[15] in Dilbert Redistribution
newsletter 9.0
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (scottadams@InterNex.NET)
Mon Dec 11 07:20:05 1995
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 01:03:16 -0800 (PST)
Reply-To: dilbert-list@InterNex.NET
From: scottadams@InterNex.NET
To: dilbert-list@mlm.InterNex.Net
Dilbert Newsletter
Special Holiday 95 Edition
(Number 9.0 if you're counting)
-------------------------------
To: Dogbert's New Ruling Class (DNRC)
From: Scott Adams
Date: December 1995
Highlights:
------------------------------------------------
- Second Annual Highly Unscientific Dilbert Survey
- Newest DNRC Saints
- A Kind Word
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Second Annual Highly Unscientific Dilbert Survey
------------------------------------------------
This year many companies performed surveys of employee satisfaction.
Based on what I've heard, it seems that the questions on these surveys
don't really get to the heart of real job dissatisfaction. That
shortcoming is addressed here in the Second Annual Highly Unscientific
Dilbert Survey.
Please select **one** answer and send it by December 15th
to:
DilbertSurvey@unitedmedia.com
Question: If you had a chance to hit your boss in the back of the head
with one of the following objects, with no risk of getting caught, which
would you choose?
1. "Nerf" ball
(just for fun)
2. Large bean burrito
(playful, with a touch of cruelty)
3. Ripe melon
(because of the cool sound it would make)
4. Framed certificate of appreciation
(just your way of saying "thanks")
5. The outdated computer you are forced to use.
(because if must be good for SOMETHING)
6. Your last performance review, including
the 600 pound file cabinet where you keep it
(to show how motivated you are now)
7. All of your co-workers, bound by duct tape and
flung from a huge catapult.
(it might take a few tries to get the aim just right)
8. Ford Pinto with a full tank of gas
(just to see what all the hype was about)
(Note: This is strictly academic. I do NOT encourage the destruction of
perfectly good burritos.)
New DNRC Saints
-----------------
Greg Mumm becomes a DNRC Saint for his grass roots lobbying and petition
drive to encourage The Kalamazoo Gazette (Michigan) to carry Dilbert.
Keith Seibert and Mike Opatrny are promoted to sainthood for their
tireless efforts to convince the Cleveland Plain Dealer to carry Dilbert.
In honor of the holidays I am extending the rights of DNRC Saints to
include: "The right to criticize things you don't understand."
A Kind Word
-----------
What is the value of a kind word?
In January of 1986 I was flipping through the channels on TV and saw the
closing credits for a PBS show called "Funny Business," a show about
cartooning. I had always wanted to be a cartoonist but never knew how to
go about it. I wrote to the host of the show, cartoonist Jack Cassady,
and asked his advice on entering the profession.
A few weeks later I got an encouraging handwritten letter from Jack,
answering all of my specific questions about materials and process. He
went on to warn me about the likelihood of being rejected at first,
advising me not to get discouraged if that happened. He said the cartoon
samples I sent him were good and worthy of publication.
I got very excited, finally understanding how the whole process worked.
I submitted my best cartoons to Playboy and New Yorker. The magazines
quickly rejected me with cold little photocopied form letter.
Discouraged, I put my art supplies in the closet and decided to forget
about cartooning.
In June of 1987 -- out of the blue -- I got a second letter from Jack
Cassady. This was surprising, since I hadn't even thanked him for the
original advice. Here's what his letter said:
Dear Scott
I was reviewing my "Funny Business..." mail file when I
again ran across your letter and copies of your cartoons.
I remember answering your letter.
The reason I'm dropping you this note is to again
encourage you to submit your ideas to various publications.
I hope you have already done so and are on the road to
making a few bucks and having some fun too.
Sometimes encouragement in the funny business of graphic
humor is hard to come by. That's why I am encouraging you
to hang in there and keep drawing.
I wish you lots of luck, sales and good drawing.
Sincerely
Jack
I was profoundly touched by his letter, largely I think because Jack had
nothing to gain -- including my thanks, if history was any indication. I
acted on his encouragement, dragged my art supplies out of storage and
inked the sample strips that eventually became Dilbert. Now, seven
hundred newspapers and six books later, things are going pretty well in
Dilbertville.
I feel certain that I wouldn't have tried cartooning again if Jack hadn't
sent the second letter. With a kind word and a postage stamp, he started
a chain of events than reaches all the way to you right now. As Dilbert
became more successful I came to appreciate the enormity of Jack's simple
act of kindness. I did eventually thank him, but I could never shake the
feeling that I had been given a gift which defied reciprocation.
Somehow, "thanks" didn't seem to be enough.
Over time I have come to understand that some gifts are meant to be
passed on, not repaid.
I expect at least a million people to read this newsletter. Each of you
knows somebody who would benefit from a kind word. I'm encouraging you
to act on it before the end of the year. For the biggest impact, do it
in writing. And do it for somebody who knows you have nothing to gain.
It's important to give encouragement to family and friends, but their
happiness and yours are inseparable. For the maximum velocity, I'm
suggesting that you give your encouragement to someone who can't return
the favor -- it's a distinction that won't be lost on the recipient.
And remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act
creates a ripple with no logical end.
Have a great holiday. Thanks to all of you for giving me a spectacular
year.
