to make comment trolls feel more at home.
Well, first off, Harv immediately corrected its grammar and spelling, always a sure ice breaker!
Next, I considered posting its IP address (which is 24.243.216.132) in case anyone wanted to track it to its lair, but was prevented at the time by more important business--yes, it was time to change the cat box.
Of course, many people would ban the IP and delete the comment, but where's the fun in that? It's so much more satisfying to respond in kind:
Gee, "kafka," sorry to hear about the apple getting lodged in your back...were you surprised that your family is afraid of you and lobs fruit in your direction?
Of course, "kafka" probably will not understand the literary reference, but that makes it the more fun for us...
So, always reply courteously to comment trolls--it encourages them to continue the discussion with even sillier remarks as they get angrier and angrier at their inability to rile you...ignoring them just makes them scamper back into the muck from whence they came...
Posted by Susie at January 30, 2004 12:23 PMYou forgot to call him a dung beetle!
(/read "The Metamorphosis" for AP English last year)
Posted by: CD at January 31, 2004 12:52 AM'Twas implied, CD...
Besides, we have to leave something for the next knight into the lists...
Posted by: Susie at January 31, 2004 01:06 AMSo... is Metamorphosis actually a good read, or are the only people who read it victims of required reading lists?
Posted by: Harvey at January 31, 2004 09:50 AM