I have a Yahoo group that is devoted to Christmas. I have had so many people over the years that post their sob story, asking for the group to buy Christmas presents for their kids, that I have had to add a warning to the home page and set the group to moderate.
It says:
Please do not post asking for donations of Christmas gifts. All such posts will not be approved and you may be banned from the group. Thanks for understanding.
Pretty straight forward, no? Apparently not. I get 2-3 posts a day asking for Christmas presents. I always copy/paste the above notice into the "reject" email, and it usually isn't a problem. And then there was today.
This is the post:
Hello im writing to you to see if there is an angel out there somehwere
before Christmas that can help make my kids holiday brighter. I am on a
fixed income and the father dont have anything to do with them so i
struggle alot to make ends meat. So if someone can help please get back
to me im in desperate need i was only able to get stockings and we
did'nt even have a tree this year :)
My standard reply:
Please do not post asking for donations of Christmas gifts. All such
posts will not be approved and you may be banned from the group.
Thanks for understanding.
The email I received in reply:
Well then what is this group for ?? Geez !!
Are you kidding me??!! I am not proud to say that I answered in a not so diplomatic way:
It is to give people ideas for how to celebrate Christmas, not to act as your social services group. If you need Christmas ideas, I suggest you 1) get a job, 2) contact the Salvation Army or 3) cancel your internet service and use that money to buy your kids presents. Don’t expect strangers to finance your Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
So now I feel like a jackass and am wondering if I should email the person back and apologize, or just let it go. Bah humbug!
Update
Before I could even decide if I wanted to apologize, she replied:
Well you know what im going to post this message from you to all the other groups i am a member if and let them know how your group is you are mean and nasty and i hope your Christmas goes as bad as your mouth !!
My reply:
Wow. That is pretty harsh. You posted to a group asking for donations where it clearly states that you aren’t allowed to. I answered you with a nice, polite email asking you to please refrain from doing so. You are the one who was mean and nasty.
Please let me know which groups you post to so I can be sure to point Yahoo in the right direction when I report you, and so I can be sure to post your emails so people know both sides of the conversation.
Merry Christmas!
I'm such a grown up. LOL
I am done with this. Sheesh.
2 comments:
Krista, I loved your reply and would have said the same. Don't you dare let this put a damper on your Christmas. I have a lot more I could add about this, but there just isn't enough time or room for me to...this is a very sore subject for me. While some people truly DO need help, they quietly keep on struggling while the bold, pushy people who could help themselves make it hard for everyone. You don't need to print this in the blog, I just wanted to tell you "YOU WERE RIGHT". Have a very Merry Christmas.
Well geeze. I didn't see the "You don't need to print this..." until I had published it. I'm sorry! If you want me to take it down, just let me know.
Merry Christmas!
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