Re: Goodbye TECHWR-L
To those who were offended, hated, or annoyed by Andrew's comments, I bet it
was the fact that Andrew was speaking the truth, and you could identify with
those people or methods Andrew mocked, that you hated most.
You bet wrong, Christine. Andrew didn't speak the truth; he _owned_ the truth. He mocked contradictory opinions whether he knew what he was talking about or not. The fact that considerations of usability, design, or clarity of expression are not of major significance to his business does not mean they are unimportant to everyone. The fact that he is not interested in something does not mean that nobody should be interested in it. This may have been a rhetorical style he affected because it amused him to do so, but to equate it with speaking the truth is a bit of a stretch. I have little tolerance for anyone who claims to own the truth, and least of all for someone who concocts defensive rationalizations when called on it.
It is much
easier to be angry than to do something about truth when you hear it. Andrew
challenged all of us. He pointed out flaws and left us with the option to
say, "he is right, am I going to do something about it (in my own writing
methods) or am I going to take the easy and lazy way out and just be mad,
vent and lash out at the messenger?"
Often Andrew said things I agree with. Often he gave serious consideration to questions and posted thoughtful responses. Often he said things I disagreed with, as many other posters do from time to time. None of that has anything to do with the truth (we're talking about opinions, after all) or with calling Andrew on his sophomoric provocateurism, which is annoying no matter who does it.
What I will miss most about Andrew is his humor. He made me laugh. Being a
technical writer can be boring, but without Andrew's postings - it will be
worse. Many of you take your job too seriously - no, wait, you take your
title too seriously.
False dichotomy there, kiddo. It's okay to take your job seriously. In fact, in most companies, it's a good way to stay employed. Whatcha don't want to do is take yourSELF seriously. It's okay to be poked fun at, even by Andrew. It's not okay to be mean to each other. Even if you ARE Andrew.
Dick
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RE: Goodbye TECHWR-L: From: Christine Gonzales
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