Expectation vs. Reality: The True Face Of Programming

Non-programmers imagine us as mysterious hackers in hoodies, typing at lightning speed like we're in some cyberpunk movie. The harsh truth? We're just confused humans staring at our screens with that thousand-yard debug stare, trying to figure out why removing a single semicolon broke the entire codebase. The bottom panels perfectly capture those moments of existential contemplation when you've been stuck on the same problem for three hours and start questioning your career choices. That's not keyboard wizardry—it's the universal "why isn't this working" face that haunts developers everywhere.