I don’t know about you, but I’m always listing (using the ls command) when I step through directories. Most of the time, I don’t event need to. It’s just every two or three steps through a given directory tree, I just have to ls and see what’s there.
And I think it’s because ls is just a little bit of clarity in an otherwise confusing world.
Am I in the right job? In the right city? With the right person? Exercising enough? Learning enough? Watching too much TV? I go on and on and on with these existential questions. I’m always wondering if I am where I aught to be – mostly to the detriment of enjoying where I am. And I can’t help but just issuing the command, just to be sure, just to remove any doubt. Just to confirm that I am indeed right where I think I am.
And that’s it – ls tells you right where you are. It shows you where you need to go. And there’s a lot of comfort in that.
Jeff Ohrstrom's personal bit of void to scream into 