My brother-in-law rolled his Jeep,shattered both legs, and was in a coma for a month with a traumatic head injury. He hasn't worked in thirty years, but he's quite comfortable living on his disability income. He's not a bad person, but he doesn't always make great decisions. We took him to Easter at Mark's house. After a long day, Elaine fed him leftovers at our house. Then he left to drive the 7 miles from our house to his. We got a call from the Holden police to tell us that they stopped him and they'd like us to drive him home. As it turns out, his blood sugar may have been high, or his night vision may be failing, but for whatever reason, he was driving straight down the yellow line. He wasn't weaving. He wasn't drunk. He wasn't belligerent. He was just driving with the yellow line directly under the center of his car regardless of the fact that he was not sharing the road properly and was a danger to other drivers. Why should he be allowed to drive and potentially harm others?

Almost two months ago, somebody sent me an InMail with the subject line, "don't open me". When I saw it in my Gmail inbox, I deleted it. When I opened LinkedIn, it was there and I read it.

"I knew that subject line would work. 

Anyway, it seems that so many people that I really respect think you're awesome. Maybe we should chat? 

blah blah blah. I'm the VP of (his company).

It seems like what you do is sales consulting. I'm 36... and I used to think I knew everything. Now I'm getting old enough to know that I don't know shit and I have a lot to learn. Maybe some sales help would be great for me. If you can help Pete and David, you can help me. 

also, I think it's funny how you're kind of a jerk in the group. I like your style."

I gave him the benefit of the doubt and replied with,

"You sure know how to sweet talk a guy.

Annoying subject line, call me a jerk. This might be the start of a beautiful relationship.

A lot of people take themselves way to seriously. My #1 rule is if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong.

I've copied Carole Mahoney. This is a link to our calendar. If you find a time that works, we'll do the rest."

He replied with,

"Rick,

I totally agree. Everyone's so serious. Life's too short and I'm too witty. 

I figured everyone probably sends you so much crap via LinkedIn and email. I didn't want to be "that guy".

I have no idea what an agenda would look like for a first call, but I didn't want overthink things. It seems like you're someone that I should know better. I'd rather just get started vs. strategizing for 3 months like an idiot. 

Well done is better than well said, ya know.

I'll book some time with you in a few days. 

Thanks for the quick reply. 

Have a good weekend."

I never heard from him again.

Yesterday, he asked me a question in a public forum. I replied privately.

"our last exchange resulted in me disconnecting from you. I flagged both of your questions as inappropriate comments, but apparently the moderators let them through anyway. Please delete them and go away. I don't feel like playing your silly games."

He replied,

"Rick, 

I deleted the comment in the thread. (I wasn't trying to be a jerk or funny... I thought it was a valid question), but I'm not sure which other comment you would like me to delete. You mentioned two comments in your private message to me. 

Let me know what thread the other comment was in and I'll take care of it right away! 

I can't "go away", but I'll do my best to ensure I don't cause you any more frustration, annoyance, etc. I'm a nice guy."

That's the story. I'm not frustrated or annoyed. I actually think that he might be pretty sharp, but I feel the same about this guy as I do about my brother in law. Why should he be allowed to cause harm to the rest of the world? Not me. Others? A headline that is just an attention getter? Not following through when you he says that he's gonna schedule a call? Why should the rest of the world have to put up with that? I know that I don't want the world to think that I condone it. So, I disconnect and won't interact publicly with it.

One more thing. I'm kind of a jerk, but the jerk that you see publicly is my way of saying, "Don't open me." You get through that and you'll find that I do everything that I promise will care about what you want, but until then, this will be my mindset.

BTW, if you haven't talked to Carole and me about your business, maybe you should?