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.
Re: Green Grass story:happy even in my semi-cubicle
Subject:Re: Green Grass story:happy even in my semi-cubicle From:Philomena Hoopes <PHILA -at- MAIL -dot- VIPS -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 18 Feb 1999 10:37:08 -0500
To be with a solvent and socially conscious company, putting out a
well-designed product that sells, and best of all, to have (oh, glory be!) a
valid paycheck deposited directly to my bank on a regular basis -- who needs
windows or offices?
Philomena Hoopes
Phila -at- vips -dot- com <mailto:Phila -at- vips -dot- com>
VIPS Healthcare Information Solutions, Inc.
(410) 832-8330 ext 845
-----Original Message-----
From: Moore, Tracey [mailto:TMoore -at- PARKERVISION -dot- COM]
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 1999 10:43 AM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: FW: Green Grass story:happy even in my
semi-cubicle
I too have a green grass story:
I had a lovely office with a window and nice furniture at my
last job. I
loved my coworkers who were brilliant programmers and
analysts. We had
our own server and great paychecks and top-of-the-line
equipment. We
also had a clinically paranoid tyrant for a boss.
To illustrate, we would hear the intercom turn off on our
phones, and we
knew he had been listening in. He wanted the system
administrator to
install software that would make sure we weren't surfing sex
sites at
work. (Fortunately, he was technically inept, and the admin
told him it
wouldn't work on our system.) He assigned his office manager
the task of
reading all of our emails. He had the receptionist open all
mail and
make copies for him. It did not matter if it were junk mail
or a
birthday card, it got copied and he read it!
He started suing his clients because he was convinced they
were out to
get him. He eventually became convinced that we were out to
get him too.
He also was a "good ole boy". Once he told a male programmer
that a
female could never rise to the level that a male could in
his business
because he can't confront females without making them cry.
Once in a
meeting, he looked at me and said sarcastically, "Are you
gonna cry?" (I
was not even near crying.) He would constantly remind me,
"Don't forget
who signs your paycheck!"
He also was a staunch Christian (get that!), a member of the
Gideons,
and passed out bibles by the hundreds. In our waiting room
there were no
tech magazines, only Christian literature and gun mags (he's
an avid
hunter too).
Did you guess it? That's right, I live in the South.
So the green grass? I left that company two months ago and
now work in a
company with sane, rational people. I don't have a window,
and I
sometimes miss it, but wouldn't go back there for a million
dollars.