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How Much Respect Do You Get?
droidlev asks: "In our continually fluctuating economy I have seen a drastic change in the level of respect that I receive. As a technician I've grown accustomed to a heightened level of respect when I walk into a client's office. Not to say that I have a God complex, however, it feels good to walk into a room and be appreciated. I'm passionate for the computer work that I do; I'm 'GEEK' for it. People know that I'm there to help and solve their problems. There is good amount of value in this extra level of appreciation and respect. This is especially true when you are developing business relationships (and of course it never hurts to be liked). In recent times, however, I've been cast in a different light; actually more like a darkened shadow. I am now seen as a necessary evil instead of the 'all powerful technician.' So I ask what your experiences have been, either as a computer technician or another professional? Have you seen a change in the level of respect that you receive?"
"Businesses are trying to save every penny they have. Unless something significant goes wrong, they handle a situation themselves. This only compounds the severity of a problem. By the time I get there, everything has gone to hell and I get a look (the it's-all-your-fault look) from every cubicle and every office. In the past, exceptionally dedicated service translated to loyal clients that didn't mind paying a little bit more. Once I was the problem solver, now it seems I am yet another flame to burn their money."
Tyranny isn't the worst enemy of a democracy. Cynicism is.
Thank gosh! I thought I was crazy, and for along time I thought I was the only to whom this has happened.
I used to command a lot of respect when I was a technician in the 80's. Of course back then, I had to wear a suit and shower daily, which is against my religion.
Now, thanks to the ever-increasing tolerance and appreciation for various lifestyles and religions, I am now permitted to wear business casual, and it has been ruled unconstitutional and against my religious rights to force me to shower. So I'm glad I gained a bit of freedom, but I noticed that clients seem to resent me for it and try to show their displeasure by standing as far away from me as possible.
Also, I think there are bad impressions about me because so many of American jobs go to my relatives overseas. They are hard workers, and they deserve the jobs! Just because we cannot speak in an accent that is understood by our customers DOES NOT make us unqualified to represent!
Also personally my boss really seems to hate the fact that I leave work 3 times a day to go pray. I don't understand, it's only 1 hour of prayer every now and then, and it's not like my presence is missed! My only comfort is that he will be sent to the eternal tar trap in the fifth level of Zimboonu when he is finally striken for his transgressions.
I don't know. Over the past few years, it seems as though I have been getting more and more opportunities and freedoms, but now more people resent me. I thought this was the land of "live freely as a free person might, doing freely as you wish!"
That's the most retarded thing I've ever heard.
I've got a degree in computer science, worked as a programmer for years, an analyst, a researcher, a manager, and now a VP. I've seen just as many posers on both sides of the fence: management and IT. I've worked with plenty of coders and IT guys who did absolutely nothing but look up solutions in books and on the Web all day -- no personal value in them at all. And I've worked with managers who do nothing but spout nonsense they just read in management books, too.
To make a blanket statement that "all business people suck and all IT people never need to worry" is boneheaded. There are IT guys who are brilliant, and there are business people who are brilliant... and there are idiots in both camps too.
You just highlighted your nick on the list of "IT idiots".
You've obviously never worked for a dirtbig....
"Your B-school educated manager, or PhD-awarded engineer or researcher, is going to give you respect for a job well done. But if you think that translates into access to a new tier of status and esteem, think again."
Sure but you have it backwards. Just because you have listed a class that believes themselves above others does not make them above others. The problem is that most people who have wasted money on an expensive school or excessive schooling (By the time you have a bachlors you have garnered everything worthwhile your going to get from the formal education system and then some) feel that they are entitled to something for it. IQ is a better of measure to use for class than education any day of the week.
Your position at work, education, or physical prowess does not define superiority; your intellect does. The managers who can even begin to rate intellectually compared with techs, programmers, or engineers are VERY rare indeed. Business is the well known avenue for those with virtually no intellectual prowess.
(the public accounting version of an Executive Board) of their Accounting firms and decided to use every loophole and deregulation trick that the glorious Republican Party gave us in order stuff their pockets with money and buy $16,000 umbrella stands.
Sadly, though, those Arthur Anderson A-2s are the ones who hit the streets searching for new jobs while a handful of George "Kenny Boy" W. Bush's buddies got off scott-free.
Highly unethical, but then again, we can thank Republican-backed deregulation and rapacious partners for that greed-inspired business practice.
You obviously have a bias against the Republican party. Too bad it is all inaccurate and incorrect.
When did the scandals hit? Who was president? Who ran congress? The heyday of the scandals and the dot-com bubble were during the Clinton administration. President Bush comes in, appoints John Ashcroft, and now these people are hunted down and brought to justice. Now you're hearing about the scandals committed during the 90's. You're forgetting that part of the story.
And you're also forgetting the follow-up. Who reformed the way accounting is done, held the CEOs and CFOs responsible for shoddy accounting, and is still hunting down and prosecuting the criminals on high? One hint: It ain't the democrats, because they are nowhere to be found in Washington DC ever since Bush swept the elections of '04.
Remember the house banking scandals before the republicans took the majority in the 80's temporarily? Democrats were bouncing checks left and right and making the public pay for it. Now that doesn't happen anymore because Republicans came in and cleaned house.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Republicans are business-friendly---as long as that business is legit. Democrats, on the other hand, thrive on scandal after scandal after scandal. (Enron and AA were major democrat businesses, and in no way associated with Bush or the republican party, thankfully.)
The radical sect of Islam would either see you dead or "reverted" to Islam.
That's because people wearing mohawks are not actually doing it because they BELIEVE in mohawks.
They're doing it to try to shock people.
And the more you try to shock people without actually BELIEVING in your own game, the less respect you get (unless of course you're armed and physically dangerous.)
This is where the punk movement went wrong. If they had dressed like young Republicans, and STILL shouted "Fuck the Queen!", they would have been taken more seriously. And probably been arrested and sent to jail and executed.
Primate sociology is very humorous to a Transhuman - when we're not irritated or puking because of it.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
It's amazing how much respect you earn when people think you're a competent, educated intellectual.
In other words: Capitalize "I" as a pronoun and don't confuse "your" with "you're" and maybe you too will eventually earn some respect. This is actually a great deal of the problem; AIM kiddies that don't know how to properly form a sentence calling themselves "geeks" and "nerds" and giving the real mccoy a bad name. It has nothing to do with computers being perceived as infallible when they are in reality fallible; it has to do with the way you project yourself.
If you project yourself like a child, you'll be treated like one.
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.