Three reasons to follow the CR rules on sign-offs :
1. I have been fortunate to travel to several cities in the USA, and 1 year ago I remembered that Lou Deeter lived in Orlando, Florida. Lou offered to take me on a bike ride, and I had an awesome time (thanx, Lou.) Without the sign-off, this WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.
2. I have met roughly 10 people in my city alone on the CR mailing list. Had we not been signing all of our emails, these positive interactions would not have happened. Thank you, Dale !
3. Some people take pride in living an undisciplined and spontaneous life, and I count myself among them. However, to lead an undisciplined life successfully, you need to be flexible enough to switch modes when the rules demand it (ex: military security guard at an engineering facility in 1996 made me pedal 7 miles home on my bike because of a rule NO BIKES IN BUILDING and i forgot my lock. My exasperation really made me re-examine my attitudes towards rules and towards my self image and towards military personnel. It shook me up and i didn't like what i saw in myself.)
If you are chafing at such a low hoop as "sign all your messages", what does that say about your ability to jump through low hoops ? Is it really so impossible to program your mailer to add your city to a default email signature? Frankly, are you that incapable? If you need help with your mailer, why not ask someone on the list?
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA