From Computerworld:
Manager complains to pilot fish [the IT guy -Skip] that "my Internet is broken," so fish stops by his cube. "He wants to know why he can’t find archery supplies on the Internet," says fish. "I give him a stern look — this is on company time — and look at the search window, where the phrase ‘archy supplyies’ is in the input box. I tell him it helps if you get the spelling correct. He replies, ‘C’mon man, you know I’m not good with computers.’ Just then a co-worker pipes up to say, ‘Fred, that isn’t a computer skill — that’s a life skill!’ "
Being in the computer industry, I hear about these kinds of things all the time. Some are amusing, some make me cringe. This one gets thrown into the heaps called "lazy" (c’mon, you can’t even use a spellchecker?) and "just enough to get by".
Of the two, I think the latter catagory is worse. How many people do you know do "just enough to get by"? Face it, we all do from time to time (and for one reason or another – some good, and some just "lazy"). However, there are a lot of people who do nothing but "just enough"; they are coasting through life. I have some compassion for those that are coasting (or, is it "existing") because they have been beat down so much so many times; this can be understood. Yet, there are many examples of people that should not have succeeded based on their life’s events but have strived and overcome.
This IS the land of opportunity, of making almost anything happen that you can think of and are willing to work for. However, there are those that won’t even try! Education helps, luck and being in the right place helps, but the most important thing is to be willing to try (and fail if required) and keep trying.
Which means that one has to have the spirit of persistence, the willingness to not give up. These are the folks that succeed in this country. I laughed when I read the above, and I shake my head when I wonder what the percentage must be that basically give up.
Heck, not only do they don’t even try to reach for the brass ring – they don’t even want to get on the carousal.
