>Last week we all got a very long e-mail from a troubled human being and
>I have been troubled by it ever since.  I did nothing about the e:mail.
> No reaching out to the individual, no calling for help for him by
>caregivers who might have been better providers for him nor any
>discussion with my museum-l neighbors until now.

>What is our individual or collective responsibility when someone
>appears on the screen who is in personal distress or (as in this case)
>so far away from the norms of human behavior?  Do we have some
>responsibility or since they write in such a way as not to invite
>comment, do we ignore?

>I remain troubled but without any helpful answers for my own personal
>responsibility to this person and wonder what others thought, worried
>about and maybe even did.

>Please let us all know.

>Elaine Heumann Gurian
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Could be that many, including myself, glanced at the message and moved on.
Most of us have trained ourselves to move through our messages quickly and
immediately respond to them or stash only those pertinent to our
professional and vocational needs.   For me it's hard enough to read,
evaluate, and prioritize messages every day when on any given morning I
might have well over a hundred waiting for me.  I have to do the best I
can.

Frankly, I don't even remember the particular message in question.  It
might seem insensitive on my part, but for all I know I could have glanced
at it and sent it right to the trash.  It's no longer in my "in" box
anyway.  It apparently received a low priority.  I usually don't read
through lengthy messages unless I can somehow find the information somewhat
useful.  With this in mind, it's easy to understand why few if any
responded to the message.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Henry B. Crawford                                       v
Curator of History                                       v
Museum of Texas Tech University               v
Box 43191                                                   v
Lubbock, TX  79409-3191                         v
806/742-2442                                          v
FAX 742-1136                                            v
[log in to unmask]                                     V
All opinions expressed are mine                   v
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