Respect

Thirty years ago, when I first started writing for Doctor Dobb’s Journal, I decided to do a piece on the object-oriented features that were being added to MATLAB 5. I didn’t know much about them, so I called The MathWorks, told the publicity rep who I was, and asked if they could find me a co-author.

A couple of days later I got a call back from a woman who said she had volunteered to help with the article. I assumed she was also from marketing, so I explained again who I was and what I wanted. When she said she’d be happy to provide me with information and examples, I replied, “Thanks, but I’d rather have someone technical.” After a slight pause, she said, “Well, I have a master’s degree in Computer Science, and I implemented some of the new features.” I apologized, but the next day I had an email from someone else saying that he’d be working with me.

Time for another cup of tea. If you came in peace, be welcome.