Reconstructing The Paper Crane

Published March 12, 2014
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One day many moons ago, my friend came over to our house as he usually did when he didn't have homework. He brought with him this paper crane. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. I just kept starring at it, marveling. So I asked him how he made it. He would not tell me how to make it. I asked him again, but he said no.

I was confused. It seemed he wanted me to marvel at his creation, but he refused to teach me to how to do it so I could make my own. I didn't do anything to make him mad. Why didn't he want to teach me how to make that paper crane?

Well, when he left that day, he left behind that paper crane. I was going to learn how to make this paper crane. I carefully pulled apart the crane so I would not rip it, and then I re-folded it along the creases periodically all the way until I got to the beginning, which was just a square sheet of paper. I did this over and over and over until I had seen how he got to the final crane.

I then cut a sheet of paper into a square and tried to fold my own crane. I was determined to make my crane better than his. So I creased each crease really tight. I made the folds perfect. When I was almost done, my crane ripped. I tried again and again and again. At the end of the night I had many cranes and one perfect one. When my friend came over the next day, I gave him his crane back, and showed him my paper cranes. He looked upset.

This same event happened in school once, a while before this incident. A boy in school had made a paper crane, and would not teach me how to make it. People were gathered around him because he knew how to make a crane, and it was so cool. He had made several cranes, and tried to top it off by making a perfect one, but it ripped. His excuse was that he made it too perfect. Show off, haha.

I learned something at a very early age, and it applies even now in my latest venture of learning computer programming.

Some people want to feel special, to feel accomplished, and they won't help you, and would rather look down on you as a nube. What is this phenomena? I don't know.

But I learned that it is only some secret thing they know that I don't know, but if I were to know it, I could do what they do, and I'd be determined to do it better. But I shouldn't be arrogant, because I might end up with a ripped paper crane, then I will look like a fool.

Patiently, and steadily, if I am persistent, and willing to suffer the smog looks of the great and powerful, I know I can reconstruct the paper crane.

This is a journal.
1 likes 4 comments

Comments

sunandshadow

Good anecdote! *thumbs up* Probably don't want "smog looks" though, lol, smug ones are bad enough.

March 12, 2014 08:22 AM
Aardvajk

Most of us here put an *enormous* amount of time into helping people. Really. Years and years in some cases. Just because we like to and because others help us.

Then sometimes people arrive on the forum making lots of noise about how they are going to write the *best* this or the *greatest* that, as soon as they have learned to program and they have already done *this* and already done *that* blah blah. They annoy people and get treated as such.

Its frankly insulting to the community here to characterise the reaction to the tone of your posts as "Some people want to feel special, to feel accomplished, and they won't help you, and would rather look down on you as a nube."

March 12, 2014 09:23 AM
Bacterius

Its frankly insulting to the community here to characterise the reaction to the tone of your posts as "Some people want to feel special, to feel accomplished, and they won't help you, and would rather look down on you as a nube."

Agreed! The backhanded, almost passive-aggressive tone of these journal entries which are obviously in response to Tutorial Doctor's recent controversial forum posts is disturbing. People have offered help and feedback in literally every thread you made, but you've got to be able to take some critique that maybe, just maybe some of what you do/write/code/think is either wrong, misguided, inaccurate, or unrealistic. If you can't, then don't act so surprised when people get tired of it.

March 12, 2014 09:58 AM
Tutorial Doctor

This was not aimed in any way at the people on this site. Just about every post I have made seeking help has been answered plus some. So it couldn't be an obvious response to a thread I made here. I was just reflecting on my experiences in general.

Btw, have I really been making controversial topics? Haha.

I am 100% sure that some of the stuff I post is inaccurate, and unrealistic, and wrong, and as I posted also before, I will always be a beginner/nube.

My tone is one of passion, not of passive aggressiveness. I am that way about everything I do, and some people take offense to it. I ask the questions I am confused about, no restraints. I voice my opinions, no restraints. Up vote, down vote, "smug" look "smog" look... haha.

That is why I noted at the end "this is a journal" so that hopefully no one would take offense. It just happens to be a public journal about the things I am learning while learning programming.

I am sure most journals (the secret ones) have content in them others would find offensive if they read it. But it is place where you say what you are feeling.

I actually like feedback that challenges me. As I noted in the story about the paper crane, it makes me determined to do better.

March 13, 2014 01:39 AM
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