[conspire] Housekeeping, again

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Edward Cherlin (echerlin at gmail.com):

> I find that the general principle for handling clueless geeks is to
> Tell Them. Ahead of time, on-site, and at the point where they are
> about to misbehave. Cluelessness is apparently part of the neurology.
> So I appreciate Being Told.
[...]
> A sign would help a bit. 

You will probably have noticed that life in general utterly lacks posted
documentation about how and where not to be an asshat.  E.g., cocktail
parties don't have signs saying "Don't spit on the floor."

Why, some might wonder, is that?  It's because, then, it (1) becomes 
the _sort_ of party where there are signs on the wall saying "Don't spit
on the floor", if you catch my drift, and (2) creates the implication
that any asshat behaviour not specifically documented as verboten is OK.

In the current instance, to reiterate, we are not talking about a
boarding-house, but rather _my home_.  Although I'm willing upon
reflection to post signs warning people not to tap my server farm's 
overstressed 1953 electrical circuit (because that's an error any well
intended and polite guest _might_ make), and very grudgingly am
(somewhat) willing even to post a sign warning utter idiots not to ruin
my lacquered wooden salad bowls in my microwave oven, I am _not_ going
to post signs teaching basic courtesy.

Because that would make my home (1) a rather ridiculous and seedy place,
where (2) the local cultural norm is that people aren't expected to
display basic courtesy unless/until they've been explicitly taught how.

Basic, society-wide courtesy should be the norm _any_ time you're a
guest in a private home.  It's not our job to teach that.


> Putting the rules on the CABAL [Web site].

I _am_ considering an ultra-brief reminder that this is a private home,
where guests are espected to show courtesy befitting polite society.
Anyone who can't figure out what that means has a basic problem that's
not my job to fix, and _could_ eventually end up getting thrown out on
his/her tochis.