Speaking Real Words

I'm a big fan of wikipedia, mainly how I can stumble from tangents of one article to another much like channel surfing is to TV. I was just reading about Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi, and this quote struck me:

It is often said that the Pythia delivered oracles in a frenzied state induced by vapors rising from the ground, and that she spoke gibberish which priests reshaped into the enigmatic prophecies preserved in Greek literature.

I find this has amusing parallels to my career. Sometimes, I visit recruiters or managers that initially treat me like a babbling oracle that requires translation to understand "brilliance". It's like developers have some unwritten license or expected behavior to be as incoherent as they please, and people will chalk it up to their esoteric thought process.

This notion is just silly. I don't claim to be the best communicator, but what good are your ideas if you cannot translate them to anyone else? Smart people aren't always eccentric, and eccentric people are not always smart. Think about this the next time someone tries to project this odd character upon you, why are they acting this way? There are some people that have communication troubles because of a unique train of thought, but this is a disability, a hindrance to be overcome, not a personality trait to be admired.

In my contracts, I don't have a manager, agent, or salesperson. My clients call me directly, and I always explain details to their full satisfaction, this is not anything new or special, it is simply common courtesy regardless of the profession.