Yes, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus in tech writing

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October 06, 2008 | Yes, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus in tech writing | 1681 hit(s)

One of my writers was writing some code recently to illustrate how to use a check box, and came up with an example that read more-or-less like this:

I believe in Santa Claus

In my edit pass, I suggested that this was not culturally neutral, hence should be changed to something else. He sent me a funny reply:

I admit that Santa is not culturally neutral. I subconsciously knew I was committing a sin as I wrote it. But I thought it was funny. I know our examples aren’t supposed to be funny, but they should at least be somewhat interesting. :-)

It breaks my heart, it really does. Writers do want to inject a little whimsy into what otherwise tends to be some pretty grey text. ("The Index page displays a form that implements the HTML helper methods demonstrated in this topic. When the user submits the form, it is handled by the HandleForm action method, which generates a view that displays the information that the user submitted." ZZzzzzzzz ...)

But it's a ticklish problem. Suppose you're looking at this example and you're, dunno, in China? Egypt? What if you belong to the Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not celebrate Christmas? It might seem a little far-fetched to think that an example that involves Santa is going to confuse or offend someone, even allowing for national, cultural, and religious differences.

But you never know. That's the problem. We cannot predict with certainty how someone will react to an example like this. It's certainly possible that everyone will be fine with it, or at least will be able to write it off as a US-centric example that they understand, even if it isn't one they'd ever use.

Our safe and conservative editorial attitude, tho, is why take a chance? If the possibility even exists that we might put someone off in our attempt to bring a tiny bit of levity to the topic, well, let's just be safe and pick something else.

Boring, yes. Quashing creativity and whimsy, yes. And I make these points to the writer with reluctance, yes. But it's one of the things we're trained to look out for, and the corporation as a whole is uber-paranoid about these types of things. So a different example it shall be. Sorry, Santa.:-(

Wendy 07 Oct 08 - 4:47 AM

Suppose you're looking at this example and you're, dunno, in China? Egypt? What if you belong to the Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not celebrate Christmas?

They wouldn't check the box, I assume. I don't automatically think they are going to be offended. I am part of the set of humans who do not celebrate Christmas, (or has ever been Christian) and I thought it was funny. Well, cute.

I might change "Santa Claus" to "the Easter Bunny" or even "Voldemort" or "Frodo".

Or you could suggest that the writer put something in that's more "life affirming" like "I believe I will remember all this next month"

There's a big difference between a pretty benign yes/no question like "I believe in Santa Claus" and something that was told to me as a child (rephrased slightly to fit the example in your post) "I believe I am keeping the entire human race out of paradise because I haven't accepted Jesus Christ as my savior."

Maybe documentation isn't the place to push the political correctness pendulum back to something workable. Personally, I think there ought to be the possibility of finding joy in one's work.

And, if someone actually complained about something like this, you would know that people are at least reading the book, and not using it as a doorstop.

Anonymous 07 Oct 08 - 7:40 AM

I'm guessing that a lot of people who do celebrate Christmas don't believe in Santa!

By the way, as a Jehovah Witness, that check box would not bother me at all. If it did, then I think I'd be having a nervous breakdown every December. As a sidepoint, the link you gave to the beliefs of Jehovah Witnesses contains a lot of inaccurate information about our basic beliefs. Perhaps for accurate info on doctrine - http://www.watchtower.org/. Of course, for personal opinions then the web is your oyster!

Very much enjoy your writing.

Anindita 07 Oct 08 - 11:11 PM

I admit that Santa is not culturally neutral. I subconsciously knew I was committing a sin as I wrote it. But I thought it was funny.

I don't think it's a techwriter's job to make things funny. Humour does not translate - across languages, geographies and cultures. And "interesting" is subjective. One of the first things that I was told when I became a techwriter was "Remove your personality from your writing". Which, I think, means "What is funny or interesting to you may not be so for the reader".

So, I'd have no qualms in breaking one heart if that's what it took to not break (or befuddle) several other.

FWIW :-)

mike 08 Oct 08 - 2:00 AM

@Wendy, I agree that people probably wouldn't be offended by the reference to Santa. In fact, after I wrote this up, I checked the internal tool that we use to scan for potentially sensitive words and phrases, and it had no problem with ol' Santa. My tendency in these cases, tho, is to be overly cautious -- I don't really think of it as being PC, just a matter of trying to make sure that our large and worldwide audience isn't tripped up by something, especially something so easy to avoid. Of course, you might disagree.

re: your list of alternatives. When I was a kid, I remember seeing bumper stickers that said "Frodo Lives!" I had no idea what that meant until a somewhat older kid explained it to me. This was long, long before the LOTR movies, when the books were much more cultish.

@Anonymous -- thanks for the clarification! (And the kind words.) I'm happy to change or remove that particular example if you want.

@Anindita -- I do sympathize with the desire on the writers' part to add a little personality to their writing. But I don't let them. :-) If they want personality, perhaps they should blog! Perhaps you've seen this entry as well -- ?

http://mikepope.com/blog/DisplayBlog.aspx?permalink=1574

Craig Cardimon 08 Oct 08 - 5:23 AM

My own opinion: The world is already devoid of humor. We need humor. Put the humor in. That's one reason I have my own blog. I can write what I want. If the reader can't take a joke, or doesn't understand it, I don't want that reader anyway.

The corporate line to which I adhere while on the clock: Unless the humor is easily understood and appreciated worldwide -- and what humor is? -- then leave it out.

Sigh. I liked your Santa example.

Jess 08 Oct 08 - 6:10 AM

(Formerly known as Anonymous above)

@Anonymous -- thanks for the clarification! (And the kind words.) I'm happy to change or remove that particular example if you want.

Mike, thank you also for the offer but I would never request that you edit any of your entries on my behalf. I just wanted to point out what I felt was a more accurate source of information.

Take care.

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