In-Depth

Response Time

• 11/01/2000

Charlie:

I read your editorial in the September 2000 Enterprise Systems Journal ["Don’t Tread on Me," page 8]. All I can say is, "Amen." I really think it is ignorance, not evil intent. As my old political science professor said, "Never attribute to malice what can easily be explained by stupidity."

Dear Mr. Simpson,

I just read your editorial in ESJ. BRAVO! Your excellent article should be printed in every newspaper. Every year, I make a pilgrimage to [the Civil War battlefield at] Gettysburg, Pa., and witness the same disrespect. Previous generations believed in something greater than themselves.

Okay, Charlie,

When I started reading your editorial, I thought, "He’s gonna tell me something about the first SHARE conference that I’ve missed in five years." What you did is confirm that I’m not the only ol’ coot with old style respect for history and accountability for my actions.

But, so what, stomping on graves of old dead guys could be a real thrill for a bunch of "less-than-educated" school boys trying to impress some "less-than-educated" school girls. I say "less-than-educated," because along with why we’re going to this graveyard should be the knowledge of who we’ll find buried there, and why these folks (albeit long gone) deserve all the respect even school kids, and I, can muster. If you can’t offer that to the dead, offer it to me and the other "living" folks who have come to do just that!

My point? Same as yours: Who’s gonna be runnin’ the show when we coots with our old values lay aside our pens.

Charlie:

I read your editorial in the latest issue of Enterprise Systems Journal, and I could not agree with you more. It is a sad state of affairs that our pre-occupation with ourselves blocks the significant sacrifice, which was borne by the founders of our country. I am going to share your article with all of my adult friends, and hope that we all wake up and try to encourage our youth to be courteous and respectful.

Mr. Simpson,

I opened my copy of ESJ prepared to quickly scan through articles looking for technology trends and ideas, and, instead, found your editorial, "Don’t Tread On Me." It stopped me in my tracks, as it hit a sensitive nerve of one of my pet peeves. Congratulations on putting words to what I and many others have been feeling for many years!

Just started looking at September ESJ and read your editorial about visiting the graveyard. Your observations there, and at the water park, are right on. For some reason, we have managed to totally screw up our nation (the people). People of all ages appear to have, and show, no respect. People step on each other (both our rights and our bodies) with no regard. You hardly know where to start. I brought up my boys with rules and manners, and demanded respect from and of them. They turned out pretty well. I know a number of people who haven’t done any of that, and wonder why the young people are the way they are.

Congratulations on sticking your neck out to highlight this problem. With no one speaking out, there will never be a fix.

Charlie:

I read your editorial in the September issue of ESJ, and all I can say is, "Thank you." You have eloquently expressed something that needs to be said.

I tried the code snippets described in the Callable Service article by Steven Polacek in the September issue of ESJ (page 56). They do not work as described. The CALL parameter list sequence is incorrect. The third parameter should be the feedback code, with the result set as the last parameter.

Steven Polacek