Communication Gap

Sometimes computers act as though
They've minds which are their own,
Intransigent, irascible, imperious in tone.

SYNTAX ERROR! MISSING VERB! ILLEGAL LOG-ON CODE! OVERFLOW! PASSWORD REFUSED! INVALID ACCESS MODE!

They're surly and not always clear
About why they're upset.
My anger rises inch by inch from overtures unmet.

DIVIDE-BY-ZERO! LABEL CHECK! BAD DISK DIRECTORY! NO SPOOLING SPACE! WRONG USER NAME! FILE USED EXCLUSIVELY!

But just before I've lost control
And punched the CRT,
I realize the trouble really lies 'twixt You and Me.

You designed this Frankenstein!
You programmed it as well!
It's Your obnoxious nature lurking
in that metal shell!

And then I further recognize
That I'm a bit to blame,
Not always paying full attention to what
You've been saying.

Do not unto your neighbor
What is hateful unto you!
(And try to understand
system designers' points-of-view!)

Computer is the middleman
In what's already tough:
Communication 'tween two human beings is hard enough!

This was stolen from Sing A Song of Software: Verse and Images for the Computer-Literate, by Leonard J. Soltzberg.