Oh, And One More Thing...

Every once in awhile I will write something that will prompt someone to email me a response. They won't leave it in the comment section, and that is fine, most of the time the emails are more involved than what the comment section is meant for.

I appreciate it when people write to me to offer an opposing view, a clarification, or just to knock some sense into my head. Almost always the emails enlighten me in some way.

But, I feel that's my purpose: to illicit a response.

There is a problem, though. Almost every time I receive an email, the first sentence in the message is, "This is not for print, but for your information only."

If one feels that strongly about what I have written, and as equally as strong about giving ones side, then allowing me to print it as a rebuttal should not be a problem. After all, I am not the only one needed to be convinced, it is the readers that need to know.

The other day I got such an email. The email had a lot of information in it, and I appreciate the fact that the writer took the time to share it with me. It did allow me to understand more just what was behind the issue from an other perspective, although I still feel the same as I did when I wrote my original piece.

I wish the writer had submitted a rebuttal for publication in order to share their views with other readers.

I am not the only person one needs to share your information with, or to clarify something I may have not gotten quite right, there are hundreds of others out there that read this page each day.

One thing I don't do is "Ghost Write", so I won't take an email sent to me and reword it into something I may have written in order to share another point of view. That form of writing is a sham, and lacks credibility, so if one wants to set the record straight, please send something along with permission to publish it, and I will publish "the other side", otherwise let my words stand.

This is a great place to share information, and if I don't get something quite right, or there is need for further clarification, then it is important to set things straight. I still might not agree, but at least both sides are out there.