Re: Messages . . .

[Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- UNX -dot- SAS -dot- COM>]

Andrew Shires defends and restates his original concerns:


>   A few further notes on the `pedantry' debate I have unwittingly
> sparked, and in which I've become an effigy.

[...deletions...]

>   Of course, it's no business of mine to _tell_ people to do anything,
> and I haven't: but some responses have implied, ridiculously, that I
> demand perfection (not that I would know it if I saw it), that I
> endorse net-pedantry, and that I am on a mission from an ivory tower
> to clean up the dirty old world.  This is serving to evade my
> original, very specific point, by forming a caricature of it.

[...deletions...]

>   I thank those who've discussed the point I made.  I agree with Chuck
> Petch that people who judge us for minor errors are being unrealistic.
> My concern is simply that they'll be out there -- and that, for some
> people on the list, credibility in the workplace is a luxury they are
> having to fight for.

This might go without saying, but none of us controls anything but our
own actions. Each of us chooses whether to uphold a particular standard
in any given area of our work or our lives.

Might I respectfully suggest we all uphold the standard with which we
are most comfortable, allow others to do the same, and let those who
draw conclusions based on these performances think what they will?  That
would, IMHO, make everything a little less tense, no?

If someone concludes *my* profession is sloppy based on work somebody
else produces, sullying me by association, I really don't care. I'm
satisfied that my own actions meet a standard I find acceptable.
Everything else is out of my control.

But, Mr. Shires is well within his rights to try and affect the actions
of others directly by suggestion, and by his example. Others are just as
free to take his suggestions to heart, or to ignore them completely. The
lurkers and the dilettantes will conclude whatever they want,
regardless.

Personally, I like to include some substandard prose in every post I make,
just to make sure everybody is on their respective toes. Just in case
you were all wondering. ;-)

> Andrew Shires                                           Harlequin Ltd.,
> Technical Author                                        Barrington Hall,

|Len Olszewski, Technical Writer |"Don't use the imperative!"         |
|saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com|Cary, NC, USA| -Rhetorical contradiction          |
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| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|