# Things you've been surprised you've had to explain at work
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 13, 2021, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959 "2021-05-13T02:42:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/141 "2021-05-14T03:53:25Z")
If two different versions of software have the same version number, it defeats the purpose of a version number.
If you increase the resistance, you decrease the current (this was when I was an intern and had to explain this to people twice my age).
When you clone a git repository, you check out the trunk, so before you switch to the branch you want to work on you won’t see any of those changes.
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/142 "2021-05-14T03:53:51Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> When you stand facing the pointy end, the bow, you can point to port, starboard and stern and define them entirely by reference to the bow. There’s no need to mention left or right.
What is your objective method of determining which side is port or starboard? It’s the same as left and right which are relative to the direction you are facing. You can point to your right, left, and straight ahead and define those directions without needing to mention port or starboard or have a boat.
---
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/143 "2021-05-14T03:56:09Z")
> [@Kron](#):
>
> But aren’t port/starboard just left and right by other names? If I consider my nose to be analogous to the bow of the ship, I can define my port, starboard and stern as well, I would just normally use different terms.
The structure of a boat is external to your body. That’s what I’m meaning by objective. Your body structure is subjective to you and your brain. That’s where the difficulty appears to arise, as far as I can tell from reading about it. (IANAPsych).
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/144 "2021-05-14T03:57:21Z")
Then how come I know which of your hands are right and left? Most of the time anyway, I occasionally still get that wrong if I don’t take the time to think about it.
---
### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/145 "2021-05-14T04:00:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> I did train her on the database, using the five-page manual I’d created for it (the documentation provided by the vendor was…less than stellar). But before I trained her on the database, it turned out that I had to train her on a computer mouse. Specifically, she didn’t know what it was or how to use it. Her “computer experience” amounted to having run a cash register.
Back in the '90s, we got several Macs installed at work. One of the owners sat down, put the mouse on the floor, and tried to use it as a foot pedal. And that was not the stupidest thing he ever did.
---
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/146 "2021-05-14T04:03:55Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Then how come I know which of your hands are right and left? Most of the time anyway, I occasionally still get that wrong if I don’t take the time to think about it.
Because not everyone has this issue. As far as I can tell, it rarely arises with people who are strongly right-handed. In that case, there is a true dominant hand, and there is little confusion: “right” means the hand that person instinctively uses for major tasks.
But if you’re a leftie, or a cross-dominant, there isn’t that strong dominance. Even if you are a leftie, you’re living in a right-handed world, so that can create subtle confusions. You may use your left hand for some things, but based on product design, you have to use your right hand for other things, even if your left hand would be better at it. And if you’re cross-dominant, that is you mainly use one hand for most things, but also use the other hand for other things, the concept of right and left isn’t as clearly imprinted.
That doesn’t mean handedness confusion will arise with all lefties or cross-dominants, but there is a greater chance that the confusion will arise.
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/147 "2021-05-14T04:04:12Z")
Jeez, haven’t they figured out what to do with a mouse yet?
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hShY6xZWVGE)
---
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/148 "2021-05-14T04:06:34Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> And that was not the stupidest thing he ever did.
The mind boggles.
---
### Author:  [@Pheoinix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pheoinix)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/149 "2021-05-14T04:36:45Z")
I used to have a theory related to this. I presumed every country where people drove on the left was an island because otherwise there’d be a border between a left driving and right driving country, which would cause a lot of confusion.
I now know such borders exist, but still aren’t sure of the logistics for vehicles crossing them.
---
### Author:  [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/150 "2021-05-14T04:49:25Z")
I used to have left-right naming issues right up until medical school. All my friends knew to give directions in “your side” (driver) and “my side” (even if they were in the backseat), and I’d wax furious at lefty-loosey.
For reasons I can’t fully understand that all ended in medical school. I had a brief transitional period when I thought of it as “spleen side” and “liver side”, but soon I needed no mnemonic at all. Whatever trouble the words ‘left’ and ‘right’ had given me before, I’d known which side my own liver was on since first grade, and that built-in reference eliminated my confusion about the WORDS ‘left’ and ‘right’.
I don’t get it, but it’s beeen working for decades now.
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/151 "2021-05-14T04:58:34Z")
Ok, are you saying that people can identify the port and starboard sides of a boat more readily than they can identify their own hands? If that’s what you mean I just wasn’t picking up on it.
---
### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/152 "2021-05-14T07:12:48Z")
> Pheoinix — their last post was 7 years ago
> KP — their last post was 9 years ago.
Wow! Two long lost Dopers in a row!
Welcome back!
---
### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/153 "2021-05-14T07:40:26Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#):
>
> > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
> >
> > I read a novel written in Excel once. The plotting was great, but the writing was formulaic.
>
> That doesn’t add up.
It was still a best celler.
---
### Author:  [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/154 "2021-05-14T09:56:32Z")
Even in space you need to know directions – [signs on the International Space Station](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6bDno.png). Though [they tend to get covered up](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c5de1202a518ec7735231b2d88196978) after a while. There’s also [“FWD” and “AFT”](https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/200803135245-113347737b8a41551597fb73cd43e094/v1/6040f64175c7417e9ea39fdccbb3f263.jpg) for the side modules (and a “HANDS OFF” sign).
On the other end of the LOTUS/Excel spreadsheet spectrum, there are full action games. And in DOS days some games had a “Boss” key that would instantly switch from game to an innocent spreadsheet when the boss interrupts your, uh, “work”.
---
### Author:  [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/155 "2021-05-14T11:14:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Because not everyone has this issue. As far as I can tell, it rarely arises with people who are strongly right-handed. In that case, there is a true dominant hand, and there is little confusion: “right” means the hand that person instinctively uses for major tasks.
>
> But if you’re a leftie, or a cross-dominant, there isn’t that strong dominance. Even if you are a leftie, you’re living in a right-handed world, so that can create subtle confusions. You may use your left hand for some things, but based on product design, you have to use your right hand for other things, even if your left hand would be better at it. And if you’re cross-dominant, that is you mainly use one hand for most things, but also use the other hand for other things, the concept of right and left isn’t as clearly imprinted.
I did a bit of Googling on my own after you mentioned cross-dominance contributing to this issue. I am strongly right-handed and strongly left-footed.
As far back as I can remember, I have never had issues telling right and left apart, as long as we’re talking about a static object. In other words, if you say “the car on the left,” I know which one you’re talking about in an instant.
But when you talk about left or right in reference to movement, it trips me up. It’s not even just with circular things, if you even just say “Move the trash can to the left,” that trips me up. The data’s still a bit scarce, but from what I’ve been able to glean, the reasoning is as follows: when you have complete right-dominance (which is to say, your right ear is your dominant ear, your right eye is your dominant eye, your right hand is your dominant hand, and your right leg is your dominant leg), then your right side is your primary source of sensory input. It takes in the input on the right side, is processed on the left side of your brain, and then you quickly respond to your environment based on your sensory input.
When you have mixed dominance, your primary sensory input goes to different parts of the brain, and must be consolidated before you can react. So people with mixed dominance often struggle with activities that cross the midline of the body.
---
### Author:  [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/156 "2021-05-14T11:18:42Z")
I am directionally challenged - but I think starboard/port is different because it doesn’t matter which way I’m facing. They’re defined as right/or left from the perspective of someone facing the bow - but “starboard” is “starboard” no matter which way _you’re_ facing. There’s not of that " Make a left- oh wait, you’re coming from \_\_\_\_. In that case male a right." If you define “starboard” and “port” in terms of your nose, they change every time you turn your body a little.
---
### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/157 "2021-05-14T12:59:10Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> I had to explain to a co-worker why I couldn’t take the footage he shot in vertical portrait mode and make it fit a widescreen 16:9 image _without_ either adding huge vertical bars on the sides or zooming into the very center.
As a former graphic artist, and now as a web developer, I’ve also had to explain the concept of “aspect ratio” many times over the years. “ No, sorry, I can’t widen the square image to fit that rectangular area and keep it the same height, unless you don’t mind the image being stretched like silly putty”.
---
### Author:  [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/158 "2021-05-14T13:17:05Z")
I’m a nurse. I don’t even know where to begin…
---
### Author:  [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/159 "2021-05-14T13:17:19Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> I had to explain to a co-worker why I couldn’t take the footage he shot in vertical portrait mode and make it fit a widescreen 16:9 image _without_ either adding huge vertical bars on the sides or zooming into the very center.
My IT department, in a very large multi-national firm, will occasionally produce large graphics for display. Maybe to be shown at a trial, or in large conferences, that kind of thing. Sometimes they’re printed, sometimes they’re projected.
A truly surprising number of people requesting such displays cannot grasp the concept of aspect ratio.
What’s really frightening is that a close friend who’s a lighting director for movies/videos/television commercials/whatever tells me that the same thing is true in his business.
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959/160 "2021-05-14T13:32:24Z")
Way back when I worked in computer graphics aspect ratio was just something impossible to explain to people. I have no idea why either. I used to work with a graphic terminal that had a 512x512 pixel display. This came from the manufacturer set for a 4:3 aspect ratio as was commonly used on CRT displays, which means the pixels were actually wider than they were tall. The company provided their own basic software to draw shapes like circles and squares based on that aspect ratio. We would take these terminals and adjust the aspect ration to 1:1 and then use our own graphic software. Every once in a whilew someone would end up using the wrong software for the aspect ratio that was set up on the terminal. Explaining to people why the circle they drew looks like an oval was near impossible unless you could find a blackboard (long time ago) and draw them a huge picture using both squares and rectangles to demonstrate the difference.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959.md?page=7)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-been-surprised-youve-had-to-explain-at-work/941959.md?page=9)