PSO's, was: newbie questions

[Charles Neuman]

> For starters, I would try to curtail the kind of thinking that would lead you
> to call your own piano a "PSO".  This is what a person who is basically
> insecure about his or her set of knowledge and skills says. The idea is to
> get others to believe that the person using the term is so high and
> mighty...

I like my PSO. It has a nice warm sound and suits my needs. (I feel a
country song coming on... "I like my little PSO...") I use the term PSO
with a sense of humor. I also liked my Ford Escort hatchback with no radio
and no a/c (and I was living in NC!) and which smelled like a wet dog. I
made fun of it the same way, but it took me 130,000 miles! My wife makes
fun of me for the time we drove up to a wedding in this car on a hot
summer day. I was annoyed that they had valet parking, and I made some
comment about how I wanted to write down the mileage so I'd know if the
valet parkers took it for a joy ride. Like they wouldn't have driven
someone's BMW instead! Or at least a car with a/c! :)

It's a good point that the words we use may be loaded with ideas that
affect how we think about ourselves, others, our work, etc. Something to
think about. On the other hand, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. That
is, while it might be a political statement to use the term PSO, sometimes
using the term isn't so political.

Charles Neuman
Plainview, NY

P.S. Wait a minute... the "S" in PSO is for "shaped", right? ;)