Michelle has stated a wee campaign to encourage everyone to put their names in their signature sections, which I think is a great idea.
My campaign which I hereby commence, is to remind people to say 'thank you', 'grateful', 'you have been a big help' or even the lazy short time saving version of 'ta' especially when people have provided indepth responses, as I have noticed a worrying trend where both newbies and some long standing members do not seem to appreciate the efforts people have gone to to respond to their queries. In fact there are occasions where original posters ignore a couple of people and thank just one responder......come on chaps, that's not good form.
We are all busy people, but those small words go a long way. Plus we are supposed to be the ultra polite nation!!
Thank you for reading, let's all show our appreciation of one another.
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
With a couple of notable exceptions I think this issue really only applies to people new to the forum.
I think that the issue is that some of the new people to the site assume that this is a service that somebody somewhere is paying for. Pretty much a public service type of organiation without realising that all of the contributors here are giving their time and advice for free.
Have you also noticed the new posters where if they ask a question and do not get an immediate response you get a very shirty "I need this now" type of follow up. Thankfully we don't see those too often.
I find far worse than the one's who don't say thankyou the one's who join, ask a question which we answer but then from their history you can see that they have never logged back into the site to read the response... Yes, maybe they read it anonymously without logging in but somehow in many cases I doubt it.
You cannot let them bother you though. When we post answers we are not really answering that person but rather answering everyone else who reads that thread who is having the same issue but doesn't yet have the confidence to ask in open forum.
On a slightly linked note the thing that I always find bemusing about the site is that one can become an Guru by asking 500 questions and never actually giving an answer.
But, for all of those the few who start out by asking questions but go on to become net contributors make this site what it was intended for.
Few people realise that the site is actually owned and run by a practicing firm of chartered accountants who established the site with the intention of improving the quality of bookkeepers in the market place where other organisations seemed somewhat more concerned with quantity rather than quality.
People such as ourselves and many others who contribute on here share the site owners vision which I feel drives the quality of responses that people get here but also leaves newstarts thinking that this could not possibly be a service where nobody is being paid for this so leads to questions based on expectation rather than realisation that some gratitude would be appreciated as a matter of course rather than only when the answer given is the one that the poster wanted (or indeed not at all).
Its an admirable campaign Jo. Wishing you every success with it.
Thankyou for starting it (now where's my gold star... What, you don't get a reward for saying thankyou! What's the point in that then)
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
With a couple of notable exceptions I think this issue really only applies to people new to the forum. Agreed
I think that the issue is that some of the new people to the site assume that this is a service that somebody somewhere is paying for. Pretty much a public service type of organiation without realising that all of the contributors here are giving their time and advice for free.
Have you also noticed the new posters where if they ask a question and do not get an immediate response you get a very shirty "I need this now" type of follow up. Thankfully we don't see those too often. Oh yes - we have had a couple recently. In fact I had a response to one all ready, but they havent been back on at all, as you in fact mention below, so Ive parked it in readiness!
I find far worse than the one's who don't say thankyou the one's who join, ask a question which we answer but then from their history you can see that they have never logged back into the site to read the response... Yes, maybe they read it anonymously without logging in but somehow in many cases I doubt it.
You cannot let them bother you though. It doesnt bother me really. well ok - general rudeness and lack of manners does, but it doesnt stop me from sleeping at night. I just think it nice to get such an acknowledgment from people and courtesy costs nothing.
When we post answers we are not really answering that person but rather answering everyone else who reads that thread who is having the same issue but doesn't yet have the confidence to ask in open forum.
On a slightly linked note the thing that I always find bemusing about the site is that one can become an Guru by asking 500 questions and never actually giving an answer. Agree with that one too, although I must say that there are probably a couple of hundred of my post numbers which refer to cake and other daft stuff!
But, for all of those the few who start out by asking questions but go on to become net contributors make this site what it was intended for.
Few people realise that the site is actually owned and run by a practicing firm of chartered accountants who established the site with the intention of improving the quality of bookkeepers in the market place where other organisations seemed somewhat more concerned with quantity rather than quality. Lol - if only you got paid for your time on here hey Shaun!!
People such as ourselves and many others who contribute on here share the site owners vision which I feel drives the quality of responses that people get here but also leaves newstarts thinking that this could not possibly be a service where nobody is being paid for this so leads to questions based on expectation rather than realisation that some gratitude would be appreciated as a matter of course rather than only when the answer given is the one that the poster wanted (or indeed not at all).
Its an admirable campaign Jo. Wishing you every success with it. Why thank you kind sir!
Thankyou for starting it (now where's my gold star... What, you don't get a reward for saying thankyou! What's the point in that then) Flippin heck - some people with this 'I need it now' attitude. Patience dear boy would get you two gold stars. Or you will get your rewards in heaven.
Thank you for posting
-- Edited by Shamus on Sunday 18th of October 2015 03:45:44 PM
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
p.s. And your forgiven for using the enemies language John... Acually, my sister lives there now... I prefer to think of her as an infiltrator rather than a defector.
p.s.2 it was Thai.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
It's about the only french I know lol, in fact I know about 3 or 4 more words in German. And sorry Joanne, yes top of the list for you if I've not already blotted my copy book
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Have you been there much? I used to live about 30km North of KhonKaen in the Isaan region. The village that I lived in was Kut Nam Si.
Loved the place.
Lair gun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I spent a month in a little city just outside Bangkok called Chonburi.. not very touristy but you get to see real life! The food is stunning!
Also did Bangkok and Koh Samui a few years before that, and it was lovely, as a friend was getting married on the beach out there, to his long term Thai girlfriend. Very beautiful and loved watching her family set it up during the morning! Also popped over the An Thong Marine Park
I also commuted from KK to London a few times (the flight doesn't run anymore but it used to be that if you caught the 00:30 (Thai Time) Qantas flight from Bangkok you could be sitting at your desk in central London by 08:00 (UK time) the same morning).... I miss working in Banking, lol.
Like yourself I avoided touristy things like the plague. Far better sitting in a little open sided hut at the edge of a paddy field or spending hours trying to chat with family and monks frustrated that their version of Thai was as close to speaking the Thai that I know as an English person speaking to someone who only speaks Welsh!
In the North East the language is much closer to Laos than Thai. i.e. the phrase "it doesn't matter"/"Don't worry about it" in Thai you would say "Mai Pben Rai" but in Isaan you say "Bop n yang".... Not even close to each other.
I gave up trying to speak Isaan and just assumed that like with Wales pretty much all Welsh can also speak English therefore everyone in Isaan should be able to speak Thai.
Love the way that the Thai's look for absolutely any excuse to have a party and as I always bought all of the beer there was a lot of partying.
I liked the simplicity of peoples lives there and it was quite nice to contrast cultures. Sounds very much as though you also went for the full cultural emersion option.
Well, as emersed as one could be when even out there I still shopped at Tesco's (Lotus Tesco).
I only went to Koh Samui once. I remember that it was a really pretty airport and then it rained solidly from the moment that we left the airport to the moment that we returned to it.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Ahhhhh Koh Samui Airport.... a thatched hut! Was a great sight to welcome us to the Island! We stayed in Lamai Beach, which was more traveller than the touristy Chaweng Beach. But we did hire a bike to ride over there for some food one night. Busy little place.
What I find hilarious, is that you will see a flat bed truck driving past, with a big round tray of chicken, pork, snow frog, fish, beef, you name it - all next to each other in the open heat.. and then we have all our safety rules about food, in this colder climate!! Never once got poorly from eating there!!
Just had to look up where we stayed. It was Tongsai Bay resort which I think is Choeng Mon Beach.
Talking of things like health and saftety.
It was the pictures in the bus stations that got me. They don't pull any punches. Its a straight "if you get off the bus without looking this is what will happen to you".
Also, seeing an entire family including a couple of children and granny all driving along on a 50cc moped. Priceless.
I've had food poisoning once and it was my own fault for trusting the food of a Bangkok street vendor as much as I did the vendors in KhonKaen.... Won't be making that mistake again.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
