A Man in a Balloon

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a man below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be in IT," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact of the matter is, I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been very much help."

The man below responded, "You must be a sales manager."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know."

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact of the matter is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

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Now thats an old joke I read somewhere, but my oh my has a situation like that never been truer. Being employed in the IT world definitely takes a certain type of person. Patience is paramount, as it's a trait that will come in handy every single day at work.

I got into IT as technology has surrounded me completely ever since I was little. I had many aspirations (and still do) as I was growing up but kept falling back to the technoverse. The always changing never boring aspect left me with a sense of...well. Not sure what to call the sense, but I loved it!

But no matter how much technology changes, humankind stays essentially the same. The strange thing is, that type of person who ends up having that virtue of patience, gets it tested heavily on a daily basis. For most, that trait ends up waining. These folks jsut don't clash well with those of other schools. Be it socially, physically, or even intellectually. Now, I'm not insulting anyone's intelligence here, just focusing on the *type* of intelligence here.

What I mean to get at here, is if you are looking for a job in the IT world, BE PREPARED. It almost certainly has its merits, but not without its downsides as well.