We have to give our respect to all those people out there who code, because they pretty much carry the whole of the modern world on their shoulders. All of these systems that we rely on every day and barely think about until they start going wrong exist because of the tireless work of those who know how to maintain them. This digital scaffolding can be fragile, but all too often, it is only those behind the scenes who realize that. It is worth reminding ourselves of the reality of the situation from time to time.

It is all too easy for the burden of wrangling computers into submission to become too much. If you do find yourself on the precipice, at least you can rest easy knowing that you have the outlet of programming memes. They may not fix the problem or make the code compile without error, but they do offer a brief moment of shared understanding. They remind you that the struggle is universal among programmers, and that others have stared at the same screens in the same disbelief. Laughing at the absurdity of it all is the least you can do when nothing seems to be going right.