Dear Diary,
Today I was busy with showing some teenager how to program. She was first really scared of making mistakes and tried to hide her lack of curiosity, but once she had her first small application running, she was hooked. Starting to code is a feeling like being drunk, it gives one the impression that nothing is impossible. So she learned more and more and asked for another session next week.
Many times it is the inner expectations, the attitude to never allow yourself to fail, to not expose yourself to look weird that creates this gigantic hesitation to do stuff related to tech. In particular when it comes to people socialized as "girls" or "women". But I think we can only prevent e-waste that eventually destroys our livelihood, if we use modular, repair-able, adaptable hardware and software. This way we can - with some basic tech literacy - safe resources and become more smart and strong in solving problems. It is also an important requirement for free speech in politics and art. This is why, if not for the feeling of being drunk, everyone should get their hands on code, I guess.