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From: gadfly@ihu1m.UUCP (Gadfly)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Re: Showing Off (Athletics VS Intell
Message-ID: <509@ihu1m.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Jul-85 23:20:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihu1m.509
Posted: Fri Jul 12 23:20:11 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 15-Jul-85 06:34:21 EDT
References: <1030@trwatf.UUCP> <33100024@ISM780.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 38

--
> At my job I work on C compilers, for a software company
> that specializes in doing Unix ports.  When I meet people socially, a
> frequently asked question is "What do you do for a living?"  How can I
> answer without being boorish or boring?  For example
> 
> "What do you do?"
>     "I write compilers." 
> nobody outside the industry knows what that is...
>
> How can I answer this without making them feel like they are
> stupid, but also avoiding the path "It's a very technical job,
> you wouldn't understand
> without a longwinded and boring discussion"?
> 
> (--Darryl Richman, INTERACTIVE Systems Corp.

This is a sad state of affairs, but all too common among computer
professionals.  When you can't even begin to explain a most
important part of your life to jes' plain folks, it's a most
damning indictment of the educational system that got you where you
are.  Anyway, here's a suggestion:

"I write the computer programs that translate computer languages
into the 1's and 0's that computer hardware understands.  These
translation programs are called 'compilers'."  (Now you can explain
the importance of your work by mentioning actual languages your
audience has probably heard of, perhaps explaining the difference
between a statement a programmer would write, like X = 3, and how
that has to be digested for a machine to understand it, etc, etc,
depending on how interested your audience is.)  Hope that helps.
-- 
                    *** ***
JE MAINTIENDRAI   ***** *****
                 ****** ******  12 Jul 85 [24 Messidor An CXCIII]
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