Talk the talk

Before getting a job, I never really understood why ordinary people don't "understand" IT people. The language they speak. The thought processes that goes on in their head. The way they analyze and solve problems.

Now, having been exposed to the world of SAP for 2 years, I'm beginning to see why. I've been involved in discussions, that in retrospect, wouldn't have made any sense at all - AT ALL - to an outsider. Looking back, I'm actually amazed that I managed to keep up; never mind been able to present my own ideas.

Heck, its like suddenly realizing you can speak in tongues, and whats more, be able to sing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" in it as well!

I mean, how many acronyms can you stuff into one sentence?! Consider the following:

Guy 1 - "So we want to create an FM and make it RFC enabled, so that it can generate the XML dynamically, which will of course be called within the BSP, eliminating the need for us to use a WSDL instead.

Guy 2 - "Right, but we probably want to compress the Extended Markup Language code to keep the size to a minimum right?

Guy 1 - (Laughs hysterically). "You must be new. Use more tech-speak next time, ok?"

Guy 2 - "ROFLMAO. NP. 1337 5P3AK FTW!"

Weirdos. Oh wait, I'm writing this damn entry, aren't I?

"Well, basically. . . . ."

Don't you just hate it when someone tries to explain something that begins with "Basically. . . . . ." and follows it up with an explanation long enough to become a university lecture or text book in itself? And thats just within the first sentence.

"So basically, we need you to design the solution to accept a variety of objects such as orders, networks, work breakdown structure elements, confirmation numbers, not to mention. . . . . "

(the sun sets and night falls, polar ice caps melt, Osama died of old age, Service Pack 3 for Windows XII was released.)

" . . . . . and the various order quantities should be handled as well which should allow the forecasting module to give an accurate number, up until they finally confirm it. You got all that?"

"Yeah, no problem. When I get back from trimming my beard, could you please elaborate on it some more?"