I'm kinda prone to make rants, so, sorry if that one came off a bit harsh or offensive. WRT the bartenders, I live in Istanbul, most bartenders I've seen eithe

I'm kinda prone to make rants, so, sorry if that one came off a bit harsh or offensive. WRT the bartenders, I live in Istanbul, most bartenders I've seen either drink when they're about to close, when everybody's gone except a couple customers that are also friends, or don't drink at all. With that off-topic thing off the way, well, I do think things like toys and noise at work may distract many people present at the workspace. I for one am easily distracted (for the context, I'm a student getting ready for my masters thesis and academical career, but I've been a programmer for a while), and toys thrown at me or someone else would certainly distract me. Imagine being in the flow reading some paper or implementing a complex algorithm, and something flies through the edge of your sight. For many, including me, that'd be distracting. Jokes and stuff are fine as long as they're between actual friends and not in the actual workplace, or silent enough that only those who want to hear it do. What makes you productive can easily get someone over the other side of the room completely lost in what he was doing, or too frustrated to just continue doing it like a couple moments ago. Sharing a space is about trade-offs. I guess this case of the article is sth. different than the occasional joke, though. A person appearing from under my desk? I would not only report it immediately but also wouldn't ever sit at that desk again (and I'm a male). The professionalism is there for not having to deal with problems like in this article. And if you still want toys and games, for me that's fine as long as it's in a separate room where there are only those who want to play. In such a setting I'd also partecipate occasionally too, but then completely voluntarily and not losing any focus or work. WRT privileges, well, first of all I wasn't aiming at you, but yet still having your job (or what I plan to have) is honestly a huge privilege. People in the developed world with wages everybody envy have jobs so boring they quit them to run cafes and stuff. We have the chance to do actual interesting work that we'd probably do anyways if somebody paid us money to maintain ourselves and asked nothing in return. Can't say that of a rich rich merchant or a CEO type, as well as of a sweeper or a call center employee.