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It’s easy for you, not for them

Nothing is quite so instructive as seeing someone perform a task that is easy for you.

You are skilled. You know what is happening, and why, and what lurks behind the physical manifestations of the task, seen to the expert but unseen to the noob.

Watching the noob, it is easy to get frustrated. “It’s so obvious!” That’s what my head screams, at least. My head screams other things, too.

Patience. You, too, were a noob. You still are, in fact. Other people are looking at you right now, with a screaming voice in their heads.

Empathy. Calm down. You know the XCKD comic strip? Be excited for them and yourself. Today is a day to learn a new cool thing.

Be one of the lucky 10,000 today.

What if they don’t want to learn, don’t want to put out the effort? Let them be. That’s not your problem.

But realistically most people are just hindered by fear and not wanting to look stupid. You’re are overestimating the probability that the person you’re dealing with is malicious or lazy, and even those sources of resistance can be weathered away with kindness and generosity.

This was written while contemplating a few routine tasks facing M. Logging into her G Suite admin panel to check on which credit card was attached. Dealing with the usual blizzard of bullshit paperwork that afflicts all business owners. Don’t underestimate how hard these things are for people who haven’t spent decades doing them.