redbird | for the record, and one irrelevant aside

This is the email I sent to the OE of AWA (if you don't know what that means, ask, or don't worry about it; the "Ellie" mentioned here is not either of the Ellies on my LJ friends list):

Dear Ellie,

No.

The apa is not a negative-response book club. If email was called for, it was you who should have emailed me, before spending money to send me something that you had no evidence I wanted. Courtesy goes both ways. If you want to spend your money, that is your business. If you want me to spend mine, it is on you to send an email asking me to do so, and not to take the lack of contact as permission to spend someone else's funds.

The arrears, and the responsibility, are yours, just as I paid the bills when I sent unasked-for extra copies to women I hoped to lure back when I was OE.

Sincerely yours,
Vicki

Meanwhile, while making hot chocolate, it occurred to me that it would probably be unwise to ask the next door neighbors to turn their stereo up. Their next choice might not be something I wanted to sing along to.

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Update: She sent me a rude response, but undercut any effect it might have had by quoting my "sincerely yours" and writing "I doubt it" as a comment. Doubt not: I meant every word of that message.

I'm not answering further--I don't want to deal with someone whose response to disagreement is to tell me to grow up, and I don't plan to give lessons on rhetoric to people I'm annoyed at.

Oh, this is so typical of her.

Oh, heavens; I'd guessed from your previous message that the sturm und drang was all about Turbo.

K. [BWDIKA?]

Oh, no. The Pirate Queen and I are on excellent terms. I do zines regularly, and she sends me apas that she knows I want, and that's all cool.

Days later, I find you've been talking about me! what fun!

Boy, and now I know how to make Even More Trouble! just bill everyone for the last five years' business expenses! Not that I would do such a thing. Already plenty trouble there. (A factor that weighs in favor of one of the prospective new OEs in my mind is the evil prospect of her finding out exactly how much the operation of Turbo costs the OE, after all her objections over many years to making any financial contributions at all. The shoe would be on the other foot, and fairness would have an entirely new complexion.) I should be getting mailing account info out in the next week or so. Well, when I stop reading LJ and get down to it...

Lurch

In case of sturm und drang, insert Turbo here?

Luckily that's not normally the case!

Well, not for years anyway (ah, the double-digit era, I remember is well -- okay, not well, but). Until quite recently, and lots of that was by email. (May ask at NYE if/how any of that spilled over into print.)

Far out. That's definitely on the rude side of things (her side, that is). I'm boggled that she then compoounded her error with being snarky! Hopefully she's corrected things and didn't drain your APA account because of this and instead put the money responsibility where it ought to have rested in the first place.

Their next choice might not be something I wanted to sing along to.

Quite probably :-) Perhaps you could ask to borrow the disk?

As for the sarcasm ... some people can't take criticism - no matter how justified - and will only respond rationally if you serve it up slathered in ridiculous amounts of `honey'...

Straightforward and to the point.

I certainly wouldn't worry about the response. Either she's clueless or she was overcome with embarrassment at your correct criticism and wrote back too quickly.

What's next, postage-due fanzines? (Oh wait, I've gotten one of those already....)

for the record, and one irrelevant aside

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you rang?

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APA (w)OEs

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Well put