We all know people who struggle with communicating. A simple question like, "What do you want for dinner?" can turn into an hour long hemming-and-hawing, shrugging and eye-rolling exercise that gets you NOWHERE near a decision on what culinary delicacy to grace your table with that evening. Some people, out of a well-meant effort to remain pleasant, just don't want to answer in a way they know you'll disagree with; others really don't want to put the effort into thinking about it; and a few may actually be perplexed by the question (hopefully not the example above, but other types). I live with someone who has a practiced expertise with all of the above. When I'm frustrated by his half-coherent response to something I've said, I often chalk it up to the fact that he's just a terrible communicator--not willfully attempting to induce me to throw something large and heavy directly at him. This latter point is sometimes very hard to remember.
However, after reading this xkcd comic today and showing him the second frame,
His response was quite simple:
I can be perfectly clear in C++ :-)
printf("Ph");
do {
printf("t");
} while(haveMoreSpittle());
printf("!!!");
See, it's not that hard to understand a programmer. It's just a matter of picking the right language!
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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.