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When you retire, with very few exceptions, nothing you did in your working life will be remembered by anyone but yourself. So it's important that you be content

When you retire, with very few exceptions, nothing you did in your working life will be remembered by anyone but yourself. So it's important that you be content with it. That realization has taken a while to hit me, and it's growing into a desire to retire early so I can do things that are personally rewarding and are not just goals on someone else's project plan.

buitreVirtual 5y ago
True, for the most part. But your family and friends will remember, and not kindly, if you worked for FB.
- deleted 5y ago
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- mise_en_place 5y ago
  That I very much doubt. The average outrage timer is 48 hours, then everybody forgets and jumps to a new controversy. As for Facebook, many of my relatives still use it, either indirectly through WhatsApp or Instagram, or directly. Maybe my technically minded friends would care if I worked for Facebook, but even then those are far and few between. I barely remember my coworkers from 10 years ago.
  - genewitch 5y ago
    A few counterpoints. The average outrage may be 48 hours, but I am sure the median is much higher. I'll boycott nestle and Samsung products forever, for instance, and have for nearly a decade and a half with nestle. Some of my closest friends started as work colleagues, and since I retired 8 years ago I still talk to a half dozen or so, with a couple talked with daily. You (nor I) are not everyone, and extrapolation from our own viewpoints is very nearly always invalid.
    - dfadsadsf 5y ago
      What’s wrong about Nestle? Also Samsung is strange company to boycott. Overall boycotting both of these companies is easy because replacement products for everything they do is plentiful, widely available and the same price. Not much sacrifice here.
      - philk10 5y ago
        Nestle - baby milk formula, bottled water ( paying $200 to Michigan whilst Flint residents had unusable water)
      - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
        >What’s wrong about Nestle? Nestle is the dietary equivalent of Facebook & Cambridge Analitica. [1][2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj6JOKrL_vg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj6JOKrL_vg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoKLovtnbGY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoKLovtnbGY
    - povik 5y ago
      Technical nit: if average is 48 hours, median cannot possibly be higher than 96 hours.
- havkd 5y ago
  If I told my friends and family that I work for Facebook, WhatsApp, or Instagram, they’d think I’m fucking cool.
  - toast0 5y ago
    Having worked for WhatsApp, mostly my friends and family said, "What's That?" ... and I sighed. Of course, when I worked for Yahoo Travel, mostly they said "That's still around?", so no love wherever I work. :)
- handrous 5y ago
  Nah. They'll remember that you paid their way through college, could afford to make their childhoods and path to "the good life" easy in general, and left them a pile of cash when you died.
- mbesto 5y ago
  > But your family and friends will remember, and not kindly, if you worked for FB. If this was even remotely true Facebook would have had a massive impact on its usage since its consumer based. It would seem weird that the Facebook brand is so tarnished to the point that the population would still be users but at the same time tar and feather loved ones who maintain it.
- deleted 5y ago
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- arthur_sav 5y ago
  The "media" outrage is not indicative of what people think or the world.
mandelbrotwurst 5y ago
It's possible for your work to have impact in both the present and future even if it isn't actively recalled from anyone's memory after you retire.
strict9 5y ago
For various reasons (including age and working in tech) I've considered leaving software development when I reach my 40s, to pursue something that I love doing that's a bit more tangible. This comment lit a fire under me. Thank you.

buitreVirtual 5y ago

True, for the most part. But your family and friends will remember, and not kindly, if you worked for FB.

deleted 5y ago
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mise_en_place 5y ago
That I very much doubt. The average outrage timer is 48 hours, then everybody forgets and jumps to a new controversy. As for Facebook, many of my relatives still use it, either indirectly through WhatsApp or Instagram, or directly. Maybe my technically minded friends would care if I worked for Facebook, but even then those are far and few between. I barely remember my coworkers from 10 years ago.
- genewitch 5y ago
  A few counterpoints. The average outrage may be 48 hours, but I am sure the median is much higher. I'll boycott nestle and Samsung products forever, for instance, and have for nearly a decade and a half with nestle. Some of my closest friends started as work colleagues, and since I retired 8 years ago I still talk to a half dozen or so, with a couple talked with daily. You (nor I) are not everyone, and extrapolation from our own viewpoints is very nearly always invalid.
  - dfadsadsf 5y ago
    What’s wrong about Nestle? Also Samsung is strange company to boycott. Overall boycotting both of these companies is easy because replacement products for everything they do is plentiful, widely available and the same price. Not much sacrifice here.
    - philk10 5y ago
      Nestle - baby milk formula, bottled water ( paying $200 to Michigan whilst Flint residents had unusable water)
    - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
      >What’s wrong about Nestle? Nestle is the dietary equivalent of Facebook & Cambridge Analitica. [1][2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj6JOKrL_vg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj6JOKrL_vg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoKLovtnbGY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoKLovtnbGY
  - povik 5y ago
    Technical nit: if average is 48 hours, median cannot possibly be higher than 96 hours.
havkd 5y ago
If I told my friends and family that I work for Facebook, WhatsApp, or Instagram, they’d think I’m fucking cool.
- toast0 5y ago
  Having worked for WhatsApp, mostly my friends and family said, "What's That?" ... and I sighed. Of course, when I worked for Yahoo Travel, mostly they said "That's still around?", so no love wherever I work. :)
handrous 5y ago
Nah. They'll remember that you paid their way through college, could afford to make their childhoods and path to "the good life" easy in general, and left them a pile of cash when you died.
mbesto 5y ago
> But your family and friends will remember, and not kindly, if you worked for FB. If this was even remotely true Facebook would have had a massive impact on its usage since its consumer based. It would seem weird that the Facebook brand is so tarnished to the point that the population would still be users but at the same time tar and feather loved ones who maintain it.
deleted 5y ago
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arthur_sav 5y ago
The "media" outrage is not indicative of what people think or the world.

mandelbrotwurst 5y ago

It's possible for your work to have impact in both the present and future even if it isn't actively recalled from anyone's memory after you retire.

strict9 5y ago

For various reasons (including age and working in tech) I've considered leaving software development when I reach my 40s, to pursue something that I love doing that's a bit more tangible. This comment lit a fire under me. Thank you.