Typing Looks Like Typing

From "This is Why You Shouldn't Interrupt a Programmer" — Jason Heeris, 2013. See the full comic at: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/60wx3z/this_is_why_you_shouldnt_interrupt_a_programmer/

The problem with typing, is that it just looks like typing no matter what kind of work you're doing. If you're not looking at the person's computer screen you assume low stakes are being played.

clacking noises Pause. more clacking noises Longer pause, hand on chin. Hands back on keyboard one clack Pause.

A person's view of work is constrained by what they've experienced. If they only know computers, and specifically work done with computers as email, chat, and spider solitaire then that is what they think everyone else does. Maybe not explicitly, but in the back of their mind, yes, their perception of what one does typing at a computer is very narrow. Three things only - email, chat, and the old reliable - solitaire game.

"Hey, watcha' doin'?"

I try to remember the fleeting thought I was in, as I turn to the person who appeared next to me out of apparent thin air. But that thought is lost to the ether, maybe I'll remember it sixty minutes from now. It's my father-in-law, beer in hand, I'm sitting at my iPad in the kitchen. We're on vacation and in a pause in the hustle and bustle of a trip with three young kids I took a moment to address some personal website work that I'd been slowly chipping away at for months.

But usually after looking up from the computer, and having my thought burst suddenly I'm a half-step too slow in answering.

My wife chimes in for me knowing I was trying to formulate an answer. "He's just doing some work."

"Work! Oh, man!", my father-in-law, also the South Florida king of spider solitaire as far as I can tell, with the amount of time I see him playing it, says loudly as he steps away, satisfied with the answer.

I look back to my iPad screen. I was VNC'd into my home computer where I had VSCode open on one side, personal website open on the right. I was also looking at the documentation of Next.js site and their new <Image /> component and trying to figure out the right props to pass to it so my images looked correct on my blog. Did I edit the prop? Which props had I tried? Had one worked the way I wanted?

Mmmm, maybe this personal site work can wait, it will take too long to finish anyway, I think to myself.

Even as a type this essay my Golden Retriever has interrupted me two to three times simply because I was sitting, and "obviously not doing anything important". Can I go outside? Want to play Ball? You're not doing anything but sitting there looking at that glowing box making crunchy noises on it. I can see him asking with his eyes.

I've worked at many places, and there are a few places where folks whom needed my services, Typist/Software Engineer, that literally sent me an email about something, and would walk over to my desk to tell me about it.

Usually, deep in thought "just typing", I'd see a person appear out of thin air next to me, hands on their hips, staring at me. I'd take off my headphones, and they'd say, "Did you read that email I sent ya?"

"I didn't see anything from this morning..." I'd offer.

"Nah, I just sent it" they'd say.

Me, opening my email client I'd look at the timestamp first confused at why I'd missed it.

Email sent: Today, 1 minute ago

This was many years ago, and this person would do this every other day. So I literally set my email client to check email every minute, just for this person. So that I might have the chance to read what they sent before they appeared at my desk. Back in the day, the default for Outlook to check for new email was five minutes.

Typing looks like typing, which is exactly the problem.