So NetworkAdmin read my post yesterday wherein I ranted about the sorry state of affairs in our network implementation. The conversation that followed went fairly poorly, but devolved to "send him any future requests through your manager" (to which I replied he should do the same), and that he would do so "professionally", (to which I replied I would do the same). He then got all snide about whether or not I could be professional.
It struck me as an odd statement, coming from the guy who -- instead of saying "yup, getting that QOS stuff done has been on my to-do list, maybe we should bump it in priority" (which would have elicited pretty much a "yup, know the feeling man, thanks for bumping it up" response) -- decided to instead just start making snide remarks about "those linux users". Instead of acknowledging responsibility for the problem, he turned to veiled insults and finger-pointing.
I don't want to speak badly of NetworkAdmin, because he's a good kid, but if that, somehow, is his definition of "professional", well, then I'm not sure what to make of it.
I won't claim to be the easiest guy on the face of the planet to get along with. I won't claim to be the epitome of "professional behavior". Hell, I can be a downright prick. But one thing I've always been good at is owning up to my mistakes at work, accepting responsibility for them, and then ya move on, learning whatever lesson and not repeating them. Finger-pointing isn't something I'm all that good at.
So anyhow, he's all upset that I apparently ripped him apart in my blog post, blah blah blah. His friends are e-mailing me telling me to shut the fuck up about their friend, blah blah blah. So I went back and re-read the post. I wanted to go back and check -- was I really all that harsh about him? Was it somehow over the top and had it crossed that line? I didn't -- and still don't -- think so. Maybe others will correct me if I'm wrong, though.
When I truly want to eviscerate someone in a public blog post, I've done it, and I'd like to think it's plainly clear that I'm in full on evisceration mode. I'm not going to link to archived posts that are examples, because in almost all of the really good "pimpsmackin'" entries, I've since apologized to the people involved for going off on them. The long and the short of it, though, is that yesterday's post doesn't anywhere near rank in the "top ten posts a person should be offended over" on this blog.
I mean, ... Be offended when I rail on you for something that turns out to not be your fault, or when I come out and say things like "oh my god this woman is a moron!", both of which are direct examples of things I've done. Be offended when I'm actually patently insulting about my complaints, or when I'm flat-out wrong, both of which are things that've happened. But don't be offended if I speak the truth about things within your responsibility that affect my ability to do my work.
And here we are... just what we talked about a few posts ago :)
I'm thinking my idea of a rantblog with optional anonymity is a great idea.
www.anonyblog.com used to provide that service, but they're not accepting new posts any more it seems. Probably got abused too much by spammers.
Then we should set another one up and charge 50c/post. :)
And no, I don't think the rant was on par with some of your other pissy posts. Usually I'm cracking up while reading, that one I only managed a terse shrug and an eyeroll. You were far to polite, especially when he had the nerve to refer to you as a "linux person" as if you had the plague.
You mean you *have* the ability to be professional? I neve knew that! :)
Your rant was totally unprofessional, and beyond childish. When I read it, I expected you to be fired. Reading this post, I expect you to be fired again (calling your workplace the pit of despair? oh dear).
Wilhelm - oh please. give me a break. Also, as far as calling my workplace "the pit of despair", you should go back and read http://blog.megacity.org/archives/000652.php which explains that I call *all* workplaces "The Pit of Despair", and have for years. It's a running joke, if you don't get it.
Excessive? Not at all. But not everyone can take criticism and it sounds like the admin has a bit of an ego problem. The fact that you appear to know more about networks than he does ruffled his feathers. Suck it up kid. There's always someone who knows more.
And while you're enjoying humble pie, fix the bloody network.
At least you didn't rip on NetworkAdmin directly with his real name.
In my book you're alright.
If I may interject my somewhat insignificant addendum to Derek's statement:
I have known Derek for (holy christ) going on 20 years now. When Derek does go into full-on 'evisceration' mode, the target will know public, private, mental, and future psycological anguish and torment. Derek is a great guy (and he knows where this is coming from) but if he wished to shred you, he would do so without reservation or remorse, he would also do so with a strong force of will. I wouldn't doubt that he secretly owns an evil thasaurus of insults, curses, and nasty words about ones mother, just to be prepared for an outburst. Being on the bad end of one or two MILD attacks, I know. Derek can take a 450 pound man and shred him into little teeny pieces.
Derek was just stating his side of a situation and my advise to ANYONE who thinks his blog was harsh: Don't piss him off.
In light of Wilhelm's post I thought perhaps I'd missed something, so I went back and read again, and came up with the same conclusion. I don't think Derek was being unprofessional at all.
What's unprofessional is the fact those in networking seem to be aware of the flaws in the system but haven't done anything to correct it, thus preventing others from doing their job correctly.
Boo Hoo Hoo.
You ranted something off in a blog post and the guy gets all torqued up about it.
Something tells me that this guy better invest in some sort of life. Dude- go to happy hour or something and lighten the hell up.
And if you don't like what I wrote- go fuck yourself!
i agree with both george and pete. ye havent seen anything till ye really piss him off, wilhelm needs grow up and accept resposibilty for his job, as they say in retail "take possesion of it" and fix the dam problem.you would think a buisness whose source of income is off the net, would make sure the bloody thing works right all the time and was up to date tech wise
Childish? Like checking a co-worker's blog and complaining about being in it? Or having your friends write emails to protect you from the big meanie?
It's unprofessional to criticize co-workers in a public forum, or reveal internal company situations (even negative ones you think need change) in a way that subverts the chain of command. Of course, that varies wildly depending on the type of company you work for, and obviously there's just too much about your company your reading public does not know to be able to guess what's right and what isn't.
At the end of the day, it's a matter of how you and your company have a relationship, and what their interest is in image and/or the personality/approach of having you as an employee.
One thing, though; The fact that you could be "much worse" doesn't hold up as an excuse or explanation for anything, in the long run. If you get yelled at for failing to turn a project in on time, the fact you could be "much worse" doesn't validate it being not on time. And saying that you could be "much worse" does not indicate if you crossed any lines or not.
In some environments, your network admin could definitely have you fired.