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Suleiman -> RE: SelfControl (11/10/2004 7:44:25 PM)
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Very often, in real life, my personal grooming is... lacking. I have numerous bad habits which, try as I might, I seem unable to wholly rid myself of. My ability to verbally express myself is sorely lacking compared to my skills as a writer, and I frequently malapropically mangle some clever turn for phrase because I speak more quickly than I am able to compose my thoughts.
That being said, I am quite capable of, upon first meeting someone whom I intend to impress, taking the time to groom myself, put on clothing that is presentable, and to quickly remind myself of those aspects of etiquette and social graces which I normally do not bother with in normal day-to-day life. I have the luxury of living as I wish, rather than as others would expect of me, and to afford myself this luxury I often bypass conventional methods of attaining personal luxury.
I have known some few souls who lack the ability to do this, "slackers" and "flakes" who dress and act in a slovenly manner even when circumstances would dictate otherwise. Most of them, like myself, manage to get by because they are artists, and often, at least here in California, artists are not only allowed, but actually expected to be unconventional, disorganised, and even unkempt. Most of them do not manage to survive well in the real world after entering their mid thirties, becaue they are not, for the most part, particularly good artists - they simply have some hobby which has given them a socially acceptable excuse for not attending to their manners and appearance.
I can not further answer your question, however, as my experience is rather limited to my own immediate circle of friends, and my observations of the world around me. For the vast and broad panoply of folk who range through the internet, there may be as many reasons for the behavior you have described as there are reasons for declairing one's self dominant or submissive. "to each their own", as they say. Personally, I don't mind, within certian boundaries, because I am of a similar sort, and so is my wife. I can be a bit snobbish about writing and grammar, as has been pointed out in other posts, but even so I will take the time to try and winnow out actual content from what has been written. Lack of content means far more to me than lack of grammar or poor spelling. I may joke about "true beavers" (a young man I was corresponding with a few years ago began using a spell checker on his letters to me, and at one point dropped an L from believer, thus confusing the program) but I am still a rational being, capable of deriving meaning from context, thus the failing is as much mine as theirs if communications break down.
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