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This is maybe a reasonable argument for lunch on a workday, but doesn’t really apply for dinner or on weekends. There’s a counter argument to be made that for m

This is maybe a reasonable argument for lunch on a workday, but doesn’t really apply for dinner or on weekends. There’s a counter argument to be made that for many people their productivity and creativity increases when interspersed with a bit of walking, change of environment, sunlight, etc. Anyway it’s largely a matter of preference. There’s are certainly occasions where it’s nice to relax and order door-to-door delivery regardless, although I’m never personally willing to pay the insane fees that apps like Uber Eats charge.

chillwaves 6y ago
Don't you see? My time is too valuable to do anything vaguely unpleasant. The entire economy would suffer if I had to pick up my own food.
- TrackerFF 6y ago
  I'm probably going to get downvoted for this, but yes - that's spot on. It's exactly that kind of attitude I've seen far too often in the culture of well-paid tech workers. Their lives are all about optimization of time resources / time management, and everyone should bow to their needs - if it results in them shaving off some minutes here and there. After all, they're making $300k/year working on important products, so it's only natural that every corner that could be cut, should be cut - even if it means driving people out of business. When confronted with the logic, they regurgitate the same "But you see, my time is worth $xx, 24/7/365 - so 30 mins saved on task x is a net profit for me" (even though, in fact, they would not be working during those 30 minutes)
  - scarface74 6y ago
    We all pay people to do things that we could do ourselves that we would rather not do. Every time we eat out, pay a lawn service to cut our grass, have someone else wash our car. Yes. It is dumb though to justify it based on how much you get paid hourly. They don’t understand the real concept of opportunity cost.
    - brandonmenc 6y ago
      > It is dumb though to justify it based on how much you get paid hourly. imo my time is actually worth many multiples of what my employer pays me for it.
      - scarface74 6y ago
        That’s fine. You can value your time however you want. But don’t pretend it’s done grand economic principle. But your time is only “worth” monetarily what the market will pay for it.
  - nybble41 6y ago
    > "But you see, my time is worth $xx, 24/7/365 - so 30 mins saved on task x is a net profit for me" (even though, in fact, they would not be working during those 30 minutes) You're right. If their leisure time were merely worth as much as their regular wages then they ought to be working those 30 minutes instead. Since in fact they made the opposite choice, they clearly value their leisure time more than what they would have earned by spending that time working.
  - austhrow743 6y ago
    You sew your own shirts and milk your own cow I presume?
  - cwilkes 6y ago
    > Their lives are all about optimization of time resources / time management, and everyone should bow to their needs You make it seem like they have a gun to the heads of the landscaper they hired to do a job, in which the landscaper now has money to do whatever want to do it with it. To your other claim about not “working” during those 30 minutes. You are working every single minute of the day. It might not be for a paycheck, it is probably for your mental sanity by chilling out with a drink waiting for some food to arrive. That was purely an economic decision that they value doing X over doing Y. That’s done with every transaction done throughout life.

chillwaves 6y ago

Don't you see? My time is too valuable to do anything vaguely unpleasant. The entire economy would suffer if I had to pick up my own food.

TrackerFF 6y ago
I'm probably going to get downvoted for this, but yes - that's spot on. It's exactly that kind of attitude I've seen far too often in the culture of well-paid tech workers. Their lives are all about optimization of time resources / time management, and everyone should bow to their needs - if it results in them shaving off some minutes here and there. After all, they're making $300k/year working on important products, so it's only natural that every corner that could be cut, should be cut - even if it means driving people out of business. When confronted with the logic, they regurgitate the same "But you see, my time is worth $xx, 24/7/365 - so 30 mins saved on task x is a net profit for me" (even though, in fact, they would not be working during those 30 minutes)
- scarface74 6y ago
  We all pay people to do things that we could do ourselves that we would rather not do. Every time we eat out, pay a lawn service to cut our grass, have someone else wash our car. Yes. It is dumb though to justify it based on how much you get paid hourly. They don’t understand the real concept of opportunity cost.
  - brandonmenc 6y ago
    > It is dumb though to justify it based on how much you get paid hourly. imo my time is actually worth many multiples of what my employer pays me for it.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      That’s fine. You can value your time however you want. But don’t pretend it’s done grand economic principle. But your time is only “worth” monetarily what the market will pay for it.
- nybble41 6y ago
  > "But you see, my time is worth $xx, 24/7/365 - so 30 mins saved on task x is a net profit for me" (even though, in fact, they would not be working during those 30 minutes) You're right. If their leisure time were merely worth as much as their regular wages then they ought to be working those 30 minutes instead. Since in fact they made the opposite choice, they clearly value their leisure time more than what they would have earned by spending that time working.
- austhrow743 6y ago
  You sew your own shirts and milk your own cow I presume?
- cwilkes 6y ago
  > Their lives are all about optimization of time resources / time management, and everyone should bow to their needs You make it seem like they have a gun to the heads of the landscaper they hired to do a job, in which the landscaper now has money to do whatever want to do it with it. To your other claim about not “working” during those 30 minutes. You are working every single minute of the day. It might not be for a paycheck, it is probably for your mental sanity by chilling out with a drink waiting for some food to arrive. That was purely an economic decision that they value doing X over doing Y. That’s done with every transaction done throughout life.