RE: Troublesome Writers

[Chris <cud -at- arrakis -dot- es>]

Have to add my 0.02 euros...
 >One phrase keeps coming up in this thread that I find troubling:
 >the relationship is
 >perhaps best severed for the good of both parties

The fact of the matter is, if termination is made for honest reasons, it
*is* for the good of both parties.  And managers aren't the only ones
who have the power to terminate your job, either.  You can do it, too. 
In either case, if the question arises, it's because somebody is
unhappy.  Maybe the only fix is for one side of the relationship to go
away.  Guess which one it usually is.  That's not to say it isn't for
the good of both parties, though.

I was once in a supervisory position.  I ultimately had to fire a
writer... he/she could not hack the technical requirements.  Another
time I watched a writer get fired...  He/she also could not hack the
technical requirements.  In both cases, the job description had very
clear technical requirements.  Watching these people try to meet the
requirements was very painful.  One of these two people actually took to
worrying a spot on his/her head with his/her thumb to the point of
making a bald spot, which eventually became a sore.  This was not for
the good
of both parties.

BTW, an earlier posting notwithstanding, these are true stories.  The
people were not fired/terminated/let go or otherwise euphemised because
they insulted a petulant higher-up.  They were the wrong people for the
jobs.  They should not have been hired in the first place.  These people
only became more miserable the more they tried to do what did not suit
them.  And misery is contageous...  We all felt bad about these
situations.

Oh, I have seen the other situations, where the euphamism occured
unjustly.  But again, I saw a co-worker suffer this fate, and then join
the ranks of contractors.  He/she later told me, "There *is* life after
<company name>!"  He/she was a happier person.  I have seen other unjust
situations with less satisfying endings.  But I ask you - do you want to
continue in a company that is unjust?  I'm reminded of that Michael
Douglas movie about the futuristic tech company - Michael Douglas is a
victim of chronic sabotage - all part of an attempted coup.  A VP knows
all about it, but won't tell him what's going on, nor do anything to
stop it.  This is Michael Douglas' test of fire!  Will he solve the
mystery and keep his place in this cool company with loft-space
offices?  What crap!  I would have slapped that VP as soon as I found
she knew about the situation and did nothing to help.  The point is, why
struggle to hang in there with idiots?  It's their loss, not yours.

We do not exist to work.  We work to exist.  If work is miserable, our
existence becomes miserable.  BTW, to suggest that tech writing could
ever aspire to misery is absurd - unless you create the misery
yourself.  You shouldn't have bought that BMW microwave 15-speed
titanium mountain
bike overpriced condo big-screen swimming pool.  At least, not on
credit.  If you're a slave to Visa, don't expect much sympathy from me. 
And when you become a problem is often when you can't keep your misery
to yourself.  I have seen it.  

Try working in a mine with diesel machinery and no ventillation.  That's
a little closer to misery - especially when management seems to keep
everybody at each others' throats (a good way to keep the unions in
line, eh?).  Or try serving coffee in a cafe from 8:00 in the morning
until 12:00 at night.  Or
try making shoes for Nike.  Techno-Geeks have it very easy.  So if you
find that you hate your job, just say NO.  And if you find a fellow
employee hates his/her job, urge him/her to say the same.  It's probably
the best thing for everybody.  No matter whose fault it is that you hate
the job.  Why linger on such a bad feeling?  Aren't you a free person?

If you have genuine problems, get thee to EAP.  Remember - you're a
techno-weenie and probably have such luxurious benefits.  Nobody helps
the graveyard-shift cook at your local Denny's with his/her
drug/alcohol, or marriage, or chronic depression problem.  But I've seen
techno-geeks steal company property to fund their cocain habits, then
get psychological help on the company dime.  Count your blessings, not
your complaints.

Cheers              cud

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