a lot of my so-called talent at work, in terms of skills, comes from googling shit and having the patience to learn. it seems intuitive to me to be curious and look shit up, and the tools to do so (phones, computers) have never been more ubiquitous. people i work with are pretty good, but holy shit my family are fucking rubes about looking shit up. i used to accept it because i was the young one who can computer, but it became like some kind of Ryan Howard “can’t” clean the microwave scenario.

my slightly older sibling one time was treating me like i was their personal researcher about some shit while i’m at work trying to work and they’re chilling, and i started sending them those tiny url “let me google that for you” links and they went fucking ballistic. i guess i hit a nerve. i had to explain, “i have literally just been typing the words into google. i am not a reference book. you have a phone, you’re on the internet, you are literate, you have a graduate degree, handle your shit.”

while i can accept that some people are more skilled at certain things (hanging drywall, small engine repair, defusing conflict), looking basic shit up on the internet is not one of those things i’m not going to accept as “too hard” unless i’m dealing with some kind of outlier scenario like an obscure topic where i have relevant experience, a little kid, an old person, or someone with some kind of barrier. if you can use the internet to buy very special treats for yourself and watch your favorite ragebait, you can use the internet to find out more information about your light bulb needs.