"Helping" People

Eric Rauchway asks:

Too rude? « The Edge of the American West: Too rude?: Kieran sent me this. I am sorely tempted to use it when people email me to ask, what is your telephone number, mailing address, and email? (Stop snickering; it actually happens.) But that would be rude, wouldn’t it? Please tell me, O readership.

http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=%22brad+delong%22&l=1

Comments

[john]

Just right.

[Ken Houghton]

Ah, took a moment to realize it was showing the webpage, not the entry. (Slow tonight. Too many Edgeworth boxes.)

Feel fortunate: I'm either an old Hull footballer* or (without the middle initial) a "Marine Corps legend." Which I guess means the model railroad guy has the same problem.

(Mankiw, Cowen, and Mark Thoma also map to their respective blogs, of course, though Gary [S.] Becker map to his UChicago site, while Jamie/James K. Galbraith maps to UT, though J.K. Galbraith maps to pere, not fils.

In unrelated-Galbraith trivia, only the addition of his middle initial finds the Canadian econometrician instead of the Canadian-American economist.

Paul Krugman, strangely, maps to his =biography= on the NYT site.)

[Leila Abu-Saba]

Today a researcher for a Times food columnist called me with a long list of questions. At the end she asked for demographics on Arab-Americans. She stumbled over the pronunciation of the word demographic... She's 44 she told me. I am a former community college teacher and I have long worked with adults who are not as well educated as I am. I was kind and I will continue to be...

But all I had to do was type "Arab American Demographics" into google - the first entry was exactly what she needed. I emailed her the link with a short comment.

Trouble was, she couldn't believe the pie charts, the numbers, or my written comment that Arab Americans are 63% Christian. You mean Muslim, don't you? No, if you look at the pie chart (shows 24% Muslim), the written out numbers, and my statement, I do mean Christian. But I was kind again - I understand that people can't believe evidence that contradicts their deeply held assumptions. I devoted several more paragraphs to explaining
1) Not all Arabs are Muslims
2) A majority of Muslims in America are not Arabs
3) Christian Arabs were the majority of Arab immigrants to the US until recently
4) Reasons for #3.

She probably would not have found all that (concise!) contextual info without a huge amount of reading. But the numbers were available with one click.

Had I been rude to her she would not have learned something about Arab-Americans. So I'm glad I was patient.

However it does take effort. One isn't always saintly.

[nathan]

we all have our moments. Erring on side of grace may be okay idea in downturn

[scott]

Do it. Use it. Perfect.

[Marc]

OMFG That's PERFECT!

[dogfacegeorge]

I think the question WWJD? is misplaced. I think it should be WWMMD? (What would Miss Manners do?) And Miss Manners would say that if you have to ask whether something is too rude or not, it probably is.

[donna]

Loved it!

I am great at finding things, and often amazed that other people don't know how. The most fun is when my kids lose stuff, and I bet them that I can find it in their rooms in less than five minutes. I rarely lose... which is amazing considering what a pit their rooms can be...

[rea]

Googling myself, I find unexpectedly that I am president of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

[Eric Kodjo Ralph]

Literally laughed out loud. Tickled me enough to comment.

For contact details it's perfect.

[rex]

If you really want to hit them over the head with a hammer, try this instead:
http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=let+me+google+that+for+you&l=1

[PeonInChief]

I've had people leave comments on my blog asking for my email address, even though the contact information is right there under my profile. But the people who write to me are often freaked out and afraid, so I just answer their questions even though what they need to know is right there on the blog. I have no idea whether they didn't read it or were too scared to realize that the necessary information was right there before them.