…back in the mid 90s when I got into this PC Support thing full time, I often fantasized that as personal computers became more and more entrenched in the business world, the technicians who supported and maintained those systems would come to be viewed as the Emergency Room doctors of the 21st century and afforded the same level of respect—not to mention remuneration—worthy of that skill set.
Ha!
Fourteen years into the new millennium, it's obvious that we aren't viewed as professionals doing the cybernetic equivalent of saving lives, but rather as janitors cleaning up everyone else's messes—and in the case of my current place of employment, being required to wear uniforms as if to drive that point home.
But does being viewed as modern day toilet-bowl cleaners explain why the other members of my team—composed of men in their 30s and 40s who have incredible expertise—together seem to have the collective emotional maturity of a twelve year old?
I'd seen glimpses of this during the time I was contracting, but since I was sequestered away in another work area during that period I was only really exposed to juvenile email strings that would belch forth on occasion. Easily ignored, and almost all of the personal interaction I'd had with these guys was respectful and professional.
Then I got hired and moved into the main work area.