Y'know, I try to not post here when I'm steamed, but this time I'm steamed and I'm posting. What is here is a transcript of emails between the moderator for the Huntsville (Alabama) Freecycle group and my husband Jeff, posted with his permission.  This is bad, judgmental moderatorship, and the religious overtones included in it make me even angrier, especially considering that we've donated a ton of items through Freecycle. The moderator just doesn't know it because Jeff and I use different domain names for our email addresses, and have different surnames.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, let me quote from freecycle.org on what Freecycle is:

Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community. (freecycle.org/faq)

and

NO POLITICS, NO SPAM, NO MONEY, NO PERSONAL ATTACKS/RUDENESS, NO PROSELYTIZING/RELIGION. (Freecycle FAQ/Guidelines. All caps are theirs, not mine.)

So let's see what happened:

#1: Jeff requests membership in the Freecycle group.

Jeff, was there anything that you had to fill out?  Did you say anything in the email? The long and the short of it: Jeff requests subscription to the Huntsville, AL freecycle group but requests not to be emailed.

Update from Jeff:

The web form which I had to fill out to apply for the group included a field which asked me to briefly introduce myself and say why I wanted to join the group. I don't remember exactly what I wrote, but it was pretty short. Basically it was simply that I was a Huntsville native and that I wanted to be able to read the group posts to look for items being offered.

#2: Moderator's first response

On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 8:47 AM, AJ <tagsgirl07 [at] yahoo [dot]com> wrote:

    If you would like to adjust your status to daily difest I will be happy to approve you. The status of no email is a sign of spam and that you truly do not wish to be part of the group for the purpose of keeping things from the landfills.
    Saved by Grace,
    Adrienne
    HuntsvilleALFreecycle [at] yahoogroups.com owner/moderator
    HuntsvilleAreacafe [at] yahoogroup.com owner/moderator

#3: Jeff's reply

(I should note that the Panshin quote at the bottom of Jeff's email is his boilerplate footer quote; he's been using it for years. I find it eerily appropriate at this time. -- Amy)

From: Jeff McClure <jeff [at] slidingconstant [dot] net>
To: AJ <tagsgirl07 [at] yahoo [dot]com>
Sent: Thu, February 11, 2010 9:33:40 AM
Subject: Re: Freecycle membership

I can easily explain my wish to not receive emails from the group. I am interested in one or two very specific items, and I can easily look for those items by searching the emails on the Yahoo groups site. Receiving a daily digest means I will get emails for a lot of items in which I have no interest.

I have no intention of sending any emails to the group offering or asking for any items. Given that, if you want to make absolutely sure I cannot spam the group, you can feel free to disable my ability to send any emails to the group. I won't be needing it. I will only be looking at the group web site occasionally for the few items I'm interested in. However, I am not interested in receiving any of the message in my email account.

--Jeff

"It appears that the ground of being which underlies
and sustains us despite our various inadequate and
conflicting stories must be extremely tolerant, generous,
and forgiving. All things considered, it wouldn't hurt
if we were, too."

--Alexei Panshin
from http://www.panshin.com/essays/stories.htm

#4: Moderator's second response

From: Adrienne Hone <tagsgirl07 [at] yahoo [dot]com>
Date: Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 11:32 AM
Subject: Re: Freecycle membership
To: Jeff McClure <jeff [at] slidingconstant [dot] net>

I am sorry to tell you then Jeff but you will not fit the criteria for Freecycle. It is just as blessed ot give as it is to recieve. If ever you become less self-centered and more concerned about our plant,our society and each please reapply.
Saved by Grace,
Adrienne
HuntsvilleALFreecycle [at] yahoogroups.com owner/moderator
HuntsvilleAreaCafe [at] yahoogroups.com owner/moderator
 
P.S. We just last month deleted everyone from the group for no email, so you are in no way being singled out.

#5: Jeff's wife's response

Having read that, here's what I have to say, and I'm saying it publicly.

Hi, I'm Amy, and on behalf of Jeff and myself, I've been handling our repeated donations through Freecycle for some months now. I post my items correctly, unlike many of the people who post to the group, and I have never, ever missed a pickup. I follow the group's rules to the letter, and in addition to that, I have repeatedly gone above and beyond the group's requirements by making a point to photograph my items available for donation to ensure that the person who gets them is not surprised or disappointed.  Want me to unlock the photos of my previous donations on flickr? I'll be happy to do so.

The only reason I've been the one doing the donating instead of Jeff is because I work in a well-known publicly-accessible building downtown, so it makes more sense for me to handle the pickups.

Your email is insulting, judgmental, and unprofessional. You disregarded a valid, reasoned request and responded with insults.  "If ever you become less self-centered" -- are you kidding me? The fact that you did it to someone who has been quietly contributing to the cause that you supposedly endorse makes me even angrier.

I'm not redacting your name or your email address. I'm prepared to stand by my words when they're available for the world to see. Are you prepared to do the same?

#6: Update.

See http://domesticat.net/2010/02/tiger-piranha-mama-kitty-rowr-ouch for an update on what happened after this entry.