The fact that the general public can not always identify the arcane
specialities of the museum field in no way suggests that they do not value
museums.  (Is this a record for the number of negatives in a single
sentence?)
 
When I tell people I work in a museum, the response is likely to be interest,
or wistfulness (I always wanted to be a.....), or (sometimes vague) enthusiasm.
Off hand, I can't recall many negative reactions in almost 25 years.
Am I living a charmed life?
 
Ann Mintz
Orlando Science Center
(formerly Franklin Institute Science Museum, Philadelphia
and University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology)