[AusNOG] On Old Hands and Young Uns

[Chris Legg]

It's easy to forget the steep learning curve and become arrogant and 
condescending, happens all too often in this industry.
We are all guilty of it some times, and the frustrations of the job can 
render your temper rather short.
Perhaps a sister list run for mentoring and hand-holding through 
difficulties would be beneficial for the "young uns" and keep the AusNOG 
list more "pure" for the those not interested in such things.
The kind of list we all wished was around when we were getting started!

What does admin think?

Regards,
Chris


On 13/02/2015 11:42 AM, Karl Auer wrote:
> There's nothing new under the sun, so no doubt this has been suggested
> before.
>
> It seems to me that AusNOG regularly has problems with some "Young Un"
> not knowing "The Rules", with the inevitable result that a goodly
> proportion of the "Old Hands" get their knickers in a twist, the "young
> 'uns" get frustrated, the quality of "genteel intercourse" drops with an
> audible thud, and far too many passive-aggressive "double quotes" get
> used.
>
> When someone new bombs into the hitherto placid pool of AusNOG, the
> splash (and sometimes the scream) is usually pretty audible. It's
> quickly obvious to all that there's a new face around, a fresh face, one
> with its eyes on the prize, and not at all on the Ways of AusNOG.
>
> My suggestion is this. If you are an Old Hand, and you find your nether
> regions being cramped in unpleasant ways, and upon inspection discover
> that you knickers are, in fact, twisted, why not contact the offending
> Young Un off-list and offer your services as a Mentor? You would be
> doing everyone a favour, including yourself. The nasty, noisy
> pitter-patter of little feet would stop, the Young Un concerned would
> get further, faster (and might avoid a few embarrassing and costly
> mistakes), and AusNOG could remain the pristine place of quiet worship
> it has always been. You as Mentor would have the satisfaction of helping
> a lot of people and probably learning a thing or two yourself.
>
> In due course said Young Un, now trained in the Way of AusNOG, could
> take his or her place amongst the elite, accrete suitable amounts of
> crustiness and possibly even (obviously many, many, many years hence)
> mentor someone in turn, thus paying off their huge karmic debt.
>
> Just a thought.
>
> Regards, K.
>
> PS: If I knew anything I'd mentor someone.
>