05.05.2003 - 10:30 a.m.

Really Annoying Lady (see previous encounter here) came in for tutoring again today, and I figured out what bothers me so much about her. I mean, she�s really not the slowest person I tutor and she�s perfectly nice, treating me like a person instead of a necessary nuisance. I think what bothers me so much about her is that she thinks of the computer as a force beyond her control. She�s always saying, �Now why did it do that?� or �I didn�t do that!�

Yes, lady, you did.

The computer only does what you tell it to do.

If something is happening, it is (bear with me here) a direct result of something you�ve typed, clicked, or otherwise told it to do.

And if you�d think just a little bit about what I�ve been showing you, you�d know what it is you�ve been saying.

Unfortunately, since the computer is a magical force with a mind of its own, Really Annoying Lady doesn�t see much point in learning how to do anything on her own. After all, it comes down to the computer�s whim in the end anyway, right? Certainly none of the problem-solving skills she�s picked up from the rest of her life can have any bearing here. Much better to leave computer negotiation to people the computer thinks are friends. Like me, oh joy of joys.

There are four point five days left until I am done with students for the summer.

In other news, I have a sugar headache. (Now, I could sit here and complain about gummi bears, those addictively chewy little bastards, or I could admit that my discomfort is a direct result of my own personal actions. See how these things can be applied cross-discipline?)

-stonebridge

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