TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: us vs. them (somewhat long) From:Peter <pnewman1 -at- home -dot- com> To:Sierra Godfrey <kittenbreath -at- hotbot -dot- com> Date:Sun, 04 Jun 2000 11:02:09 -0400
>
> The two that are bad, though--are really bad. One is worse than the other. He's downright sadistic. Naturally, these two are the ones I work with most often. So sometimes it's very difficult for me here. Not just the other day the worse of the two yelled at me loudly, uncalled for and unprofessional. When I was hired for the job, I was asked by four different people how I worked with difficult people. I had the boss from the deepest pits of hell before, so I thought I knew. Actually, I didn't handle him well either. So a lot of it is just learning to deal with those bad people. I don't care if they respect me or not now. They won't. They don't respect anyone. I just try to do my job in the most efficient way possible, and work around them.
>
Of course you can always politely ask: Why are you yelling at me? I can
hear you perfectly well. Or, you can turn it into humor.
I remember being at one firm where there was a hyper manager, who
always yelled: "drop everything and...," One day while carrying a load
of papers that was secured under my chin, while balancing a china coffee
cup, I took him literally. He never yelled at anyone again.
--
Peter
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a
minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute-and it's
longer than any hour. That's relativity," - Einstein-