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Subject:coders, writers, and other HILFs From:Miki Magyar <MDM0857 -at- MCDATA -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 13 Nov 1998 12:58:52 -0700
Respect? You want respect? For yourself, or for what you do, or both?
You can get ordinary courtesy-type respect by expecting it, giving it, and refusing to work in an environment that doesn't support it.
You can only get respect for what you do from people who understand what you do. Duh...! Hey, you're good at this audience analysis thing - consider your non-respecting co-workers as your audience. What do they need to know in order to understand, appreciate, and therefore respect your efforts? You have to educate them.
When I've done this, individually and systemically, it works. I think I get the respect my efforts deserve. The programmers appreciate that they don't have to document the stuff, that I can take their //remarks and put them into comprehensible English, and that I give them chocolate when it's done. But that's because I've told them and shown them what I do and how I do it, and they understand that it is not a trivial process. They have seen the intermediate steps, heard me whine about the lead time for printers, hassles with screen captures, and so on. We share our pain...
So, in other words, to summarize, and in light of the abovementioned aforesaid, if you don't get the respect you think you deserve for yourself as a Person, go somewhere else. If you don't get the respect for your work, then try a little education before you despair. And don't forget the chocolate.
