• It is always important to be civil on forums and in life. However, I feel the frustration that develops when you simply cannot solve a problem. I am one of those developers who has spent the last six years trying to be a DBA -- not because I want to but because there are no DBAs where I work. I try and learn as much as I can when I get the opportunity, but there are some things that just go beyond my understanding, and I will not be able to solve those problems without a lot of research. The difficulty is knowing where to look and knowing what you are looking for. Try Googling something that has about 10 words in it and you're not exactly sure what you're asking for. You typically find a ton of completely unrelated junk and a mix of forum entries. Thank you to those who spend their time helping people like me on the forums.

    In these tough economic times when companies begin to tighten their budgets by reducing their payroll, those of us left have a greater responsibility and with that comes a greater workload. We still want to get home to see the wife and kids and we have our other responsibilities outside of work like mowing the grass, changing light bulbs, etc., so working more hours is often not an option. When we can't solve a problem quickly and our productivity starts to slip, we worry that we could be the next ones to go. Sometimes you really want to learn what went wrong, but other times, you just want to fix it and get it behind you.

    I guess what I'm saying, is that while it is never OK to use profanity or bite the hand of someone who is trying to help you, it is also nice to have a little more understanding when helping out. I completely understand that it is unfair to ask someone to spend a lot of time giving you a solution for free. I've also read threads on here about how to post questions to the forum -- what information to give, what examples to use, etc. They are great reads. However, sending that link to someone when they don't follow that advice is also curt. Maybe these threads should be required reading before someone can post a question. It would certainly reduce the frustration of those trying to help and maybe it would make those who are posting questions understand a little more about what is required to get help. There are no free handouts in life, you've got to fill out the proper paperwork (in triplicate) first.