Maybe. In some ways, I'm very proud to have as done as well as I have without school... in other ways I feel like a dumb hick around my co-workers. Hell, even half the people who work for me now went to school. So yeah, there is maybe some, ah, feelings of social inadequacy there, but I don't think that entirely invalidates my point.
Oh man, speaking of coming off like a hick, yesterday I took my new intern out to the co-lo (the last few days have been a flurry of hardware work) As usual, I stopped off at the local, excellent BBQ place (Sams BBQ; pretty close to my co-lo in San Jose) It was bluegrass night (I hadn't remembered this)
He commented "Wow, this is.... authentic" - I don't know if he thought I was going to tell him he had a 'purdy mouth' or what, but he was obviously pretty uncomfortable. He ended up getting his chicken sandwich 'to go'
The whole day probably wasn't going well for him. he wants to do software stuff, but circumstances dictated that hardware was the order of the day, so he got to follow me around in noisy environments while I tracked down obscure parts.
Nice comment. Just to make sure we're on the same page here, my comment about the insecurity was aimed at people who are insulted when programming is compared to tradesman like work.
Based on your civility and overall personality if I was to meet you with no prior knowledge of your educational history I would assume you had a bachelors if not a graduate degree.
I am, ah, somewhat different in person. I met my current girlfriend on a mailing list. When we first met, she said "Wow, you a lot less articulate in person"
Hah. I might be the same way. A lot of times I realize I don't know how to pronounce words or that I've never said words verbally even though I use them all the time online.
Case in point: 'articulate'. I bet I've used it quite a bit online but nary a time in real life.
