Marilyn, Jerry Deck is wrong. There is NO one who can operate at their peak level of performance on an on-going basis. If you want to base the term "professional" on the basis of competence, a better way to state the objective would be: A professional is a person who can perform at a consistently high level of competence regardless of the circumstances. I also think there is more to being a professional than simple competence, although that is a good start. However, I digress. pax, rand
