SIGH. I am starting with
a sigh. An all caps sigh. I work in academia. Say “academia” while lifting your chin and
looking down your nose. (Actually,
looking down my nose is something I do frequently if I forget to change glasses
when I play the piano, and I can only make out the notes on the page if I hold
my head exactly so and look through a tiny sweet spot on the lower third of my
graduated lenses. TMI, I know.)
In this economy I am grateful to have a job that puts milk, honey
and bread on the table and keeps four warm walls and a roof around those I love
and am responsible for. I sigh because
some days I can hardly bear the snobbery of higher education. Today is one of those days. I got an email from a colleague who does
basically the same job that I do at this institution, semester after semester,
year after year. I know the person, and
this person whom I will call Colleague Q for convenience is very upbeat. Although I do not work closely with Q, I have
observed that Q is kind and thoughtful and competent.
So why am I sighing? Q’s
email invited me and everyone else on Q’s list to a training event. The email was clearly, correctly and not
overly worded. The problem was the
signature. First of all, the signature
was in a different color. Okay, maybe
black is boring. I can live with green
or purple or blue, although red usually indicates some bureaucratic order that
if disobeyed will result in dire consequences.
While any person of normal logic already complies with the ethical principles
behind said order without red lettering.
Unfortunately this email came with a red notice also, but that’s not
what made me sigh.
Back to the signature.
I am sighing over letters.
Fourteen letters and all caps that follow Q’s name in, I suppose, every
email Q sends. Q, MPA, JSP, CWDP, GCDF.
I know what MPA stands for.
I even considered this degree once upon a time for a few minutes. But I haven’t a clue as to what JSP, CWDP,
and GCDF stand for. I know I am posting my
ignorance for all to see and ridicule.
Why did Q put all those letters behind Q’s signature? Am I hopelessly last century because I don’t
know and don’t care what all those letters mean? They mean something to Q. What advantage does Q get from signing fourteen
letters? Does Q hope to intimidate me
because I can only put two academic letters behind my signature if I wanted to,
and I never do, want to, that is.
Last week I got a personal email from the president of the
institution I work for. He didn’t sign
his full name preceded by title and followed by a plethora of letters. He signed it with his abbreviated first
name. The name I would guess his family
and friends use. Maybe that is part of the reason he is the president.
