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Subject:Everthing is just ducky! From:David Orr <dorr -at- ORRNET -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 5 Mar 1999 12:05:14 -0600
First, I have to tell a joke:
A duck goes into a bar and asks the bartender, "Do you have any grapes?"
"No," replied the bartender, "we don't have any grapes." The duck
waddles off.
The next day the duck comes back in and asks again, "Do you have any
grapes?" The bartender gives him a dirty look and says, "I told you, we
don't have any grapes!" The duck leaves.
The next day the duck comes in again and asks the same question. The
bartender, exasperated, exclaims, "Look, duck, if you come in here again
asking for grapes, I'm going to nail your webbed feet to the floor!" The
duck departs.
The next day the duck comes in and asks, "Do you have any nails?"
"No," says the bartender.
"Do you have any grapes?" asks the duck.
Now substitute "technical writer" for "duck," "developer or SME" for
bartender, and "functional specs" or "information on the product" for
grapes, and you have a pretty good picture of one of our professional
frustrations. Sorry, about the "waddle" part; it must be frustration
combined with chocolate. The "webbed feet" part is just a developer slur
on our profession.
