You know, my job may drive me absolutely bug fuck insane, but at least I know that I'm helping people out at the end of the day. It may take awhile sometimes, but at least I know that my customers listen to what I have to say (eventually, in some cases) when all is said and done.
The docs guys, though...I feel for them. And for me, in some respects--my job would be a lot easier if people read the documentation, but they don't, and that's why I figure it'd suck to be in tech pubs. What's the point of writing a good, understandable document about a very complex product if you know going in that no one's going to read it and they're all going to call support anyway?
And what brought this on, you might ask? Someone asked me today how to enable SSL on their server. Which, well, if you look in the index at the back of the book, and look under S for SSL, hey, look, there it is! How hard was that?
Gah. :)
Posted by Liz at September 16, 2004 08:23 AMOne of the women I worked with several incarnations ago, Lynn, was from the south, and while she never cursed, she had great catch phrases. One of them, which I've adopted, was to say that someone "had all their taste in their mouth" when criticizing decor or fashion.
The other, which I'd hear her singsong at me whenever I complained about the stupidity of people, was "Two percent!"
She was referring to the theory that only about 2% of the general population is remotely competent, and as members of that elite group, we will often find ourselves facing sheer idiocy.
It didn't solve the problem of things that came down to RTFM isues, but hearing her voice in my head going "Two percent" makes me smile in the face of incompetence.
Oh, and, since I didn't comment to your 9/12 "what's new with all of you?" tag: Nothing much. Bought a new house. :)
Posted by: Melissa at September 17, 2004 07:11 AM