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Re: An observation about the writer-engineer relationship

Subject: Re: An observation about the writer-engineer relationship
From: Win Day <winday -at- home -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 15:22:11 -0400

At 01:28 PM 12/10/2001 -0400, Dick Margulis wrote:

<SNIP>


Of the hundred or so employees in this company, I would venture that over eighty percent have engineering degrees of one sort or another--everything from chemical engineering to architecture to electrical engineering to computer science. I'm not one of them. Had I stayed with it long enough to get a degree, it would have been in mathematics (pure, not applied). I suspect that most of our tech writers also have non-technical degrees.

Yet when it comes to dealing with any sort of mechanical device around the office--a printer or copier, a coffee maker, an adjustable chair, a the dishwasher, you name it--or any sort of software glitch--it's the engineers who stand around dazed and confused and the writer types (or the IT guys, who generally are high school or tech school grads) who walk over and fix the damn thing.


I have to laugh at this one. My dad spent years as a purchaser for various engineering companies. In fact, it was probably the constant exposure to engineers and their careers that led me to be one.

But my dad always said "Don't ever let an engineer DO anything!"

Of course, there are exceptions. My husband and I are both chemical engineers, and fairly good at doing things, fixing things, assembling things, etc. We managed to produce two completely mechanically-inept sons, don't ask me how.

Win
----------------

Win Day
Multimedia Developer

http://www.creativeimplementations.com
mailto:winday -at- creativeimplementations -dot- com


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References:
An observation about the writer-engineer relationship: From: Dick Margulis

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