@dymaxion i've honestly never given this any thought. it never occurred to me that it might annoy people, but i'll make it a point not to do that in the future.

in the past i've used "my mom", "my dad", or "my parents" as examples, cuz neither is tech savvy. my dad has a copy of "windows 10 for dummies"...

@apgarcia @dymaxion Meanwhile, my mom was in what would now be devops at a particle accelerator before I was born. (In the 50s.)

I’m a grandmother, but I had code in space (on a science experiment) before I was 18.

@deirdresm @dymaxion

i was oblivious that people might take offense. there was never any malice on my part when i used my parents as an example. i never meant to imply that they were stupid or inept, much less did i intend to disparage all women or all elderly.

but i don't deny that one's choice of words is important. i also don't deny that sexism and ageism are real, systemic problems. i would prefer not to contribute to that, even subtly or inadvertently, so i will do as requested.