As others have pointed out, terms like "drunk," "bastard," "Negro" were acceptable in the past, but are no longer acceptable. In fact, they are hurtful. It's isn't about being "politically" correct. It's about not hurting people's feelings--today. Let's not. That said, the point of the original post was that someone made a phone call. I have said many times on this list and others that phone calls are a lot faster, no more costly and far more persuasive than letters. I have established instant rapport with many secretaries and clerks and saved a fortune in fees that I didn't have to pay just because someone wanted to help me with my search. Because my policy has always been to call instead of write, I added unlimited long distant to my phone (actually my husband did) and it has paid for itself many times over. Merle -----Original Message----- From: markf@psknet.com To: philly-roots@rootsweb.com Sent: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:26 AM Subject: Re: [Phly-Rts] Admin notice Barbara- -My Grand Father was in Keswick--He died there in 1910--I contacted them about three years ago and they were very uncooperative--Well honestly they just had no time for genealogical research--I offered to pay whatever they asked to send me any information on John Patterson Massey Jr.--- I have hit a brick wall mostly because the family was embarrassed by my Grand Father--They completely cut my Grand Mother and there Grand Children OFF---I have a had dickens of a time researching my line--At the time of my Grand Fathers commitment the word " DRUNKARD " was in there title--This PC nonsense is a feel good sham--And a waste of time-- NOW--If you know of any way you could put me in touch with someone that can help me I would really appreciate it--I think they are missing an huge revenue opportunity in not catering to genealogists-- Your bringing to light this obscure possibility for research is very valuable--I hope more members will send in there odd little encounters with off the wall treasure troves-- Mark F. Massey Fr. ********* Visit the threaded archives of this list: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/PHILLY-ROOTS ********* ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PHILLY-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.