This is so on point about one of the toxic corners of engineering culture - the strange insistence that only those who love programming above all else in life c

This is so on point about one of the toxic corners of engineering culture - the strange insistence that only those who love programming above all else in life can be good at it. Aside from being a great way to squeeze extra hours out of naive new grads, it's just totally off base. As this blog post touches on, one can TAKE PRIDE in one's work and be motivated to do a great job without having to love it. The lady who cleans my apartment once a month does an amazing job, unlike the 5 or 6 people I tried before finding her. Is she passionate about cleaning bathtubs? Of course not. But the difference between her and the others is that she takes pride in doing it superlatively. And that's how I hire engineers too. I really couldn't care less about whether you're an [X] developer because you love the technology or because it's a steady paycheck that feeds your kids. What I do care about is that you're considerate towards the people around you (and that includes the people who will come after you) and that doing a good job is important to you. Not everyone has the opportunity to do something they're passionate about. And if they could, we'd have a world with an enormous shortage of both programmers and janitors. But everyone has the opportunity to CHOOSE to take pride in doing a good job. It may not be inspiring, but -- speaking from experience -- even if you're flipping burgers you can make the job more fulfilling (or at least less soul-killing) by caring about doing it well.