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I got paid today. My check doesn't know whether I'm a professional or a
secretary. IMHO it's a good check. I like what I do. I care about what I
do. I work with people who care about what they do.
It wasn't always that way here. There are plenty of people who don't think
Technical Writers are needed here (or maybe anywhere else). We'll never get
them all. But that check was still good.
It doesn't matter what anyone says or does. If you think you're a
professional, if you act like a professional, if you carry yourself like a
professional, you are one. If you once sink to the level of the
name-callers, the diminishers, the jerks, and the "opinions are like
a****les, everybody has one" types, then you lose and they win.
You see, the people who diminish your value do so because they have so
little self-esteem themselves that they have to try to tear everyone else
down. Mostly these kinds of people only want to be noticed and to bring
everyone down to the level they perceive themselves to be at.
And the really ironic thing is that sometimes the worst of these kinds of
people are the ones who own companies or have high positions. They may have
position and prestige, but they don't think they have earned it, so they
have to tear others down so they can feel better about themselves. Only it
doesn't work.
So ignore they people who want to tear your self-esteem down.
Tom Murrell
>From: Chuck Martin <CMartin -at- serena -dot- com>
> I received the following in private reply to a piece of a post I wrote
> yesterday. Naturally, I disagree. I also take offense; the response is of a
> tone I have encountered from any number of developers and managers, that the
> discipline of technical communication is nothing more than that of a
> glorified secretary. This response, which I have encountered at many turns,
> I think belittles all the training and experience I have garnered over the
> years (in many more areas than just writing)--and continue to obtain (for
> example, I'm taking a UNIX evening class this semester).
