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Field Circus

/fēld sər-kəs/

[a derogatory pun on 'field service']

n. The field service organization of any hardware manufacturer, but especially DEC. There is an entire genre of jokes about DEC field circus engineers:

Q: How can you recognize a DEC field circus engineer with a flat tire?
A: He's changing each tire to see which one is flat.

Q: How can you recognize a DEC field circus engineer who is out of gas?
A: He's changing each tire to see which one is flat.

There is also the 'Field Circus Cheer' (from the plan file for DEC on MIT-AI):

Maynard! Maynard!
Don't mess with us!
We're mean and we're tough!
If you get us confused
We'll screw up your stuff.

(DEC's service HQ is located in Maynard, Massachusetts.)