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I once got a contract, early in my career, migrating marketing landing pages to a new format in which the contents of the pages (anything inside of the <body> t

I once got a contract, early in my career, migrating marketing landing pages to a new format in which the contents of the pages (anything inside of the <body> tag) were moved into `marketing_page_name.tmpl` files in a directory. From there they'd be pulled into a shell, and all kinds of tracking and link magic could happen from there. A few things like anchors needed new template variables instead of hard-coded links. I realized I could automate this after the third or fourth page. There were hundreds of them, so I did a quick calculation: How long will it take to automate this? How long will it take to do it by hand? You know, the one we always do, then ignore because we want to automate stuff anyways. In this case the automation made sense. I was paid per hour so I only stood to lose money. I realized automating it and lying about how long it's taking would be immoral. I needed the money (I think this was my second job, ever, before ever getting a full time job. Maybe year 2005!). So what, do I just do it by hand and struggle through the monotony? No, that would be dishonest in a sense, too. I talked to the people who contracted me and explained the options, showed them a sample of how well the automation worked, talked it through. They were really happy. They gained trust in me and my abilities. After I completed the project, they wanted to hire me for full time work. They gave me great references for years. I couldn't handle automating my job away and slacking off. I love learning. I love doing my best work for people, providing real value. The cool thing to me about my job is that I can offer more and more value over time at a scale I couldn't in any other job my brain could navigate. So all that is to say: this guy's story sounds awful to me. Let me automate it, then if I'm redundant, I'll go find something else interesting to do. I'm sure as hell not going to sit around playing counterstrike. Not to say this person is bad or wrong or whatever. It just sounds like misery to me. The key difference might be that I enjoy my work and this guy doesn't, really.

genmud 5y ago
Hey everyone, look at this guy! With his moral compass and stuff. Ain't never gonna get your own space rocket with that attitude. All jokes aside, being trustworthy/ethical pays dividends over the course of peoples lifetime and will often times reward you in surprising ways.
- steve_adams_86 5y ago
  Haha. Absolutely, that has been my experience in and out of work.
armchairhacker 5y ago
I think the r/antiwork mindset of “no loyalty, no social connections, no extra effort, no two-weeks notice, work only work the wage” only applies when you’re working for a job that treats you like shit. If you have a half-decent employer you should provide some loyalty and extra effort when necessary or you’re a garbage employee. If you have a good career and you get a bad employer you can just leave. The context with r/antiwork is that many of these people are in extremely toxic workplaces but need money because they’re very poor. It's a free-for-all, "take advantage of" or "be taken advantage of". And that most of the submissions are probably fake dystopia rage-bait.
- LanceH 5y ago
  It seems to be axiomatic there that all employers deserve this treatment. Literally, "all", there is no wiggle room for any company or manager. My concern is the bleedover into /r/jobs where I like to answer with advice on how to handle a situation/search/interview.
duderific 5y ago
> The key difference might be that I enjoy my work and this guy doesn't, really. He probably enjoyed it while he was working on the scripts, but once he was done, there wasn't anything much else to do, so he moved on to doing stuff he likes to do, while getting paid.
pixl97 5y ago
Heh, you're a great person, and a terrible consultant https://despair.com/products/consulting https://despair.com/products/consulting
- steve_adams_86 5y ago
  Haha, yeah – that’s why I left consulting. It felt like a treadmill where succeeding more than I could as an IC at a company required running a business I didn’t want to run.
flowcont 5y ago
Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1205/ https://xkcd.com/1205/ Good for you for being able to manage that outcome.

genmud 5y ago

Hey everyone, look at this guy! With his moral compass and stuff. Ain't never gonna get your own space rocket with that attitude. All jokes aside, being trustworthy/ethical pays dividends over the course of peoples lifetime and will often times reward you in surprising ways.

steve_adams_86 5y ago
Haha. Absolutely, that has been my experience in and out of work.

armchairhacker 5y ago

I think the r/antiwork mindset of “no loyalty, no social connections, no extra effort, no two-weeks notice, work only work the wage” only applies when you’re working for a job that treats you like shit. If you have a half-decent employer you should provide some loyalty and extra effort when necessary or you’re a garbage employee. If you have a good career and you get a bad employer you can just leave. The context with r/antiwork is that many of these people are in extremely toxic workplaces but need money because they’re very poor. It's a free-for-all, "take advantage of" or "be taken advantage of". And that most of the submissions are probably fake dystopia rage-bait.

LanceH 5y ago
It seems to be axiomatic there that all employers deserve this treatment. Literally, "all", there is no wiggle room for any company or manager. My concern is the bleedover into /r/jobs where I like to answer with advice on how to handle a situation/search/interview.

duderific 5y ago

> The key difference might be that I enjoy my work and this guy doesn't, really. He probably enjoyed it while he was working on the scripts, but once he was done, there wasn't anything much else to do, so he moved on to doing stuff he likes to do, while getting paid.

pixl97 5y ago

Heh, you're a great person, and a terrible consultant https://despair.com/products/consulting https://despair.com/products/consulting

steve_adams_86 5y ago
Haha, yeah – that’s why I left consulting. It felt like a treadmill where succeeding more than I could as an IC at a company required running a business I didn’t want to run.

flowcont 5y ago

Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1205/ https://xkcd.com/1205/ Good for you for being able to manage that outcome.