Just Life...

Following instructiions is seemingly the single most difficult thing that people have to do. People at large are locked between the "what if" and "maybe" of things. At such times one cannot but wonder if in the evolutionary cycle we are infact degenerating to a degree that we actually seem dumb. Or maybe it is a lack of discipline.

Take a scene at the ATM for example. If you have ever stood in line to access the ATM, you would understand what I mean. How difficult can it be to insert the card into the slot?. But so many variations exist that I am, at most times, left with mixed feelings of amusement and sheer disgust. Firstly, our hero inserts the card the wrong side in. After a few frustrating tries, in which time, he runs his hand trough his hair and even stops to admire his face in the mirror above the ATM, he flips the card and surprise! Surprise! It does not work again! For why should it when you insert the card and pull it out as if you have just touched a red hot iron rod. One cannot describe the motion of the swipe. Our dear friend inserts the card and yanks it out; for dear life! At this point he shifts his weight to his other leg, looks around for the security guard, runs his hand again through his hair and tries again.
Unable to hold himself any further, the old man standing behind him tells him to insert it slowly and then pull it out. The rest is history....

My lady friends are a step ahead. The only difference is that there are now two women racking their brains at the ATM. Each takes a shot at inserting the card into the slot. But, like I said, they are smart and a step ahead. They choose to disregard the offer of help from the old man behind them (how dare he!) and actually call the security guard. The security guard walks with a swagger and considers the case of the damsels in distress with a panache that would put Shahrukh to shame. And you thought that he would know how to make it work. Since he is the security guard, he gets to thump the ATM a few times and then with a look that suggests that he did all he could, he triumphantly declares that the ATM is out of order. It turns out that our friends had just wanted to check their account balance. The guard directs them to the account information panel. The rest is history...

The people of my country add a new dimension to quality control in general. Who would have thought that bus foot boards would be used for travel by standing and theatre seats would have to accomodate the whole person including the feet. Ever wondered why BPOs are rushing to this soil. Because we know things that are unimaginably possible. "Sir, you cannot click on UNDO to clear the paper jam in your printer".

I think I shall stop here. For I can go on and on.....and time is of the essence. I have to get back to writing the build instructions in a readme.txt which I know I shall read out to the person when he will call me after having tried, in vain, to make my wonderfully written code compile.