Word of the Day: Savvy

Savvy
n : the cognitive condition of someone who understands

I never cease to be amused by the lack of technical savvy the people I work with possess (or lack possession of), considering we run a website. In my position, I am expected to constantly roll with the punches, conform to whatever happens to be the system of the day, and not only must I be able to work with the program, I am also expected to be proficient enough to train a person relatively devoid of any redeemable computer skill to use the program with enough proficiency to not turn the website into a laughing stock. Despite my efforts, there always seems to be one or two who just can't seem to catch on, after months, even A FULL YEAR of trying.

I've been working on this site for two years now and I understand almost every aspect of it with general clarity (I won't say "all of it with full clarity" because Chris is probably reading this and he knows that's not true). So I am duly astonished when someone who's been using the system for a year comes to my desk weilding her manual with the words DON'T PANIC scrawled across the front in red block letters.

She says, "Are you going to help me figure out this site? You're gonna have to be patient with me. I learn slowly." Then she picked up her retirement packet from my desk and made her way out the door. Does anyone else see the irony in that? (Side note: she was already trained by two other editors in this office).