[JustAskJulie]

Do you feel misunderstood? It's not just you, we all encounter it here. It's hard to get your point across sometime when all you have is flat text and a few smilies. And if you are like me and you ramble sometimes, it's even harder. It's hard to express the situation you dealt with or saw to someone who wasn't there and make sure that they really get what you meant. It's easy to use one wrong word or phrase and completely screw up the entire meaning of what you said in someone else's brain. You KNOW what you mean, you were there, you experienced it, but they are picking it up from scratch.

It's important that we all give each other the benefit of a doubt. Rather than jumping to conclusions about what someone says, instead take a moment and ask a question to clarify the situation. If there is doubt, ASK. If there is a question that would affect your advice or response, then ask the question instead of immideately responding with what is on the top of your head. Then come back and read the response and then respond - or ask my questions if you need to. And for those of us who are being asked questions, understand that others are just trying to get a better understanding of the situation, they aren't necessarily doubting you or the situation you have expressed, they just want to better understand it and make sure that they aren't jumping to conclusions too early.

I know a few people have gone screaming away from here because they have felt like everything they expressed was taken the wrong way and people jumped down their throats. Overall, I think this is a very friendly place, but even I have had situations where I didn't express myself well enough and people took what I said completely different than I meant it, so I was forced to come back and try again... sometimes making it better and sometimes making it worse. But, all I can do is try. That's all any of us can do.