A Little Less Conversation

October 7, 2008 · Filed Under Cartoons 

Savage Chickens - A Little Less Conversation

One for the tech writers out there.

Here’s a little more conversation.

Comments

24 Responses to “A Little Less Conversation”

  1. Karyl Severson on October 7th, 2008 8:23 am

    Thanks for the technical writer savage chicken. It’s been a great way to stop conversation for 28 years!

    Best regards,

    Karyl Severson :-)

  2. Will on October 7th, 2008 11:20 am

    You forgot the most important: “I’m a programmer.”

  3. Kathleen on October 7th, 2008 11:48 am

    Draw chickens.

  4. Luwano on October 7th, 2008 1:18 pm

    “….a little more action please”

    This works for me:
    “I’m a high society reporter.”

    This makes me feel like Doug agrees with me.

    &=^

  5. The Corinthian on October 7th, 2008 2:20 pm

    I’ve always found that telling people I’m a tax collector ends most conversations.

  6. Zork on October 7th, 2008 3:20 pm

    “I exhume bodies for autopsies” is effective also.
    Or how about “I empty the shredders at a big Wall Street firm…”

  7. belphebe on October 7th, 2008 3:27 pm

    You mixed up the glasses in the last panel. The 1/4 full glass should be in front of the technical writer! Trust me, I know.

    I wonder if I should learn how to draw chalk outlines instead…

  8. Seraphine on October 7th, 2008 4:31 pm

    i like to turn the lights on and off on airplanes at night. i also blink the lights at last call (drinks) and during intermissions (blinking the lights to tell people to take their seats).

  9. Jessica on October 7th, 2008 4:34 pm

    Sometimes it works, but sometimes a person actually responds with “Oh, how cool!” and then I have to wonder whether they are being insincere, or are genuinely crazy. Probably just insincere (aka “polite”)

  10. Dirk Zwart on October 7th, 2008 6:40 pm

    Yes, the blank stares and “Oh, what’s that?” are priceless. My standard response is, “I write the equivilant of vacuum cleaner manuals for mainframes in terms that my mother-in-law can understand.” - dz “Technical Writer/Knowledge Engineer”

  11. Kathleen L on October 7th, 2008 7:12 pm

    Let’s hear it for all the tech writers! Yeah! Great conversation stopper, fer shure. ;) Thanks for a really fun one - one I can hang in my cubicle.

  12. Kathleen L on October 7th, 2008 7:12 pm

    Make that POST-it in my cubicle. ;)

  13. Allen's Brain on October 7th, 2008 7:55 pm

    “I’m a minister” works really well, too.

  14. Georgia Morgan on October 7th, 2008 8:53 pm

    Long ago quite truthfully I could say, “I castrate rats.” Worked every time. Now my day job (clinical research coordinator for cancer trials) and my freelance job (scientific editing/writing) also work well as fantastic conversation killers. Thanks for so many personally meaningful panels over the last week (I too have finally finished my move, but not my unpacking…)

  15. kegnum on October 7th, 2008 8:59 pm

    HEY!!! We chalk outline drawers have a very interesting job! The tricky part is drawing the outline while doing an interpretive dance… :P

  16. Kristin on October 7th, 2008 9:22 pm

    Woo-hoo! “I’m a Technical Writer” stops ‘em dead in their tracks! But hey… we love it!

    :-)

  17. Adam on October 8th, 2008 12:03 pm

    *sigh* I’m afraid I’m going to have to write a procedure to explain to my coworkers why this is funny. :D

  18. Scott Abel on October 8th, 2008 12:32 pm

    Close, but no cookie. I chuckled to myself, but then I thought, “Hey, that’s not what many an old school technical writer would have replied.” Instead, they would have said, “Actually, that question is not grammatically correct.”

  19. superk on October 8th, 2008 1:42 pm

    How very true! I usually get a puzzled face and have to explain what I do. The explanation “I write” usually allows me to pursue the conversation in another direction :)

  20. Sarah Maddox on October 8th, 2008 9:16 pm

    Heh, I’ve _so_ been there! Thank you for a great cartoon.

  21. I’m going to a barcamp - Mardahl.dk on October 15th, 2008 5:44 pm

    [...] Yikes! Three word intros. That will probably take me a month to prepare. Right now, my mindset would say: Communication. Communication. Communication. As for a presentation, what will happen if I say I am a technical writer or technical communicator? Will I stop all conversation? [...]

  22. Raiden on October 15th, 2008 7:41 pm

    My answer would have been “I eat people who ask questions.”

  23. Sarah B on October 18th, 2008 6:16 am

    Hee hee hee. Go Technical Writers! I usually say, “you know those old VCR manuals you can’t read? I DON’T write those!” Usually gets a laugh.

  24. Lizzie on July 6th, 2009 8:57 pm

    Excellent! I have so much to look forward to in the way of stopping conversations!

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