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Subject:Sexual harassment From:"Dave L. Meek's User Account" <dave -at- ROGUE -dot- DISC-SYNERGY -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 9 May 1995 10:10:06 -0700
>From synergy.disc-synergy.com!netcom.com!vm1.ucc.okstate.edu!techwr-l Tue May
9 04:52:22 1995
>Message-Id: <199505091140 -dot- EAA00234 -at- netcomsv -dot- netcom -dot- com>
>Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 22:30:49 -0700
>Reply-To: Karen Kay <karenk -at- netcom -dot- netcom -dot- com>
>Sender: "Technical Writers List; for all Technical Communication issues"
<TECHWR-L -at- vm1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu>
>From: Karen Kay <karenk -at- netcom -dot- netcom -dot- com>
>Subject: Sexual harassment
>Comments: To: techwr-l <techwr-l -at- vm1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu>
>To: Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L <TECHWR-L -at- vm1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu>
>I'm breaking my silence on this topic because many of you seem to be
>working under a misapprehension. I think it's important for y'all to
>realize that I did not accuse Vince of sexual harassment. Chas brought
>this into the conversation as if I were accusing Vince, but I made no
>such accusation. It's fine for you to discuss whether this is sexual
>harassment or not; I personally believe it is not.
Karen:
You wrote >It's the kind of statement that smacks of sexual
harrassment and makes me want to slap your face.>
While it's true that you made no direct accusation, you did make a
suggestion of sexual harrassment--that's what *smacks of*
means.
Many others have correctly noted that the "smartie pants" comment
was something you'd expect from a child. On rare occasions, I
will hear an adult say "smartie pants," either when speaking to a
child or, when said to an adult, to indicate in a playful way
that the conversation is getting childish. I've never heard
*anyone*, not even a child, use "smartie pants" as a way of
showing anger or "blowing up."
I don't know how Vince meant the comment; only Vince can tell us
that. But when I was a kid, "smartie pants" was a throw-away
phrase--other kids hardly paid much attention to it. It seems to
me all this adult indignation is the only thing "blowing up" on
this thread.
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Dave Meek
