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Don't seem that bad. Try: - I was once asked to go to meet a customer with our sales manager and wasn't told why beyond, "we just need a techie there." The sal

Don't seem that bad. Try: - I was once asked to go to meet a customer with our sales manager and wasn't told why beyond, "we just need a techie there." The sales manager did his pitch and when it came to questions someone said, "you haven't shown us the proposed architecture," and the sales manager points to me and says, "that's why Phil's here." I had to invent one on the spot using a whiteboard and with a bunch of very knowledgeable people firing questions at me. - One developer I knew was tasked with using a font that cost a lot of money. He was explicitly told by the directors to use the font anyway without paying for it, which he did. Later when the company was sold this came up in disclosure, and the directors blamed the developer saying they had no knowledge. - Another developer, during their personal review, was told that they weren't getting a pay rise but that, "it's not because you're black." She was in tears.

LesZedCB 11y ago
Wow, those are terrible. Maybe it would be fair to say that affronts against programmer workers are varied in severity, but they exist, nonetheless.
kdamken 11y ago
Whattttttttttttttttttttt Now these are some legitimate complaints. You should write a post about real issues. Did she end up suing? I feel like you can't say something like that and not end up getting sued.
xigency 11y ago
While these are almost certainly bad, they are not all specifically related to being a developer. Mainly just poor treatment of an employee. The article had instances where a developer: - lost essential computer access privileges - was forced to re-invent technology - was denied chances to advance his/her careers through academia - felt group shaming - was expected to spend most of the day picking up pieces - was fired without review The last one is more general but these at least have a technological slant to them, and they do seem to be related to some kind of passive, cultural bias. And each of the stories might have some weak points but the point is that some developers feel they are being treated poorly, which is a big deal. This crowd is very analytical but a dismissive response is not really the appropriate way to address these claims. (Not saying you're being dismissive, just the general attitude of comments.) Your comment also hints on another pattern which is, every time there are small problems, there are going to be bigger problems underneath.
neogodless 11y ago
Ooh that first story reminds me of one of my own! - As a web developer doing mostly ColdFusion (early 2000s and I was in my low 20s) sent to a customer to "help set up some kiosks." Turns out they needed help running network cable. Did my best but it was such a strange experience, and I felt very unprepared. And as luck would have it, I had wrenched my back the night before, and ended up throwing it out while I was shuffling around under desks - I was very embarrassed by that!
audleman 11y ago
I'm dying over here! These are legitimate stories about being treated poorly.

LesZedCB 11y ago

Wow, those are terrible. Maybe it would be fair to say that affronts against programmer workers are varied in severity, but they exist, nonetheless.

kdamken 11y ago

Whattttttttttttttttttttt Now these are some legitimate complaints. You should write a post about real issues. Did she end up suing? I feel like you can't say something like that and not end up getting sued.

xigency 11y ago

While these are almost certainly bad, they are not all specifically related to being a developer. Mainly just poor treatment of an employee. The article had instances where a developer: - lost essential computer access privileges - was forced to re-invent technology - was denied chances to advance his/her careers through academia - felt group shaming - was expected to spend most of the day picking up pieces - was fired without review The last one is more general but these at least have a technological slant to them, and they do seem to be related to some kind of passive, cultural bias. And each of the stories might have some weak points but the point is that some developers feel they are being treated poorly, which is a big deal. This crowd is very analytical but a dismissive response is not really the appropriate way to address these claims. (Not saying you're being dismissive, just the general attitude of comments.) Your comment also hints on another pattern which is, every time there are small problems, there are going to be bigger problems underneath.

neogodless 11y ago

Ooh that first story reminds me of one of my own! - As a web developer doing mostly ColdFusion (early 2000s and I was in my low 20s) sent to a customer to "help set up some kiosks." Turns out they needed help running network cable. Did my best but it was such a strange experience, and I felt very unprepared. And as luck would have it, I had wrenched my back the night before, and ended up throwing it out while I was shuffling around under desks - I was very embarrassed by that!

audleman 11y ago

I'm dying over here! These are legitimate stories about being treated poorly.