Palestine was lost but now is found, at least on drupal.org
drupal.org has user accounts to which one can add data, like gender, country, work field, etc. While fixing up my entry, I noticed that Palestine was missing from the country drop down. Sadly, this is an all too common occurrence that is usually the result of ignorance, not malice. While part of me wants to be angry all the time I recognize the need to be diplomatic. To attempt to remedy the situation I filed a bug report against the drupal.org website.
Aside from seeking self-discipline in the face of anger, I also wanted to communicate effectively. drupal.org is geeky software, maintained by fairly geeky people. So in writing the bug report I used the most neutral language available so that I can get what I need. Many geeks, while passionate about their own fields, can be charitably described as politically ignorant. The same skills that makes geeks really good problem solvers in the technical real, also make for really terrible people skills. I am generalizing a lot, and simplifying to boot, but not grossly I hope.
To make an analogy: problem solving humans is to problem solving technical issues as quantum physics is to Newtonian physics. Where in the former, particles can have multiple states, in the latter particles are or aren't. Humans and their multiple states interact in very weird and non-predictable ways making problem-solving them very tough and not necessarily rewarding. Filing socio-political bug reports with geeks can become interesting if the parameters of the exchange are not controlled.
One option I had in filing the bug was to feel angry, disappointed, and hurt. Expressing those "quantum states" makes no sense for an exchange system designed to filter these out. Especially when the person on the receiving end is not prepared to deal with those quantum states. The other, better option was to express myself in the most minimal fashion: how to find the bug, expectations for success, result. The result of writing the bug report in such a manner was to have the bug fixed in less than eight hours. That is a quick and speedy resolution to a problem. While the resolution of my bug doesn't address the quantum states of anger, disappointment and hurt, it addresses a cause of those states, opening up a path for those states to change. Anger, disappointment, and hurt can, and will, fade. With the passing of these states I am left; a Palestinian on drupal.org.
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