Computers bring out so many wonderful things from each of us: high-speed communication, world-wide shared writing, community networking, and the ability to learn new languages…or express old ones.
Come to think of it, that last one has been a key outcome of my time on the computer in the last week, and it’s not always a good thing.
The computer language I’ve been speaking so much lately is generally not expressed in the roman alphabet, but rather through symbols like #, @, %, and &. Often in 4-letter combinations.
My computer is old. It is crotchety. It has a short attention span, and an even lower tolerance for multiple applications. It throws temper tantrums and sulks at the slightest provocation.
As it turns out, my temper is just as short.
I wonder why I am so comfortable speaking to my computer in expletives, when I would shrink from using that same vocabulary around other people? When I think no one is listening, it’s amazing how much anger I can express.
It says something about how close to the surface those words lurk, how much anger I am capable of holding in reserve (perhaps unhealthily), and how little restraint I really have. It also says something about my expectations and claims on my time. And my peculiar ideas about how anger should be held and expressed. (Inanimate targets not generally providing much satisfaction.)
Come to think of it, the things my computer language says about me aren’t much nicer than the things I am saying to my computer.
Hmm…
Snark on the Side 