Signs of the Times

I was recently at a meeting at Kauai Community College and encountered a sign that said "Marketing and

Sales Servery."  Now I know what marketing and sales are.  I think I'm a pretty educated person, but I have no idea what a "servery" is.  When I got home I looked it up and it's something like a pass through window or a service counter.  So, why didn't they say that?

Signs are soooo important and we often forget that others don't have the foggiest idea about our jargon.  This is the "curse of knowledge."  We know what we mean and we assume others do too.

On the campus of Kapiolani Community College there are lots of examples of the curse of knowledge.  Just walking around I've seen signs for "TREO."  TREO is an advising program, but the sign doesn't explain itself.  Even more confusing, we have named a lot of programs with Hawaiian names - which is good because we want to be culturally sensitive.  But, we have to translate and explain them in order to make them intelligible for the uninitiated.  We have a program called Kahikoluamea which is a remedial learning program.  But to find out about remedial learning on our website, you have to search for Kahikoluamea.  We have a transfer program called Kaieie.  There's a sign on the Kaieie  office with deadlines and registration requirements - without ever telling the reader what Kaieie is.

We all need to get outside of our skin to escape the curse of knowledge.