Tangential to the topic, but related to the "traditional" programming culture some have described -- I've programmed professionally since 1978, although I haven't come anywhere close to Randal's heights. In the early '90s I was a developer at a DBMS vendor in Kendall Square, Cambridge, which was founded by, and employed, some of MIT and Boston College's Best and Brightest - people with "a rather high opinion of themselves," as the office mom mildly said. After the first few times the Principal Software Architect (whisperingly referred to as "God") reviewed my code, I finally went to his office and had a private chat with him. (Poor guy apparently hadn't heard anyone tell him they felt belittled or scorned by his tone before.) Given that we were face to face, and I was using a calm voice, and he *couldn't* actually just sock me in the nose, or fire me, he had to listen to me. He had no problem, nor lost any face, dropping the attitude real quick. I was happier; he got to spend a bit less time being pissed off and severe; I really learned a LOT of excellent practical engineering from him; and I talked him up to those I later mentored. I see nothing of value that was lost.
That's all just to say that, while the traditional sci/tech culture may still be rife with big shots and ass-hattery, it's worth summoning the guts to look straight into someone's eyes and quietly insist upon being treated with common courtesy. They're actually not as dumb as they act! :D Chap -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: beginners-unsubscr...@perl.org For additional commands, e-mail: beginners-h...@perl.org http://learn.perl.org/
