It Is Happening Again...

I have become the “expert” on a couple of new database programs here in the office, and it still makes me laugh. Let’s face facts:

(1) I’m not an expert, at all. I just happen to use these programs more than others because of my caseload.

(2) I happen to be a magnet for quirky programming issues which quickly become a puzzle and finally an education to me and the IT gang to get it working correctly, i.e. I’m that girl--the one that notices the problem, calls it in, and then gets asked how I got it to happen in the first place. So I repeat my problematic performance demonstration, and then they say: “We’ll have to get back to you on that..." It's a vicious cycle.

(3) I’m a learner, a novice, a wanna-be expert at something but NOT master of anything (other than the remote control in my own apartment. WOOHOO!!)

(4) See number 1.

And even with all of the above disclaimers and the repeated explanations to my co-workers about my ignorance, I still hear things said just around the corner from me. Things like: "Just ask Melanie about that. She’s the expert" or "Mel could discuss the parameters of that at our next meeting. She knows what she is doing..."

Ommmmm...do I have a say in this, at all? I mean being self-taught on a subject because it keeps crashing on you, does not mean that you are prepared to break it down and educate others. Is the new slogan of the day: Those that crash the system should teach it? I don't think so. And while I am glad that my cohorts have such confidence in me to solve a problem, I cringe at that “expert” terminology that gets thrown around. (See Accidental Brilliance)