MishisM

I believe that the world is full of idiots and, to date, I have not been proven wrong.  Operating on this hypothesis, I believe that everyone, upon first meeting them, is an idiot and I believe this until something indicates to me otherwise.  Anyone I meet over the internet only – automatic moron.

There are many ways someone can show me they no longer deserve idiot-labelling.  Proper use of English, for me, is a big one.  Once you start playing with syntax and diction – whoa!  Genius level, baby!  However, until I can determine your true place on the intelligence scale, we’re only going to play beginner levels.

I’m in a position where I sometimes have to train people.  At my job, for instance, the turnover isn’t too bad but replacement time is.  If someone leaves, the quickest they could get replaced is two weeks, but that’s not often the case.  Once, we went without a cook for a year and a half.  In the interim, the position is open and usually filled by a temp.  Now, if you’ve never worked with a temp, there’s usually a reason why they’re only a temp.  Automatic minus ten IQ points (until proven otherwise).  We have had a great temp or two, but the vast majority of them are little more than warm bodies that take quite a bit of programming.  This is what I expect when a new temp reports for duty.

After years of training temps, I’ve learned that they can only handle one or two new things a day.  I told this to my coworker who believes in the sink or swim method – he showed a temp how to do everything we do in one day.  The temp never came back the second day.  I told my coworker that I told him so.

Day one, all you need to know is when the breaks are and where to be when not on break.  Day two, I might set you up with a cutting board and the lettuce knife.  Day three, a real knife.  Day four, if you’re still with us, perhaps a piece of manually-operated equipment.  Day five, I won’t look over your shoulder while you work, and wait till after to correct what you’ve done.  If you come back to work a second week, you gain back your ten IQ points and can begin the intermediate level.
Harsh? Perhaps.  Prejudice? Maybe.  But I’ve saved a lot of breath and managed not to overwhelm the poor, lost little temps on the first day.

Education in general, not just at work, is a gradual process, so spewing forth your fact hoard and then getting upset that it’s not understood is a waste of time and energy.  If you tell a person five words, they’ll forget the first two. Again, that’s my initial-meeting judgment, but I’ve been operating in the knowledge that the world is full of idiots for some time now, and I’ve yet to be disappointed.