Don't Poke The Sleeping Bear

One of the things I learned from sports and music is that both are great equalizers. No matter what your background in "real life" might be, how you play a sport or sing a song is the only currency you carry when you're on a team or performing.

Captains of industry, high powered lawyers, doctors, and Masters of the Universe can find common ground with janitors, mechanics, tradesmen, and Larry in the mailroom.

The same with blogging or journaling in public.

To other members of the community you're only as good as the last entry you wrote. Your job/career may make an interesting subject, but the quality of your writing is what levels the playing field.

However as an AOL member the rules are always changing and the field has never been level.

The quality of your education doesn't matter.
The quality of your career doesn't matter.
The quality of your journal writing doesn't matter,

And, as we've learned, even the quality of your AOL membership doesn't matter either. Those of us who pay are no better than the people who use AOL for free.

It's a corpporate philosophy that gives new meaning to "Your money is no good here."

But AOL made a mistake. When they offered a journals service, an important invisible barrier between customer and provider came down. We got a chance to look behind the curtain.

We saw the face of  OZ.

At first he seemed harmless. John Scalzi was introduced to us as our benign, benevolent journals guide, providing entertainment and information like an amiable docent on a bus tour.

As more technological issues arose, Editor Joe was trotted out to mollify us. Needless to say, with the escalating tech problems, he has become a troubled troubleshooter. He was the first to step from behind the safety desk of AOL anonymity, so we started taking potshots at him from the get go.

Now there's Susan, the AOL Product  Manager [sorry link doesn't work but URL does go figure] http://journals.aol.com/blogsinsider/intheknow/entries/763

Talk about shark bait. Okay bear bait. The timing of her recent, stupid journal entry in the wake of the ad banners couldn't be worse. She's up her neck in lizard sheet and sinking fast. Mostly because of her own doing.

Clearly AOL has no respect for its paying customers. Not when they're sending underqualified people to deal with us.

Of course, if we're dumb enough in the first place to pay for the same service other people [AIM] are getting for free, AOL can go ahead and try to get away with anything. Like the, uh, ad banners for instance.

But that last poke in the eye finally woke up the sleeping bear. And it's not nice to poke the bear.