I've noticed that there has been a rash of people posting recently that make 1 or 2 posts and then are never heard from again, and I'm wondering if we are being too harsh with them.

Typically they start off one of two ways, either stating they have read the stickies and then asking questions that are answered by them or starting off showing no clue and no intention of wanting to learn past being spoonfed and we (using that term a generic for the community, myself included) will typically give them a "read the stickies, read the wiki" comment after which they are never heard from again. Now is this because the comments are seemingly unfriendly, or because they can't be bothered actually doing the work? (well I think we all know the answer there)

I got to thinking about it, and came up with the following...in one of the beginner stickies have a comment like "Now, when you post asking for help use the phrase purple bubblegum heart and people will know you have read this"...it's weird enough no-one would randomly add it to their posts, and probably easily skipped over if you aren't paying attention and trying to learn from the stickies but would allow people to know that the person using it has taken the time to read and try to learn and will likely be worth spending some of our time to help.

I think all of us here are willing to help as much as possible when someone shows a willingness to help themselves first, so why don't we give us and them a way to show who they are rather than let someone that could be an asset to the community get swept away in the flood of leeches that get ignored?