Tools of the Trade

[STEVE BOARD]

I noticed you were "between jobs" which gives me a chance to pass on to
you something my wife has proposed to me more than once. She works for
RR Donnelley as a secretary and, of course, makes good use of a
computer, albeit a first generation IBM. From time to time a part
fails and considerable anxiety or delay attends its replacement while
Nancy returns to typewriters to solve the work load.
  She proposes that secretaries should bring their equipment with them
when they take a job. It would be like union carpenters have their own
tools. That way, one could use the software one wants, in the versions
one chooses And you could freely feel like fixing your own equipment as
part of the normal professional burden of the job. (Occasionally I tell
her I could fix her machine up for only a few dollars, but I hesitate
to put our household money into a Fortune 500 company's office
equipment.)
 Would this be worthy as a serious proposal? Maybe Len could write it
up for Crain's Chicago Business! Aren't you a little uncomfortable that
your next job will not give you the tools you need or are happy with
for the work load?