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In a message dated 6/15/03 3:25:32 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:

> I told her if she couldn't remember or figure out who to address the
> introduction to, to think of introducing her dog to the pope in the Vatican.
> You
> wouldn't turn to your dog and say, "Gudrun this is the Pope!" (If the Pope
> comes
> to our house, we might want to tell the dog to stop barking at the Pope but
> that's different."
>
> With a humorous example they can remember it for life.
>
> Sandra
>

You are never a downer, BTW, you just give your perspective. Aren't we all
better for it when we see other points of view?

Anyway, I guess I find your example a little unfathomable, even in fun.
Perhaps I'm just extra knee-jerky today. But wouldn't the Pope be the party to do
introductions, being the Vatican is his home, and unless Holly already knew
the Pope, shouldn't he introduce himself to both Holly and Gudrun? In which case
if Holly and the Pope were acquaintances, shouldn't Holly introduce the dog
to the Pope? Maybe it's the idea of "rank" that also bothers me, in real life
as opposed to play.

Years ago when I still worked, I used to talk to both our company CEO and CIO
all the time in a personable manner and even joked around with them on
occasion. Once my immediate manager, upon hearing me tease the CIO about his running
ability in the company softball game, had a conniption fit as soon as he
walked out. Mind you, I was not offensive and he in fact laughed at my remarks and
announced to the department that a conversation with Rhonda Hill was always a
pleasure. You see, my twins were a year younger than his twins and we bonded
over the whole multiple birth thing early in my career, during my pregnancy in
fact. However this manager knew nothing of our friendship, but thought she
should reprimand my inability to see rank. She was a lovely lady, by the name of
Elaine, and when she told me I should never speak to our CIO in such a
manner, I couldn't help but give her a hug. She was shaking. I asked what on earth
bothered her so much about our conversation and she said the fact that I teased
him and she never would have expected me to be rude to the likes of our CIO.

My response was something to the effect, "Elaine, he (CIO) makes more $ than
me, but he is no more human than I am or you are for that matter. I have known
him for years, but even if I met him last month, I'd still speak my mind for
if I get hit by a Mack truck, and he gets hit by a Mack truck, we're both
gonna be squashed."

Little did any of us know that he had come back to ask her for some stats and
heard the whole conversation. So when I ended with the word "squashed" he
roared with laughter and said he wished more people in our company would think of
him as a real person. Elaine looked like she was gonna puke. When he left, I
hugged her again and told her not to worry so much. A year later the CIO left
the company to be the CEO of one of our biggest competitors. Guess who he came
to say goodbye to on his last day? In a department of 80 people, he came to
say goodbye to me. A person of no company rank, but a fellow human who treated
him as such. He also said if I should ever decide to leave, to make sure I
looked him up and he'd make me a job if he had too.

Ok, so I went off on an "all about me" tangent again, sorry. But is this rank
thing an everyday issue or more to do with SCA, where I would fully imagine
it to be of importance?

Rhonda - ranking "all about me" poster. LOL


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