tfp13

"THE FINE PRINT"

The musings of Michael Schrader

      DON’T ASSUME; YOU MAY FIND OUT YOU ARE WRONG!
(Published in 1994 in the Farmington Press-Leader. Posted in toto with Preface and Epilogue 23 July 2001)

PREFACE -- This column is a reflection of two events. The first occurred when I took a sabbatical from engineering and took a job as a temporary maintenance man. The second occurred when a client with whom I had only communicated by the telephone saw me in person for the first time.

        Feudalism is alive and well. And thriving in corporate America.
       The "society" of corporate America resembles a feudal society. The barons and lords are the "ties", i.e. the college-educated white collar workers. The surfs are the "grunts," the not necessarily college-educated who do the manual labor.
       For most of my career, I have been a "tie." As a "tie", I never understood how condescending "ties" were to the "grunts". However, after spending the past several weeks as a "grunt", now I do.
       Many of the "ties" I have met treat "grunts" like they have absolutely no intelligence. For example, I had one "tie" tell me to place a file cabinet with the drawers facing away from the wall. (No duh?) I think that "tie" would have felt pretty bad about telling me that if I had mentioned that I have two-and-a-half college degrees. But that "tie" never knew, as I never mentioned it. To that "tie", I was just another high school drop out working as a "grunt."
       Sadly, this perception of the "grunt" is prevalent in the "tie" world. And this perception couldn't be further from the truth. Another fellow "grunt" is going to college to get degrees in History and Electrical Engineering. Another is a sculpture artist. Even more sad is the fact that we are taught from a very young age not to "judge a book by its cover."
       Violation of this golden rule is not limited to the perception of the "grunts" by the "ties". Even among the "ties" themselves, decisions are made based upon appearances.
       Young "ties" are treated as inferior to older "ties". I have experience this many times in my career. I have served my apprenticeship and achieved "Professional Engineer" status in the eyes of three states. My rubber seal is equally as valid and powerful as my Dad's, even though Dad has been an engineer forty year longer. However, in the eyes of many in the "tie" world, Dad is more of an engineer than I am, and his seal is somehow better.
       I was once told by a former employer that I had to be "trained" to be an engineer, even though I was already a professional engineer. Although I did not really say anything about it at the time, I was quite insulted by the attitude. To add insult to injury, this employer treated me differently than older engineers, whose opinion he respected.   Because I was young, I was treated like an inferior. Because he "judged the book by the cover" , i.e. he assumed that because I was young I didn't know anything, that former employer never was able to realize how good of an engineer I was.
       Unfortunately, my former employer's attitude is prevalent in business. On several occasions, my age has caused people who were confident of my ability when I had talked to them on the telephone to question my ability.
       "Are you sure you know what you are doing Mike?"
       "Why do you ask?"
       "You look so young. I assumed that you were older and had gray hair."
       "You never questioned my ability before."
       "I never saw you before."
       The moral of the story is: the next time you see a "grunt", or even a young person, don't make assumptions about that person; in all probability, the assumptions you make will be wrong.

EPILOGUE -- I am now on the downhill side of my 30s, have thinning hair, have a smattering of gray, and am still questioned as to my ability. It hasn’t gotten any better with age and experience.