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I'm 30 and quit the field indefinitely because working from home feels like an enormous backward step. I spent most of my childhood in my bedroom grinding to m

I'm 30 and quit the field indefinitely because working from home feels like an enormous backward step. I spent most of my childhood in my bedroom grinding to make a better life and "get out" of the small town I grew up in. I got there, and after a few short years the world decided to retreat to their bedrooms. I enjoy riding the Tube, or cycling, or walking. I enjoy driving too. I enjoy seeing people on busy high streets, I enjoy chatting / playing card games over lunch at work, etc. I never made work my entire social circle, my colleagues were always colleagues, I have other avenues for that. There's also the whole "corona theater" element, with people pretending that they don't want to come in because they'll die or whatever, which might have made sense for a month or two in March last year but now is just a sign that you're dealing with someone who is either deliberately lying or just has no understanding of the situation. I genuinely think that WFH for the vast majority is just a step towards the dystopia of having people live in endless tower blocks somewhere, plugged into a wall with a VR headset and a nutrition drip. It'd be more efficient and convenient. But I don't want to be efficient. I could maximize my efficiency by jumping off a bridge. That ain't life.

penjelly 5y ago
Comment is dripping with hyperbole > here's also the whole "corona theater" element, with people pretending that they don't want to come in because they'll die or whatever if people are forced to vaccinate and wear masks by their own government why is it theater when they just want to expose themselves to 25-100 less people everyday? Cant have it both ways
- throwaway55421 5y ago
  I consider that to be theatre too. Frankly I just don't interact with corona-obsessed people in real life any more, which they probably prefer. Everyone wins.
  - penjelly 5y ago
    Sure, but we dont actually have a choice in the former. Unless of course you work remotely 5 days a week then maybe youll be exempt from vaccination reqs, contact tracing, masking and social distancing office rules.
    - throwaway55421 5y ago
      Yeah, I don't do any of that. I left the industry, only software development has really gone all in on it.
derekjdanserl 5y ago
Very well said. Same age here and I could not agree more. I don’t like traffic, but for that we need a base level of public transportation infrastructure, not this WFH nightmare dystopia.
syvolt 5y ago
It sounds like you just want to live downtown. Commuting and all it entails is a side of humanity I'd rather not see again. Waking up and seeing people in terrible moods going to jobs they hate. Micromanagement, pestering, time wasted on useless conversations. I think if you look at it at just the surface level it does seem like a step backwards. In really there's a reason so many companies switched to it, it wasn't because they're secret operatives trying to plug us up to nutritus-3000 to maximize our LOC, it's because of reduced friction for the worker. I think a lot of people forget about terrible managers as well, with WFH the surface area of harm a bad manager can cause you is limited which can immediately make a terrible office job into a tolerable remote one.
- throwaway55421 5y ago
  Nah, I want to work with actual people. I have literally zero interest in a Zoom call to someone who's in the same town as me, I'd rather jump on the bus or train and see them. I don't see that as being increased friction because to me travel and seeing people is _better_ than sitting in front of a screen for longer - it provides a welcome break and helps me to see more about the world. I just find the entire thing odd. Like, being in the pub is better than on a phone call. Being at a theme park is better than being in a sim. Being at work is better than being at virtual work. The whole situation is absurd to me, like a bad movie plot.
  - Apocryphon 5y ago
    You forget that corona WFH is not the same as the WFH that is to come, post-lockdowns and quarantines. Having the freedom to work from your local cafe, your local university library, an expensed WeWork, in public spaces of your choosing, rather than in open offices full of endless distraction and people coughing, there is freedom to that. You will get physical interactions with greater society, you just won’t be forced to be in the office all the time from that. Work from a park. And I say this as someone who will probably prefer the hybrid approach of seeing my teammates 1-2 times a week. The less time people are forced to waste lavish amounts of time, fuel, and their lives to commuting, so much the better.
gravypod 5y ago
> I enjoy riding the Tube, or cycling, or walking. I enjoy driving too. I enjoy seeing people on busy high streets, I enjoy chatting / playing card games over lunch at work, etc. Is there anything preventing from you doing a "commute" before work each day when working from home or renting an office space like a WeWork? If you like it, nothing is stopping you from doing a commute. > There's also the whole "corona theater" element, with people pretending that they don't want to come in because they'll die or whatever, which might have made sense for a month or two in March last year but now is just a sign that you're dealing with someone who is either deliberately lying or just has no understanding of the situation. I don't know if that's a fair characterization. Everyone has their own risk tolerance and for different people that's a different value. Maybe someone lives with someone older, like a parent or close relative, and doesn't want to be a vector to transmit to them? > I genuinely think that WFH for the vast majority is just a step towards the dystopia of having people live in endless tower blocks somewhere, plugged into a wall with a VR headset and a nutrition drip. It'd be more efficient and convenient. I see requiring people to come into an office leads to the same thing. I want WFH so I can move out of a city central area and live in a cheaper community where I can walk around without fear of getting mugged, know local business owners, etc.
- throwaway55421 5y ago
  Your entire post is based around me fitting my round peg into your square hole. I have left the industry because of WFH. I have no interest in compromising, it was fun, and none of what you have described is fun, so why bother? I wish you the best in front of your screen.
  - gravypod 5y ago
    > Your entire post is based around me fitting my round peg into your square hole. So it is possible to do but because it isn't required to actually "get to" work it feels futile? > it was fun, and none of what you have described is fun I haven't really described much here. I'm just asking if "commuting" to get coffee from a local shop or something could serve as a substitute. Your response seems to indicate that it couldn't but I'm not exactly sure why that is. > I wish you the best in front of your screen. I don't know if this is meant to be a dig but, if you're a SWE or in IT or something you're probably going to be behind a screen for a majority of your job. Even people in NOC monitor screens most of the time.
mk81 5y ago
> There's also the whole "corona theater" element, with people pretending that they don't want to come in because they'll die or whatever, which might have made sense for a month or two in March last year but now is just a sign that you're dealing with someone who is either deliberately lying or just has no understanding of the situation. "Sure, I went to a packed restaurant with friends this weekend but I feel uncomfortable coming into the office."
- throwaway55421 5y ago
  Right? I would find it amusing if these guys weren't so _serious_ about it. It's a religion.

penjelly 5y ago

Comment is dripping with hyperbole > here's also the whole "corona theater" element, with people pretending that they don't want to come in because they'll die or whatever if people are forced to vaccinate and wear masks by their own government why is it theater when they just want to expose themselves to 25-100 less people everyday? Cant have it both ways

throwaway55421 5y ago
I consider that to be theatre too. Frankly I just don't interact with corona-obsessed people in real life any more, which they probably prefer. Everyone wins.
- penjelly 5y ago
  Sure, but we dont actually have a choice in the former. Unless of course you work remotely 5 days a week then maybe youll be exempt from vaccination reqs, contact tracing, masking and social distancing office rules.
  - throwaway55421 5y ago
    Yeah, I don't do any of that. I left the industry, only software development has really gone all in on it.

derekjdanserl 5y ago

Very well said. Same age here and I could not agree more. I don’t like traffic, but for that we need a base level of public transportation infrastructure, not this WFH nightmare dystopia.

syvolt 5y ago

It sounds like you just want to live downtown. Commuting and all it entails is a side of humanity I'd rather not see again. Waking up and seeing people in terrible moods going to jobs they hate. Micromanagement, pestering, time wasted on useless conversations. I think if you look at it at just the surface level it does seem like a step backwards. In really there's a reason so many companies switched to it, it wasn't because they're secret operatives trying to plug us up to nutritus-3000 to maximize our LOC, it's because of reduced friction for the worker. I think a lot of people forget about terrible managers as well, with WFH the surface area of harm a bad manager can cause you is limited which can immediately make a terrible office job into a tolerable remote one.

throwaway55421 5y ago
Nah, I want to work with actual people. I have literally zero interest in a Zoom call to someone who's in the same town as me, I'd rather jump on the bus or train and see them. I don't see that as being increased friction because to me travel and seeing people is _better_ than sitting in front of a screen for longer - it provides a welcome break and helps me to see more about the world. I just find the entire thing odd. Like, being in the pub is better than on a phone call. Being at a theme park is better than being in a sim. Being at work is better than being at virtual work. The whole situation is absurd to me, like a bad movie plot.
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  You forget that corona WFH is not the same as the WFH that is to come, post-lockdowns and quarantines. Having the freedom to work from your local cafe, your local university library, an expensed WeWork, in public spaces of your choosing, rather than in open offices full of endless distraction and people coughing, there is freedom to that. You will get physical interactions with greater society, you just won’t be forced to be in the office all the time from that. Work from a park. And I say this as someone who will probably prefer the hybrid approach of seeing my teammates 1-2 times a week. The less time people are forced to waste lavish amounts of time, fuel, and their lives to commuting, so much the better.

gravypod 5y ago

> I enjoy riding the Tube, or cycling, or walking. I enjoy driving too. I enjoy seeing people on busy high streets, I enjoy chatting / playing card games over lunch at work, etc. Is there anything preventing from you doing a "commute" before work each day when working from home or renting an office space like a WeWork? If you like it, nothing is stopping you from doing a commute. > There's also the whole "corona theater" element, with people pretending that they don't want to come in because they'll die or whatever, which might have made sense for a month or two in March last year but now is just a sign that you're dealing with someone who is either deliberately lying or just has no understanding of the situation. I don't know if that's a fair characterization. Everyone has their own risk tolerance and for different people that's a different value. Maybe someone lives with someone older, like a parent or close relative, and doesn't want to be a vector to transmit to them? > I genuinely think that WFH for the vast majority is just a step towards the dystopia of having people live in endless tower blocks somewhere, plugged into a wall with a VR headset and a nutrition drip. It'd be more efficient and convenient. I see requiring people to come into an office leads to the same thing. I want WFH so I can move out of a city central area and live in a cheaper community where I can walk around without fear of getting mugged, know local business owners, etc.

throwaway55421 5y ago
Your entire post is based around me fitting my round peg into your square hole. I have left the industry because of WFH. I have no interest in compromising, it was fun, and none of what you have described is fun, so why bother? I wish you the best in front of your screen.
- gravypod 5y ago
  > Your entire post is based around me fitting my round peg into your square hole. So it is possible to do but because it isn't required to actually "get to" work it feels futile? > it was fun, and none of what you have described is fun I haven't really described much here. I'm just asking if "commuting" to get coffee from a local shop or something could serve as a substitute. Your response seems to indicate that it couldn't but I'm not exactly sure why that is. > I wish you the best in front of your screen. I don't know if this is meant to be a dig but, if you're a SWE or in IT or something you're probably going to be behind a screen for a majority of your job. Even people in NOC monitor screens most of the time.

mk81 5y ago

> There's also the whole "corona theater" element, with people pretending that they don't want to come in because they'll die or whatever, which might have made sense for a month or two in March last year but now is just a sign that you're dealing with someone who is either deliberately lying or just has no understanding of the situation. "Sure, I went to a packed restaurant with friends this weekend but I feel uncomfortable coming into the office."

throwaway55421 5y ago
Right? I would find it amusing if these guys weren't so _serious_ about it. It's a religion.