Friday, September 9, 2011

Goading

     Somewhere in the process of making our way in the world today, people have learned that complimenting someone and playing dumb will get them to do the work for you.  I will not fall for your traps.
     "You're good at Word.  How do I...?"  How many times have I heard this?  The answer they want is "just send it to me."  They don't think I'll actually teach them how to use Word.  But I will, because Word isn't hard.  I know they're just being asshats, so I stop what I'm doing, and I learn them some Microsoft Office Suite.
     Also, telling me I'm good at Word is not a compliment.  It's not something to be good at.  I don't get a bonus because I've learned how to use the commands that Microsoft put in their program.  I haven't manipulated code or written an add-on macro to specifically serve our purposes.  Really, I just know how to read.  When I need to insert a section break, I think Hmm, I wonder if Insert, followed by Section Break will get that job done.  It does.
     Stop trying to goad me into doing your work with fake compliments, playing dumb, and plain old taunts.  "I don't think you can get Word to do that."  Or "but when I do it, it doesn't work."  Well then, tough crap.  But I'm not doing it for you.  Also, there's a users manual, a help menu, and an entire Dummies series on this stuff.  And you probably passed 6th grade, so you should be able to figure it out anyway.

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