Tag: Profession

Understanding Name Conventions in Southern India: The Case of LinkedIn Profiles | September 29 2026, 15:06

It seems that the names of Indian colleagues on LinkedIn like Sakthi S are almost always not from a desire to hide their full name, but because in South India it is approximately like that. Traditionally, there are no surnames in the European sense there. Instead, a father’s name initial is added to the personal name. So, “Sakthi S” most likely means Sakthi, son of someone like Selvam, Subramanian, or Sentil. In India itself, it is often written the other way around, with the initial first: “S. Sakthi”. Accordingly, D at the end would be a father’s name starting with D (Durai, Dinesh), A – for A (Arumugam, Anandan), etc. A daughter would have the same initial, and sometimes it changes to her husband’s initial after marriage.

A classic example is mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan: “Srinivasa” is his father’s name, not a surname, and at home he was simply called Ramanujan.

In Tamil Nadu, it’s also a deliberate stance— the Dravidian movement (Periyar) actively encouraged abandoning caste surnames because they immediately reveal caste affiliation. A father’s initial doesn’t reveal anything like that.

Interestingly, when you ask Gemini about this, it says its program isn’t designed for such tasks, that it doesn’t understand me and can’t respond, that it’s just a language model and doesn’t have such capabilities. Claude, on the other hand, responds alright.

The screenshot is just a random manager from LinkedIn.

Exploring the Booming Business of Pet Waste Removal Services | August 13 2026, 02:05

By the way, a car with the logo Pet Waste Removal periodically drives up to our neighbor’s place. It was a revelation to discover that in the USA there is an entire niche—special services that clean up lawns from dog poop so that little children can more safely run around the same lawn. There are dozens of such companies around me. I never imagined such a thing existed.

(But the funny thing is that the neighbor has a cat. And here my imagination really took a hit. I don’t know, maybe he just has a friend working there, but there are litter box services. They come once or twice a week, completely change the filler, disinfect the litter box, and take away the waste)

So, Pet Waste Removal is indeed a huge industry with a rich internal culture. They have their own professional association — aPaws (Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists), which holds an annual International Pooper Scooper Week” in April. Some franchises cost tens of thousands of dollars to join, and the market is estimated at hundreds of millions. The logic is simple: the average dog produces about 100 kg of waste per year, there are nearly 90 million dogs in the US, and most owners genuinely hate this part of dog ownership.

There’s even a surreal branch—PooPrints service. Residential complexes and HOAs require residents to submit their dogs’ DNA to a database, and when an “unidentified” pile is found on the lawn, it’s sent for genetic testing to identify the offending owner. Fines range from $150 to $500.

Our Yuki has never (or seems like once in five years) done his business in the yard. Well, never at home, even as a puppy, and never once made a puddle. So he, too, looks at all this with puzzlement. And in the US, dogs are let out through a door, they do their thing, run around— and back inside. Many dogs in the suburbs for years do not know what it’s like to walk on a leash in the usual sense familiar to us.

Cultural Expectations of Driving for Work: USA vs Russia | November 22 2025, 16:21

Here’s what I’ve noticed. In the USA, there’s an expectation that an employee drives themselves if their job involves traveling. Companies often issue a company car or provide compensation for using a personal vehicle. This is commonly considered a regular part of job responsibilities, and having a driver’s license is often implicitly assumed. For example, Nadia, a volleyball coach, occasionally drives a small bus for us.

As I recall, the tradition in Russia is different: in organizations, especially in government, large corporations, or among managerial staff, it is more logical to expect a designated driver.

Am I mistaken?

Unraveling the True Meaning of “Admission to the Bar” | October 14 2025, 01:20

It turns out that the phrase “barristers must gain admission to the bar” is not at all about bars and baristas, as I would have thought, had I not read that it’s actually about lawyers in the US. Admission to the bar” — is the official admission to legal practice (for barristers). And a Barrister” is a lawyer who represents clients in court. There’s also Solicitor” — a lawyer who works with clients and documents.

Historically, bar” literally means a bar (barrier) in court, separating the area where the judges and lawyers sit from the rest of the hall. Being called to the bar” means being called to the barrier,” i.e., being admitted to represent cases in court. Today, the bar” refers to the legal profession as a whole or the legal community.

Actually, it all started when I saw the title (professional designation) “Esq.” with a guy’s name and realized I didn’t understand any of these letters often listed after names. There are a lot of them, and you’ve probably seen PhD, M.D., or CPA numerous times.