Science's Alien Workforce

Courtesy of Alex Wilson I am an alien, a resident alien postdoctoral research associate. I didn't seek out the fate of an alien postdoc; it came to me as a gift from the man I fell in love with. Being an alien is fundamentally about not belonging. Not belonging is difficult. It is challenging and, we are told, ultimately rewarding. This is true, but it is not always easy to see the rewards when, on a daily basis you are faced with challenges that, while frequently small, can appear very large. It is commonly the small, daily challenges that mount to form the overwhelming frustrations: communicating, finding the foods that are staples to your diet, dealing with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, trying to obtain a credit card, dealing with the health system, and visiting a doctor. Everything can be a challenge. The most amusing challenge to me has been communication. Firstly, it amuses me because I am from Australia, and English is my first language. In fact, it is my only language. Secondly, it amuses me because miscommunications have frequently resulted in entertaining misunderstandings. For example, in Australia you might ask your friend, "Did you get on to Liz last night?" which means: Did you manage to talk to Liz on the telephone last night? In America, however, it means: Did you manage to become intimate with Liz last night? Of course, these sorts of language differences go both ways. Have you ever been to a baseball game? At the end of the 7th inning of a baseball game the crowd spontaneously stands and sings. It is a family song, but if you sang during the 7th inning stretch in Australia it would be for adults only! A less amusing facet of the communication issue fills me with absolute fear. It has to do with not being understood, with asking for something very simple and having someone stare back at me as if I were a green alien with bobbing antennae. The letter R is a case in point. I am told by Americans that an Australian saying R sounds like the stick-out-your-tongue-at-the-doctor-sound. However, in my experience it usually results in people hearing the letter A. Every time I have to say the letter R I begin to feel nervous, a purely Pavlovian response to repeated misunderstandings. When I first realized I have a problem with the letter R, I thought I would try the strategy of saying R for ...." Well, it was a good idea, except that I chose the wrong word, the name Ralph. I said, "R for Ralph," and the guy behind the counter just looked at me. So I said it again and still he just looked at me. I don't remember how this person came to understand that I was saying R, but I did learn that day that "to ralph" is American slang for "to vomit." Maybe that had something to do with the way the person behind the counter was looking at me. Just looking at me. To survive as an alien postdoc, seek the humor in these misunderstandings and laugh. Laugh hard. Laugh until it hurts. Even the greatest challenges, humiliations, and frustrations can be reduced to funny tales. Alex Wilson, a postdoc at the University of California, Davis, can be contacted at acwilson@ucdavis.edu. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[1].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[2].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[3].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[4].checked) result = true; if (!result) alert("Please select") return result; } .myradio{background-color : #94bee5} Please indicate on a 1 - 5 scale how strongly you would recommend this article to your colleagues? Not recommended 1 2 3 4 5 Highly recommended Please register your vote

Science's Alien Workforce

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of