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Thursday, March 26, 2015

Just a general note

When one donates they can attach a note.  I appreciate that.

Part of the reason is because often times someone's real name isn't the name that I know them by.  As I often point out, I was an adult before I realized that my mother's cousin Little Fabian was, in fact, named Andy.  The internet allows for names even more divergent than that.

Moreover, I am horrible with names (and only marginally good with faces) so a lot of times even if I know someone I cannot for the life of me remember how I know them.

I sort of wish that everyone came with a short description: "Hi, my name is Alice Orneomantis but you knew me as Flowergirl17 and we spent two years fighting the capitalist overlords together while trapped in the time rift on the moon, but then parted ways, seven years ago, after establishing a communist utopia and deciding to return to the places whence we came."

Then I'd be all, "Oh, I remember you!" and wouldn't have the awkwardness and embarrassment of having no idea who someone is in spite of them obviously knowing me.

In fact, I think that I probably miss out on a lot of potentially good human contact because I'm afraid I'll insult someone if I just come out and say, "I have no idea who the fuck you are even though we clearly knew each other well enough for you to assume I'd still know you."

So notes can be nice.

Also, if someone is donating money to me for a specific reason, I'd like to know that because I'd feel bad if, for example, someone donated money to me to help me pay for oil but, in hopes of lifting my mood, I instead used the money to splurge on an ice-cream generating weather machine that I didn't actually need.  (Very few people actually need Neapolitan ice cream to fall from the sky.)

Notes provide context, and context is often good.

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That said, I got two donations today where the notes have left me more confused than enlightened.

Let me be totally clear:

I appreciate the money.  I do not actively despise anyone.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds good. I struggle with names myself - I'll happily annotate my donations to make things easier for people.

    (Related.)

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