I’m not one to write poetry, but I woke up one morning a few months back inspired to write. At the time there was a fair amount of drama going on twitter (when is it not?) and that likely inspired my writing. This was well received as a lightning talk at SCNA last year and I wanted to share this with everyone.

“This is terrible, who the hell wrote this?” I hear in an office. That statement is shortly followed by fingers at a keyboard typing a command. A brief pause as they read the output and let out a sigh. “It’s me” I hear in a shameful tone that perfectly describes his or her current state. They used that command that I love to hate. ‘git blame’

I’ll admit it. I’ve been there too. Usually you’re knee deep in a code base where you have a doubt. You happen upon something so vile, so horrifying that you freak out! In a knee-jerk reaction you might shout “What the fuck?” And before you know it, type that command. Then suddenly, a reason isn’t so in demand. It’s you.

Why was that code so horrible? Can that commit message tell you? 50 characters or less isn’t very much to discuss your life story. Or explain why that chunk of code had to be so gory. You see, at the time I had this deadline to meet and a client promise to keep. That code worked! I swear it passed the test. Maybe, I didn’t get my full nights rest.

I emplore everyone here to take a step back. When that chunk of code makes your brain go off-track. Stop typing that command in vain. Because then you have only yourself to ‘git blame’