8 ms·

So by your logic you can work 80 hours a week but because you’re inside an office and not a barn you lose you’re right to want a better work life balance? Where

So by your logic you can work 80 hours a week but because you’re inside an office and not a barn you lose you’re right to want a better work life balance? Where is the cut off for not being able to complain or is it like a spectrum? 20k wage with kids is bad you say what about 30k with 1 kid? Is that too easy? Cop in a good neighborhood? How good does the neighborhood have to be before you can’t complain anymore? You said a few hundred cows at 6 am is rough? What about 99 cows at 7am? People can be overworked in all kinds of jobs. Who are you the complaint police?

ianai 8y ago
Right? This didn’t read at all like a whiney blog post, to me. 40 hours per week really leaves little else to do. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing for those 40 hours, because they’re not doing chores, socializing, etc.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  Consider that there are 168 hours in a week, and even accounting for 8 hours of sleep a day that's 112, subtracting 40 for work and you get 72. Lets call it an hour commute each way, that brings it to 62. So you actually have 62 hours of personal time every week to the 40 you spend at work. In other words, you could be getting 22 more hours of productive work done in your free time than you get done at work every week. This suggests that it isn't really a time problem.
  - Ftuuky 8y ago
    But you need some of those 62 hours to cook, eat, shower, shop, do chores, etc.
rayiner 8y ago
> Where is the cut off for not being able to complain or is it like a spectrum? Wherever the cut-off happens to be, software developers are far past it.
- existencebox 8y ago
  That's absurd. I've worked in call centers, as a mover, and as a software engineer. There are perfectly valid reasons to complain across the spectrum. Worker rights are not some limited good that only need to go to the most vulnerable, and even white collar workers should be aware and proactive about fighting for better treatment in the workplace. Being well paid has not prevented me from seeing egregious workplace interactions across many of my past jobs, or observing that workers could likely get a more generous slice of the tradeoffs we give our employers without in any way being inequitable.
  - mojolozzo 8y ago
    Sure, worker rights shouldn't be limited to tge most vulnerable. This post however wasn't about work ethics, but about having too little time for yourself if you are working 40hrs/week. It's actually not even about work/life balance, but rather work/chores/hobbies balance. In my opinion you can't blame the 40hours of work.
- whatshisface 8y ago
  As an 1800s sweatshop boss, the idea that anyone other than a dying child in a third world country would try to negotiate for better conditions is appalling to me. 40 hour work week? They should be glad they don't have malaria.
- pjc50 8y ago
  Everyone is entitled to talk about their subjective experience. Nobody has to listen to it. And it feels a little rude to go all Four Yorkshiremen on people and tell them they don't really have it hard. .. unless they're recommending some action be taken, of course. And this blog post isn't. It's not a demand for policy, it's just talking about life.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    >Everyone is entitled to talk about their subjective experience. Maybe that's part of the problem. Not that everyone is entitled to talk about their subjective experience, but that everyone feels entitled to talk about their subjective experience -- and many are socially blind and comically out of touch when doing so. That's where memes like "first world problems" came from... Everybody should be able to talk about their subjective experience. But many should have the social awareness, grace, and decency, not to. Those who disagree still laugh and sneer at the richer 0.1% people when they say something comically out of touch with everyday life. But they just can't fathom that they themselves can be a richer 1% of people for a huge majority, and that their complaints can sound comically out of touch to most. It's not like there aren't real problems to complain about that are shared among people and don't make someone look like self-absorbed (health issues, family issues, divorce, financial trouble, trauma, and so on).

ianai 8y ago

Right? This didn’t read at all like a whiney blog post, to me. 40 hours per week really leaves little else to do. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing for those 40 hours, because they’re not doing chores, socializing, etc.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
Consider that there are 168 hours in a week, and even accounting for 8 hours of sleep a day that's 112, subtracting 40 for work and you get 72. Lets call it an hour commute each way, that brings it to 62. So you actually have 62 hours of personal time every week to the 40 you spend at work. In other words, you could be getting 22 more hours of productive work done in your free time than you get done at work every week. This suggests that it isn't really a time problem.
- Ftuuky 8y ago
  But you need some of those 62 hours to cook, eat, shower, shop, do chores, etc.

rayiner 8y ago

> Where is the cut off for not being able to complain or is it like a spectrum? Wherever the cut-off happens to be, software developers are far past it.

existencebox 8y ago
That's absurd. I've worked in call centers, as a mover, and as a software engineer. There are perfectly valid reasons to complain across the spectrum. Worker rights are not some limited good that only need to go to the most vulnerable, and even white collar workers should be aware and proactive about fighting for better treatment in the workplace. Being well paid has not prevented me from seeing egregious workplace interactions across many of my past jobs, or observing that workers could likely get a more generous slice of the tradeoffs we give our employers without in any way being inequitable.
- mojolozzo 8y ago
  Sure, worker rights shouldn't be limited to tge most vulnerable. This post however wasn't about work ethics, but about having too little time for yourself if you are working 40hrs/week. It's actually not even about work/life balance, but rather work/chores/hobbies balance. In my opinion you can't blame the 40hours of work.
whatshisface 8y ago
As an 1800s sweatshop boss, the idea that anyone other than a dying child in a third world country would try to negotiate for better conditions is appalling to me. 40 hour work week? They should be glad they don't have malaria.
pjc50 8y ago
Everyone is entitled to talk about their subjective experience. Nobody has to listen to it. And it feels a little rude to go all Four Yorkshiremen on people and tell them they don't really have it hard. .. unless they're recommending some action be taken, of course. And this blog post isn't. It's not a demand for policy, it's just talking about life.
- coldtea 8y ago
  >Everyone is entitled to talk about their subjective experience. Maybe that's part of the problem. Not that everyone is entitled to talk about their subjective experience, but that everyone feels entitled to talk about their subjective experience -- and many are socially blind and comically out of touch when doing so. That's where memes like "first world problems" came from... Everybody should be able to talk about their subjective experience. But many should have the social awareness, grace, and decency, not to. Those who disagree still laugh and sneer at the richer 0.1% people when they say something comically out of touch with everyday life. But they just can't fathom that they themselves can be a richer 1% of people for a huge majority, and that their complaints can sound comically out of touch to most. It's not like there aren't real problems to complain about that are shared among people and don't make someone look like self-absorbed (health issues, family issues, divorce, financial trouble, trauma, and so on).