we don't often talk about work during coffee time.  coffee time is a time for humor, a time to ponder life's weirdness, and to make fun of stuff.

but inevitably, work does creep into conversation and of course it is rarely serious. other people sit and discuss the outcome of their sales meeting, how they might motivate employees, or goals & objectives for the new year.

when bill and i discuss work, it's an office-spawned episode of "Beavis and Butthead". in our office, everyone is so completely serious, so focused, and so - um - professional that you would be hard pressed to detect anything resembling a sense of humor. it is for this reason that our co-workers can use the phrase "penetration testing" with a completely straight face.

bill and i hear this term and we are instantly reduced to tears, and we have had many discussions recapping the hilarious phrases we hear in meetings and conference calls. yes, there's "end to end testing", or "the tool is broken, i can't pull it up". then there was the one referring to one of our vendors: "they can't handle our load".

yes, there's "load testing", "unit testing", and even "regression" (though that is probably more of a psychological problem).

you'd think that by this point in life such juvenile humor wouldn't pose such an obstacle to professionalism.  but work without found humor would surely be pure torment.

some people just can't "get their hands around it".