Technical Leader

Is It For Them or You?

Haven’t you seen some people with a neck brace on that is moving their head all around? Makes you wonder what the neck brace is even doing for them.

I’ve also seen some people who obviously are not blind using a white cane to walk with. My initial thoughts were they were wanting attention or trying to make things more worse than they really are.

But normally it ends up not being for them, but for others to be aware.

I knew a gentleman who had many surgeries on the base of his neck and had tremendous pain and various issues with this area. One time while at a social event, someone he hadn’t seen in quite some time walked up and slapped him on the back as a way of greeting. He told me that he almost passed out because of the pain. Ever since then, he wears a neck brace when around a crowd of people to let others know he is sensitive with his neck (and upper back). Give people the right indicator on how to approach him. Very helpful.

My brother-in-law is legally blind, which means he still has some eye sight, but very little and needs some help with things. He uses a cane to help him of course, but doesn’t use it when around family. He uses it to [help] keep people from running into him. He uses it to help others when they are around him.

I think having tests in your code base is more for others than for you.

I think the same about documentation, readme’s, FAQ’s, blog posts, youtube videos, and books to name a few. Do more for others. You will definitely get accolades in return, but it is more for others than yourself.

(Note: I missed two days, writing a post everyday is extremely difficult for me. But I’m still not giving up … yet.)