Loss
Before I lost my laptop, I’ve lost my shoes, about 6 months ago. It was a still shiny new when I lost it. Of course, I was angered and confused. But ultimately, I was able to console myself. “This is bad. But this is not the worst thing that could happen. You know, I could’ve lost my phone or even my laptop.”
Now, let me tell you a story of a young girl. She is a shy girl. She doesn’t have many friends, but she has a very cheerful and loving older sister. Thanks to her sister, she can find some nice friends in the school.
This girl really likes to sing. She often sings alone in her room or in the bathroom, and her sister would tell her how wonderful her voice is. But she has a problem. Because of her shyness, she would get really nervous in front of a lot of people. Unfortunately, the music class in her school requires her to sing in front of the entire class. As expected, her voice becomes very shaky and stiff whenever she was told to sing.
Luckily, because of the help of her sister and her new friends, she is finally able to overcome her anxiety. They would ask her to sing in front of them, and they would try their best to make her enjoy her singing. At first, she would still get very nervous. But after each practice, she became more and more comfortable to singing in front of them.
Finally, the day has come for the girl to sing in front of the class. Unexpected to her classmates, she sang beautifully, just as good as when she was singing alone. And when she finished singing, the entire class gave her a big round of applause. She was really happy. And now that she has tackled her biggest hurdle to sing in front of audience, and because she really loves singing, she now has a dream to become a singer.
Such an uplifting story, right? Well, except that it’s not. Apparently, the original creator of this story doesn’t allow us to be happy for too long. Because, right after she found her dream, she tragically lost her voice in an accident. She can’t talk anymore, let alone sing.
This story has left a deep impression on me. In fact, I’ve had a very similar thought. My dream right now is to become a programmer. Since I’m taking a Computer Science course right now, you can say that I’m currently living my dream. But sometimes I think, what is the worst loss that might happen to a programmer? My answer was pretty simple and straightforward: “losing both hands”.
Interestingly, after giving it some more thought, I think it’s not really that bad. If you only lost your fingers, you can still use your hands to type, even though you now only have two giant fingers instead of ten smaller (and more flexible) ones. Aside from the huge drop on WPM, I think it’s still viable, with some adaptation and adjustments. If you lost the entire forearms, well, you can switch to the toes on your feet to type. Indeed, it is more troublesome, but still possible.
Alternatively, you can code by talking. It would feel weird initially when you have to stop using the mouse and keyboard, and start using voice to code. In fact, Google's voice search is one of the least used app in my phone. I just don't feel like using my mouth to operate a gadget, but that can change. Like the previous option, it just needs some adaptation and adjustments.
Actually, the worst loss that could happen is losing vision on both eyes. And it’s not just about programming. Without my vision, I can’t see the things I love. I can’t watch anime anymore, I can’t play video games, I can’t see gorgeous landscapes, etc. I’d go as far to say that I will seriously consider suicide if that shit happens. I know, it’s not easy to commit suicide if everything around you is pitch black. But it’s still possible! I just need to walk around until I find a sharp knife, and then ….
Ah, but it looks like I was wrong! Right before I published this post, I googled “blind programmer”, and I was really amazed by the wonderful stories I found there. This time, the internet has surely beaten me. I don’t know what to do.
2
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Now, let me tell you a story of a young girl. She is a shy girl. She doesn’t have many friends, but she has a very cheerful and loving older sister. Thanks to her sister, she can find some nice friends in the school.
This girl really likes to sing. She often sings alone in her room or in the bathroom, and her sister would tell her how wonderful her voice is. But she has a problem. Because of her shyness, she would get really nervous in front of a lot of people. Unfortunately, the music class in her school requires her to sing in front of the entire class. As expected, her voice becomes very shaky and stiff whenever she was told to sing.
Luckily, because of the help of her sister and her new friends, she is finally able to overcome her anxiety. They would ask her to sing in front of them, and they would try their best to make her enjoy her singing. At first, she would still get very nervous. But after each practice, she became more and more comfortable to singing in front of them.
Finally, the day has come for the girl to sing in front of the class. Unexpected to her classmates, she sang beautifully, just as good as when she was singing alone. And when she finished singing, the entire class gave her a big round of applause. She was really happy. And now that she has tackled her biggest hurdle to sing in front of audience, and because she really loves singing, she now has a dream to become a singer.
Such an uplifting story, right? Well, except that it’s not. Apparently, the original creator of this story doesn’t allow us to be happy for too long. Because, right after she found her dream, she tragically lost her voice in an accident. She can’t talk anymore, let alone sing.
This story has left a deep impression on me. In fact, I’ve had a very similar thought. My dream right now is to become a programmer. Since I’m taking a Computer Science course right now, you can say that I’m currently living my dream. But sometimes I think, what is the worst loss that might happen to a programmer? My answer was pretty simple and straightforward: “losing both hands”.
Interestingly, after giving it some more thought, I think it’s not really that bad. If you only lost your fingers, you can still use your hands to type, even though you now only have two giant fingers instead of ten smaller (and more flexible) ones. Aside from the huge drop on WPM, I think it’s still viable, with some adaptation and adjustments. If you lost the entire forearms, well, you can switch to the toes on your feet to type. Indeed, it is more troublesome, but still possible.
Alternatively, you can code by talking. It would feel weird initially when you have to stop using the mouse and keyboard, and start using voice to code. In fact, Google's voice search is one of the least used app in my phone. I just don't feel like using my mouth to operate a gadget, but that can change. Like the previous option, it just needs some adaptation and adjustments.
Actually, the worst loss that could happen is losing vision on both eyes. And it’s not just about programming. Without my vision, I can’t see the things I love. I can’t watch anime anymore, I can’t play video games, I can’t see gorgeous landscapes, etc. I’d go as far to say that I will seriously consider suicide if that shit happens. I know, it’s not easy to commit suicide if everything around you is pitch black. But it’s still possible! I just need to walk around until I find a sharp knife, and then ….
***
Anime References (WARNING: SPOILERS!)
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