I work at an encyclopedia company. This company prides itself on being the authority on, well, everything. We have thousands of experts and contributors who submit content for publication, which is reviewed by our section editors and their bosses for thoroughness and accuracy. In addition, every single sentence of every single article is verified line by line by a team of researchers.
Remember the time I feel like I'm in school and just totally lost sometimes at work because I feel like everyone is so much smarter than me?
Though I am well aware of this fact, I'm constantly surprised at the sheer amount of knowledge that my colleagues possess. I only need to ask the editors if an exact date is correct, and they know off the top of their heads. This is never more evident than when we play volleyball, which we are known to do on Thursdays for three hours after work.
When the score was 18-12, for example, instead of saying 18-12, the server would yell out a historical event that happened on that date, like "OK, British American War! 1812!" It's plenty enough to make me feel constantly inadequate intelligence-wise. (And I make it much worse for myself when I'm in a meeting and say things like "Well, how often do natural disasters occur really?" to which everyone starts laughing and saying things like "Um, like every few minutes!?")
But at least they all have a sense of humor. When someone yelled a score of 14-22, and no one said anything in return, Jeff, the science section editor, said "1422... the year of Columbus' second voyage!"
To which, of course, someone else of course said "Really? His second voyage? The one that happened 70 years before the first one? Really?"
Though I simply listen to most conversations because I have no idea what the hell they're talking about, I have to say I am learning quite a bit.
Plus I love both my job and my colleagues. Finally!
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