As many of you know, I am a volunteer for the RANDOM ACTS OF GENEALOGICAL KINDNESS website http://www.raogk.org/listing.htm If you are not a volunteer for your area or an area where you have resources available, please consider becoming a part of this great service. If you have ever asked for a lookup anywhere, anytime, this is your chance to GIVE BACK to those who need your help with resources that you can provide. Just last week, we received a picture of my husband's great grandmother's grave.... he and his family have never seen it because it is in a different part of the country... she died on route to someplace else. I know you know the thrill it was for us to see something for the first time. Without that RAOGK volunteer, we would still be planning on a long trip to that county. Each month, as volunteers, we get a RAOGK newsletter. I got the following message on the RAOGK newsletter tonight, and thought it was worth passing on.... WE GET MESSAGES A disgruntled cemetery employee has apparently been offended by genealogical researchers and volunteers. The anonymous person has posted a few messages to our Guestbook "Thank You" area and also sent a private message to the site. I don't know whether this person is singling out RAOGK volunteers/researchers specifically or all genealogical researchers and volunteers. Here is an example of the complaints we received: "The genealogy hobby has really placed a strain on cemetery and funeral home offices. Sites such as this one, are compounding the problem. You'd be surprised how many "volunteers" are coming in from websites (such as yours) and wanting info, and wanting it now. It's becoming quite overwhelming. Maybe you should consider putting in a paragraph about having respect for the office workers and realizing they may not be able to drop everything to assist the info seekers." I have faith that none of you has done anything to cause this reaction on the part of the cemetery/funeral home employee. This is just a general reminder to always be courteous and to remember that not everyone is understanding of our eagerness in hunting our ancestors. Sometimes, in our excitement to be in our ancestral homeland, we forget that not everyone is as excited as we are, that we 'have come home'.. Whereever, and whenever you travel to those important ancestral places, please remember to bring your best manners with you. Consideration is always a welcome, and honey will get you far more than vinegar. I don't know who this person was that wrote this note, I don't know if they just had a very bad day, or what?? But I DO know that most genealogists are kind, considerate, and lovely people to be around. It's those bad apples that give the rest of us a bad name or reputation. Let's do our part this year to go overboard in extending our sincere appreciation and patience with those who are working with the stuff we would give our eyeteeth to get our hands on... afterall, it's their WORK, it's our LOVE!! Go the extra mile in return this year, let's do our part in putting a smile back on the faces of those who we need to contact for our research. Let's be more than kind.. let's treat them as we would want to be treated!! Let's be the examples so that when the workers hear the words 'genealogists' or 'family historians', instead of them saying, "AAGHH Genealogists", they will say, "AH, Genealogists!" Happy New Year! Lanita Sconce Miller Shake your family tree and watch the nuts fall!