In a message dated 02-04-17 10:09:12 EDT, Jay Heuman wrote:

<< Your analogy to car repairs is wholly
 inappropriate (dare I say "offensive"?) for numerous reason,
 first and foremost because - thankfully - museums do not
 "own" their employees in quite the same way you own your
 car. >>

Just for the record, I disagree--I thought Merri's analogy was apt, and I saw
nothing inappropriate or offensive about it.  I think her point was simply
that it's as good an investment for a museum to pay to "tune up" its
employees as it is for an individual to invest in keeping a car well
maintained.  I think the issue of ownership is irrelevant and utterly beside
that essential point--others may disagree.  (You don't have to own a car
anyway--you can lease it or borrow it.)  Analogies are by definition
imperfect: a perfect analogy would cease to be an analogy. There are always
elements in two entities being compared which will be different, and it's not
productive to quibble about those differences or to pronounce the comparison
offensive.  We can disagree about whether or not the analogy is good, but I
don't think it's worth taking offense.

In terms of netiquette, I think it's a good idea to be slow (very slow) to
take offense at opinions and rhetorical devices.  The "O" word has started
many flame wars.  I hope this opinion doesn't start one.

David Haberstich

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