I'm a "pensioner" sir!

[Thumper]

What's in a name?

At Lynn's hotel, their "head janitor" has the title of "Maintenance Engineer".

Our "garbage man" is a "Sanitation Engineer". WTF?

Yesterday we were out with some friends and met a guy who works in a restaurant in Los Angeles. He's here visiting his sister who is a friend of ours. She had told me her brother is a bartender out there and while I was making small-talk, I asked something along the lines of, "So, how's the bartending business in L.A. these days?"

Man-o-man, you'd have thought I'd called him a bottom-feeding trumpet-monkey or sumpin'! He immediately corrected me and let me know he's a "Mixologist"!

Excuuuuuse meeeeee!!! :huh

[LJ3]

I'm guessing he has a few participation trophies in his room in his parents basement.

[HideHunter]

lol... good bet Len.. Like the non-medical folks who insist they be called *Dr.* so and so.. I always make it point to forget. ;)

Oh and remember Thump (as I was told daily for 15 years) “Anyway, whacking a surly bartender ain't much of a crime. ;)

[Bwana]

Yeah, I have to laugh at all the new job titles floating around. Heaven forbid you call someone a secretary, the "proper" term is administrative assistant. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

Though I don't get bent out of shape about it, the use of the term "engineer" by those who didn't earn the title (Thumper's examples), sure does make me role my eyes when I hear it.

[Buckrub]

What role do they play?

[LJ3]

jellyrole

[Big Skyz]

Maybe you should have asked him how the bottom feeding trumpet monkey business was...

I once had a job were I was in charge of filling orders, packing, and shipping everything out the door for the company I worked for. They referred to me as the Shipping Engineer. I always that it was pretty stupid, but let them refer to me as whatever they wanted as long as they paid me.

In one of the schools I worked in the principal received his PhD. He was kind of a small framed guy and really had a bad case of little-mans syndrome. Once he got that degree he started referring to himself as Dr. So-in-So and signed everything as Dr. So-in-So. Picture in your mind someone similar to Barney Fife wanting, and almost demanding you call him Doctor. After seeing what a dink he was being about it, I never referred to him as Doctor, not even once. In fact, I he was so obnoxious I eventually just referred to him by his first name because it pissed him off whenever staff did that to him in front of students. Apparently he eventually got the message as the entire staff wouldn't call him Doctor and many others began casually calling him by his first name. Anyway he dropped the whole "Dr." thing. Once he did I referred to him as "Mr." in front of the students again. I'm not sure he ever did fully understand that to be respected one has to earn it, neither a job nor degree automatically earns respect. Some folks just don't get that.

[Thumper]

Wow B/S! You won't believe how similar a story I have that I hadn't thought about in ages, until your post above.

In my VERY early days in the military, we had a Provost Marshall (head of MP's) who completely matches the description you mention above. He was a little squirt (I don't remember the minimum height allowed in the Army, but I'm sure he barely made the cut!). He was a Captain and anytime you pass an officer, you have to salute. This a-hole would actually cross the street if anyone was approaching, just to make them salute him. I could go on and on about how much of a prick he was, but I won't bore you with details. Anyway, I was strolling down the sidewalk one day and saw him approaching from the other side of the street, so I continued sort of looking away in the opposite direction like I didn't see him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him cross the street approaching me. I was an arrogant 19 year old who hated the little twerp anyway, so in defiance, I refused to salute him. He stopped me immediately and demanded I salute him ... I refused and was promptly ARRESTED!

Ok, now I'm at the PMO being read the riot act, was threatened with an Article 15 and detained. My CO showed up to "bail me out". He had the PMO drop all charges and promised to handle all discipline through Company Headquarters, then escourted me back to his office for a "talk". He asked what the deal was and I told him what had happened, then he asked why I didn't just go ahead and salute him as I should have.

I explained that a salute was a sign of respect, and I had zero respect for the man. My CO then informed me he personally can't stand the little sawed-off runt himself, BUT ... I was wrong in my way of thinking. He continued by letting me know a salute is a sign of respect to the RANK ... and not particularly the man wearing that rank. I wasn't saluting the "man" ... I was saluting the Captain's bars on his lapel. It's one of those "life's lessons" I've never forgotten.

As a side note, he didn't dish out any punishment and told me he'd handle any pending charges at the PMO. I saluted my CO as I stood to leave his office and I was honestly saluting his rank (Colonel) as well as the man himself.

SO ... to play Devil's Advocate here ... in the civilian world you were in at the time, I suppose you could draw a parallel in that, by referring to him as "Dr." ... you were showing respect for his educational accomplishments and title, without giving one flip about the man who earned and wore that title. Just sayin'.

Now, a Mixologist?? I have to draw the line somewhere! ;)

[LJ3]

As I watch Lucia get her Doctorate, I can understand why some people may go overboard and ask to be addressed as such. Luckily, she's not that type :) The dedication and effort to achieve Doctorness is truly an impressive intellectual, and arduously detailed (to the point of insanity) journey that requires a dedication to a brutally difficult experience.

I told her I'd call her Doctor for a week or so :)

My bidness card says I'm the Manager, Network Engineering. I introduce myself as The Network Guy.

[Thumper]

I had a boss once (in Beverly Hills) who, when dealing with customers, always referred to me as his "Junior Executive". WTF??

[LJ3]

are any of you a "magnet" for those type A assholes? I think there's something about me personally that attracts that type, especially short or insecure ones. They seem to want to "make their mark" with me for some reason. It's been a regular occurrence my entire life. I don't get it. I can see them coming a mile away at this point. I love when they hear my accent and assume I'm intellectually equipped at a Forrest Gump level.

[Thumper]

My Drill Sargent in Basic Training was a HUGE black guy (Drill Sargent White!) who must have been at LEAST 12 feet tall! At inspection, (standing at attention, eyes forward) I could see my face reflected in his frigging belt buckle when he stood in front of me!

My Assistant DI was a little runt who couldn't have been more than 5'2" tall and he was wirey as all get out. He was from Tennessee and when he found out I was also "from" Tennessee (I joined in Memphis), I was in deep shit. He DEMANDED I do better than anyone else in the company as I'd better not even THINK about disrespecting his home state. All through Basic Training, the ONLY name he ever called me was "Tennessee"! Tennessee ... give me 20! Tennessee, do this ... Tennessee, do that! I swear that little guy couldn't have weighed more than 115 lbs, BUT ... he was solid as a rock! And a TOUGH little SOB (Special Forces). He once demanded I drop and give him 50 push-ups and I told him I didn't think I could do them all at one time. BIG mistake ... he shoved me down and dropped down beside me ... then said he'll start out and I'd better match every push-up he does and not stop until he does, or my "ass will be grass"! Then he said he'd even give me a handicap, then proceeded to do HIS push-ups ONE HANDED! I finally gave out and he was still going strong. He said I owed him. By the time I got out of basic training, I think I still "owed" him about elebenty-bazillion push-ups!

[Big Skyz]

Thumper in the educational world it is common to refer to college professor's as Dr. However, from high school on down through elementary it is not as common. Either way, the guy was/is a dink. As with most school administrators the reward for his dinkism is that he got promoted to Superintendent. Which in some ways was better because he had less interaction with teachers/staff. He had nearly zero "people skills". Anyway long story short I was told last year that he resigned. Kind of a forced resignation. As in...you can resign or we can fire you. Happy ending as far as I'm concerned. :)

[Thumper]

Hey Sky, his dad (or maybe grandfather?) wasn't an officer in the MP's during 'Nam was he? :D

[Buckrub]

My SDI was Dominic Cipriani. 5 feet of purchase eyetalian misery.