Subject: guide lines
From: Scottie Bowman (rbowman@indigo.ie)
Date: Wed Jun 14 2000 - 03:50:23 GMT
I'd forgotten the bit about the scratches on Seymour's
wrist.
For what it's worth, in the course of forty odd years'
psychiatric practice I have never known anyone kill
themselves with slit wrists. The classical Roman method,
of course, was to retire to a warm bath with the razor
but it doesn't seem to happen in my part of the woods.
Nor, come to think of it, has anyone ever cut their throats.
Plenty of overdoses, gassings, hangings, jumpings off high
buildings, cars into the river but, strangely enough, only
two or three shootings - & no knife work at all. (I hasten
to add, for those of you still hoping for an appointment,
that rather few of these were on my watch. I've been
extraordinarily lucky - or perhaps simply too foxy to take
on high risk cases.)
On the other hand, I *have* looked at an awful lot
of female wrists with modest scratch lines across them.
And a number of others (also female) where the digging
went deeper - but where the intention seems still not
to have been suicide but that strange, pre-emptively
controlling punishment which some girls, with true
self-loathing, inflict on themselves.
My point being that when a man is described as having
mysteriously scratched wrists I have one of two reactions:
either the writer does not know too much about suicide
& has reverted to cliché thinking; or he wants us to see
the character as somehow 'girlish' & 'hysterical'.
Not the usual connotation with St Seymour.
____________________________________
Josh has asked for pointers to help him avoid those gaffes
which so often identify even the best intentioned newcomer.
One or two did occur to me:
1) In your earlier posts, it's advisable to present a vulnerable
face to the list. Don't be too articulate or fluent. Never correct
typos & try to throw in some glaring grammatical errors.
Avoid punctuation. It's quite a good idea to write the whole
lot in lower case. This will endear you to the older members
who like to feel indulgent & protective. (Incidentally, don't
be misled by Dr Hochman's use of the lower case. This is meant
to make you feel at home & is not an invitation to familiarity.
He should at all times be addressed & referred to as 'Dr' Hochman.)
2) Our host, Tim, is an intimate of Salinger's & used to be
his neighbour. He rather enjoys being badgered for directions
to the Salinger home in Cornish - where he is a frequent visitor.
Don't take 'No' for an answer. It's all part of the fun to keep
at him until he coughs up.
3) It's VERY important to reprint all previous posts on
a thread when you are, yourself, replying. In this way we can
follow the line of the discussion without having constantly
to refer back to the archives. (Dr Kozusko is particularly
insisent on this point.)
4) There's a tendency for some members to wander off topic.
This is dreadfully bad practice & you will win golden opinions
with the seniors by reminding the culprits where they are
going wrong.
5) You'll discover quite soon this is a pretty sophisticated
membership. Any whiff of political correctness is bad news.
There are no taboo words or topics. Jokes about Yids & Niggs
& Paddies are perfectly OK. Since we are all GOP voters,
any mockery of Democrats or the liberal establishment
will be especially well received. (On second thoughts, you
might be advised to avoid too frequent mention of sports.
One member, a Canadian, rather fancies himself as another
Hemingway but we try to indulge this curiously old-fashioned
interest without comment. You may have met other Canadians.)
6) Being an all male list, you need feel no inhibition about
changing-room humour. In fact Tim keeps a secret archive
of 'dirty' jokes - to which he will be glad to give you access
by writing to him off-list. Don't be put off by apparently
female names (eg 'Cecilia'). Like certain Anglican bishops
we use these as pet names for each other.
These are just a few & I'm sure more will occur to me
presently. I'll pass them on.
Scottie B.
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