Hacker News Reader

Comment by zephjc | Hacker News Reader

That sounds pretty identical to my upbringing, and I feel I'm the better and more level-headed for it. However, I've never met anyone who thought it must have been emotionally scarring - I can't comprehend people who would think that teaching kids to be self-reliant and responsible would be scarring. Sadly, those seem to be the scarred people.

View on HN

Well I have some stories of things that happened to me that I think freak people out a little bit.

For instance, when I was 8 and cooking for myself in a small house where I lived alone (the main house was all of 150 ft away), I sliced my hand up pretty badly and stitched it back up without telling anyone. Well stitched isn't quite the right word. Held together is more accurate.

I was probably a bit more accident prone as a child than others and I think it confirms many people's worst fears. Personally, I think a few scars here and there add character and I'll still stitch myself up when I get hurt.

Something similar happened to me too. It was a self confidence boost and learned how to be more careful and how to deal with problems without panic. Accidents will happen anyway sooner or later, it's better to have small accidents early and learn from them than make big irreversible mistakes later.

At the age of 8 you lived alone in a separate house? All you described before seemed healthy, but now I understand why you get a reaction of horror when you describe your childhood because that is very odd

Reply on news.ycombinator.com