What did you call me?

 

On Saturdays I finish yoga and go to my mates local pub for a crafty diet coke before going home. Some of the guys in the pub have got to know me a little from my visits. Now, whenever I go in they ask me what countries I have visited recently and then generally take the p*ss out of me, saying either that I must be rich because of all the travelling I do, or I’m a layabout who doesn’t have a real job…

Last Saturday I went in and we had the usual bit of banter. I then sat down and soon after a lady came up to me and said she had overheard the guys talking and was interested to know what I actually did. Apparently they had said I was a lecturer and I was the 30th best in the world???

The lecturer bit is maybe understandable. Presenter, teacher, lecturer is all the same ball park to me. What I don’t understand is the 30th best in the world bit. I can’t think of anything I’ve ever said that can be interpreted that way. I’ve never spoken to them directly about what I do and I can’t think of anything I’ve ever said that could be interpreted as a “world ranking”. Anyway,  I explained to the lady in question I was in I.T., at which point she made a sharp exit. Nothing new there…

The moral of this story is, if someone asks you what you do, answer with a job title they understand like brick layer or electrician. It does nobody any good if you tell the truth, because they will only misunderstand, make something up and then exaggerate a bit on top of that. Next time someone asks I’m going to say I’m the 26th best gynaecologist in the world and see what comes back to me. Probably a washed up DBA with delusions of grandeur… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Author: Tim...

DBA, Developer, Author, Trainer.

6 thoughts on “What did you call me?”

  1. If you took Steven Feuerstein’s PL/SQL Challenge every day, you’d get a ranking that you can boast about in the pub….but only if it is a very geeky pub.

    There are about 100 ACE Directors. There are about 65 ACEs in Database App Development including about 20 ACE directors (including you). So I think you could justifiably argue ‘top 30’ status.

    But to dent your ego, I still think Jonathan Lewis got the best deal with his status as an Alien with Extraordinary Ability
    http://jonathanlewis.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/qualifications/

    Now that would get real pub cred.

  2. Not sure if the guys in the pub would care about the PL/SQL Challenge or the ACE Program, especially when they can make stuff up to tell people… 🙂

    Cheers

    Tim..

  3. Know the feeling. I once got a friend of mine a T-shirt with this written on it:
    “I’m not a gynaecologist
    but I’ll have a look…”

  6. I completely agree with all what you said sir. That’s why most of the times, I just say I am searching job and enjoy the free advices coming to tell me what I should with my degree in computers 🙂 .

Comments are closed.