I work in IT and sometimes I have to explain something to a user who is somewhat tech-illiterate. Even developers may have significant blind spots when it comes to their OS or networking, for example.
So, if I notice it, I’ll change some terminology and I may explain instructions differently or use metaphors so every user understands what I’m saying.
And most coworkers do the same thing.
Here’s why I bring this up: For whatever reason, some colleagues give female coworkers the same treatment.
And that’s weird.
If someone is constantly treated like this, they should be allowed to rant about it on their blog. I’m fine with snark if it geht’s a point across.
Is it bad if I tend to do this except to everyone because I don’t generally expect people to know the same specific stuff as me?
No. If it’s everyone, then it’s everyone and at worst it’s not the most efficient way to communicate.
I would say, if you single out a group of people based on physical characteristics, then it gets weird.
But if it’s “The internet won’t start” vs “Every packet on port 433 is dropped even though no firewall rule is set”, then I think it’s reasonable to make some asumptions and adjust communication accordingly.
Oh yeah definitely. With that second one, is be requesting explanation for myself!
It’s really just that when I start to say anything about anything I’m interested in, I get a “why do you think I know anything about that?” a lot, so I shifted gears to the opposite early in life. I go explaining all the things involved with what I’m talking about before I get to the point and people think I’m tangential.
