A Victim of Outsourcing

I lost some of my hours at a job I have due to outsourcing. A higher-up decided he could save money by having people in India write the content that Americans had been writing more cheaply. As it's been described to me, there is a "farm of Indian doctors and scientists" who can write knowledgeably on health topics.

Some of my hours rebounded, however, when it was soon discovered that the Indians' articles were not usable as submitted. They were clearly scientifically smart, but their writing is not friendly to American readers. It then became part of my job to edit these pieces for grammar and clarity; the site aims to break down complicated issues to a mass audience, and these well-educated, non-native speakers just don't often communicate the information in the manner desired.

So now I bill hours to fact check and rewrite pieces that were previously completed competently by American writers. I've tried to point out that this process is neither more efficient nor less expensive than before, but if there's one thing I've learned about the business world it's that people love tossing practicality aside to spend lots of money on finding a way to save a little bit of money. Quick, somebody give me an honorary MBA.

The biggest problem with the Indian writers is just their unfamiliarity with American vernacular. They'll use fourteen medical words to describe what I'll ultimately realize is a "heart attack" rather than using the simple phrase. They'll describe passages of time in "fortnights." They'll say that rats "ate the food with relish"... and just when I wonder why scientists put relish on rat pellets, I'll realize that they meant to say that the rats were enjoying their meal. It's not that it's wrong, it's just that it's not right.

My boss was out of the office this week, so I was asked to give a final examination of some of the latest Indian articles. Amidst the usual errors was an article about the health benefits of rape. Yes, you read that correctly. First I was shocked, and then I couldn't make sense of the article. It said things like rape being high in antioxidants and a good source of carbohydrates.

It turns out the Indians weren't actually wrong. After a little research, I learned that rape is a kind of edible plant. (If you Google "rape vegetable," one of the top results is this tactful article "Is It Rape If She's a Vegetable?) However, the fact that they never bothered to explain that rape is a plant is problematic, especially when the majority of Americans would look at that and think "awful sex crime."

I have no doubt the site would love a link from Gawker, but I don't think they want it because of what would have been the world's worst headline had I approved the working title: "The Nutritional Potential of Rape."