I get a kick out of news stories that include slightly off-beat descriptions of plastics processes. I understand how it happens, journalists have to report stories about a wide variety of topics, and not everyone is an expert at how manufacturing works.
The result? Stories about injection molders and extruders that try to explain how a company takes plastic granules and melts them into various shapes.
It's a little awkward.
I mention this today because Forbes magazine mentioned a plastic process in a blog post about how job seekers should write a thank-you note after a job interview, and I got a kick out of the reference.
Here's the theoretical example:
Dear Allyson,
Thanks for making time to chat with me about the Marketing Coordinator position at Acme Explosives yesterday, and thanks for your wonderful description of the plastic extrusion process. I'm excited to learn more.
All the best,
Jane Banks
There are so many things to love about this letter. Acme Explosives (isn't that where Wile E. Coyote bought all his gear for attacking the Road Runner?) needs a marketing coordinator, and apparently the job has something to do with plastics extrusion. And our intrepid job seeker is excited to learn more about the process!
And to get even more obscure, now we find out what happened to one of the kids from my least favorite movie of all time, "Mary Poppins."
For some reason this reminds me of how satirical newspaper The Onion wrote in 2009 that it had been taken over by the Yu Wan Mei Amalgamated Salvage Fisheries and Polymer Injection Corp. You have to love it when there's actually a legitimate reason to read and share stories from The Onion at work.
I'm glad that Plastics News reporters don't have to try to explain most plastics processes to our readers. Not that we couldn't — in fact, I suspect that Bill Bregar would enjoy it.
But, most of the time at least, we can focus on the business news, safely knowing that our readers know the difference between PPS, PP and PS; vacuum forming and pressure forming; and all the varieties of blow molding (extrusion, injection, injection stretch, suction and more...)
