In reference to Robert Kirby’s column about titles, my personal favorite is one conferred on me by an eighth grader in a tone — challenging and with no disrespect intended — that only eighth graders can achieve. “Who are you? Are you the helper?”
And speaking of tone, I helped students in my class — eighth graders and college students and those in between — and helped teachers on my faculty and helped members of my family avoid sarcasm. Kirby’s phrase “hard time to make a Band-Aid stick” and his reference to those “who only rely on spell-checker” are distasteful. While Kirby states that the hard work of earning a doctorate should not be dismissed, the tone is dismissive.
Speaking to strengths, a comparison with the op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the same topic finds Kirby’s less bitter, and Kirby’s many humorous and humane columns in the past have achieved a tone of elevation. My purpose in responding to the column is to suggest all of us help each other toward civil discourse. I do use my title of doctor sometimes, and sometimes, as I told the eighth grader, I try to be a helper.
Mary Rhodes, Ed.D., Bountiful