Ask The Best And Brightest: What Comes After That Card?

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Yesterday, someone received the Yellow Card for what looked like a threat of violence. Here is the recommended code of conduct when a yellow card is issued: Take a deep breath. Take a walk. Maybe, take a few days away from TTAC. But for heaven’s sake, don’t talk back. And don’t continue the argument that got you the yellow card. You know the color of the next card.

That’s right. I mean, that’s wrong. So for disregarding the warning, the referee has sent MikeAR off the field. There is no coming back when that happens.

The comments are being policed by Ed and myself when we have nothing better to do, like writing articles. Each of us has a slightly different style, here is mine:

  • Any opinion is fine. This is an open forum for civilized discussions.
  • Don’t get insulting or personal. If you would not say it in the face of the other person, don’t write it.
  • This is like a dinner party: You are all invited to have a good time. Certain topics, such as race, religion, or politics should be avoided, or at the very least treated with caution.
  • If the host says: “Now, now” – please tone down. Don’t continue the argument, don’t argue with the host. If you absolutely have the urge to say something, say “I’m sorry.” That’s one line. Not an “I’m sorry, but …”
  • If the dinner party disintegrates, the person who causes the disturbance will be shown the door and will not be invited back.

Now how’s that for mixing metaphors?

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Roamer Roamer on Aug 15, 2011

    I think everyone agrees that all forums, regardless of the subject matter, have to be policed. I do think that the rules should be covered in the FAQ - searching for 'yellow card' gave me several hundred hits, mostly bad (probably because the dynamically generated pages were indexed by Google while comments with the search phrase were in the 'Recent Comments' section.) Might it be useful to add an intermediate stage, say a 3-7 day ban, between the current yellow and red cards? A permanent ban is more like a 'Black card' than a Red. (From fencing, can mean anything up to "We're throwing you out of the sport." Useful when the sport involves pointing swords at each other.) Or we could switch to using the racing flag system as RogueInLA suggests - I think everyone here would understand that instinctively. But I don't see where the post linked to as the one he was red-carded for is crossing the line. Is it not ok to ask what country someone is from? The bit about 'Sounds like your side lost', while pretty childish, is less inflammatory than at least one of the posts by the other party. Am I missing something? Everyone is responsible for policing their own behavior. Issues that touch on Bertel's three listed topics, I always let my post sit for a few minutes, then revisit. It's too easy to say something totally without malicious intent that due to poor phraseology or regional differences can be injurious to another. I've learned, from being on professional and enthusiast forums since before Netscape, that you have to learn to recognize trolls. And once you identify them, you have to learn that the only appropriate response is no response at all. To quote Joshua, "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

  • Old Guy Old Guy on Aug 15, 2011

    I enjoy the automotive knowledge on display here in the posts and the comments. Because cars are part of our lives and controlled by the political and economic process, it's perhaps inevitable that discussions about them move into politics. If I'm not interested or the thread doesn't stroke my prejudices, I can move on. But the personal attacks are silly and irrelevant, so it's good to get rid of one prominent producer of such attacks. Thanks, Bertel.

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