Re: Midol Moment or National Tragedy? You decide...

["Kathi Jan Knill" <Kathi -dot- Knill -at- template -dot- com>]

National Tragedy? I think NOT!

I am an avid reader outside of what I need to read for my profession. I
love reading all types of books (with the exception of Science Fiction).
Why do I tell you this? Because I have yet to read a book that doesn't have
some error, be it punctuation, grammar, spelling (least likely), etc. In
fact usually I see quite a few as I read. Do I stop reading and immediately
call the author or publisher telling them that if they don't hire a better
editor the NSA (National Security Administration) will be on them in a
heartbeat??? Wouldn't that be ludicrous?

So why would someone even suggest that any technical publication (with the
exception of maybe a nuclear bomb user's manual) be perfect? And to even
consider that errors that are accepted are going to "erode the English
language" -- come on guys, isn't that taking things a little too far???
(see my analogy above!)

I suggest that if everyone on this list spent less time talking about what
it would mean if a manual isn't absolutely, 100% perfect, and spent more
time working to make their own manuals perfect, we'd all be better off. We
are all human and therefore, none of us is perfect! And that goes for what
we write as well. Believe me it is not going to bring the country down on
its knees if we don't all become perfect in the next 24 hours.

So, yes I think we should all strive to do our best and be able to take
pride in what we do, but no I don't think that if we miss the period or
comma that it will result in major tragedy.

Of course this is all MHO.

Kathi Jan Knill
Sr. Technical Writer
Template Software
Kathi -dot- Knill -at- Template -dot- com
You have to do what you love to do,
not get stuck in that comfort zone of
a regular job. Life is not a dress rehearsal.
This is it.