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Ask HN: Can't You Just "

2 pointsby throwaway3563over 1 year ago
&quot;Can&#x27;t you just do X?&quot;<p>Anyone else get annoyed at this question sometimes when trying to find a solution to some problem? It&#x27;s borderline insulting sometimes, as the word &quot;just&quot; implies that I overlooked the simple, obvious way to do something. Sometimes it comes from someone who is lacking the nuances of some problem, and hasn&#x27;t looked into it beyond the surface level, which makes it all the more aggravating. I take very little personally at work, but this one gets on my nerves to no end.<p>Yeah, I would have done that if it were feasible&#x2F;maintainable&#x2F;wouldn&#x27;t leave a can of worms for someone else to decipher. It&#x27;s not like I actually LIKE to create more work for myself. I&#x27;m not doing it X way because it&#x27;s not the correct way, or it will cause more problems in the future.

4 comments

ubermanover 1 year ago
Can you just accept that you dont have all the answers to every problem and someone else might have the experience or insight that makes a seemingly difficult problem trivial?<p>:-p<p>People want or have been instructed to help and you might reframe thier attempt by assuming the best of intentions.
Eridrusover 1 year ago
I have taken to editing my work messages to remove all instances of the word just when I notice them for this exact reason. It adds no information and is needlessly dismissive.<p>HN comments are worth what you paid for them though, so can&#x27;t you just get over it? :p
zero-sharpover 1 year ago
I think this depends on where the advice is coming from. Is it a peer? Is it a manager?
kwertyoowiyopover 1 year ago
Wait until you get married.