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> Open concept offices are awful. The only people I've met who seem to like them are people who do sales for a living or the exact kind of coworkers who I woul

> Open concept offices are awful. The only people I've met who seem to like them are people who do sales for a living or the exact kind of coworkers who I would really not like to be in an open office with. I have a really nice office in Seattle. Since I am the second most tenured person on the team, I even have a water view and am right next to the snacks. I haven't seen the inside of this office since May 2020, and probably never will again. All of my colleagues and I have agreed that we don't see the need to go back and our employer is likely going to sell our admin building (we have several other buildings for actual patient services) and distribute some of the money to those of us who worked in that building as a bonus or as an allowance to buy equipment for home. I've visited the open offices at friends who work for Microsoft and Google and they're just awful hives of noise. I would rather have my own door and own bathroom.

lamontcg 5y ago
Don't underestimate the utility of being able to just take a goddamn nap when you've had shit sleep the night before rather than powering through the day trying to appear productive when you're a zombie. Most normal people have bad days when they really shouldn't be at work, its so much easier when you just aren't at work and can deal with the problem (take a nap, take a cold shower afterwards, get in a few hours of actual non-zombie productivity and call it a day). Then you're much less stressed the next day. And there's no worry about insomnia-spirals where you get so worried about being tired at work that you can't sleep.
- jasonkester 5y ago
  One of the big upsides of contracting is the days when I’ll down tools at 10am and declare that “I am not smart enough today to accept money in exchange for programming computers”. I get the occasional day off to go do things that don’t require brain. They only pay for bites of the donut with the jam in them. It’s a net win for everybody.
- JohnBooty 5y ago
  Yeah. God. The ability to take an afternoon nap if you need it... there's no way to even put a monetary value on it. Can walk, get some exercise/sunshine, nap, even have a quickie with your partner or look at porn, etc. No matter how awesome one's office is, those things are generally not options.
  - lamontcg 5y ago
    There's also no pointless commute. No wear and tear on the car. No carbon emissions. No wasted time. Also no risk of injury if you get into an accident. And even if you bike to work that latter point still stands due to the passively homicidal assholes driving cars out there.
    - JohnBooty 5y ago
      Yeah. With our environmental disaster unfolding, it's hard to sit there in a car burning fossil fuels for many hours per week and feel good about it. Even all-electric vehicles have a pretty significant environmental impact; they still have to be manufactured and the electricity still has to be generated elsewhere.

lamontcg 5y ago

Don't underestimate the utility of being able to just take a goddamn nap when you've had shit sleep the night before rather than powering through the day trying to appear productive when you're a zombie. Most normal people have bad days when they really shouldn't be at work, its so much easier when you just aren't at work and can deal with the problem (take a nap, take a cold shower afterwards, get in a few hours of actual non-zombie productivity and call it a day). Then you're much less stressed the next day. And there's no worry about insomnia-spirals where you get so worried about being tired at work that you can't sleep.

jasonkester 5y ago
One of the big upsides of contracting is the days when I’ll down tools at 10am and declare that “I am not smart enough today to accept money in exchange for programming computers”. I get the occasional day off to go do things that don’t require brain. They only pay for bites of the donut with the jam in them. It’s a net win for everybody.
JohnBooty 5y ago
Yeah. God. The ability to take an afternoon nap if you need it... there's no way to even put a monetary value on it. Can walk, get some exercise/sunshine, nap, even have a quickie with your partner or look at porn, etc. No matter how awesome one's office is, those things are generally not options.
- lamontcg 5y ago
  There's also no pointless commute. No wear and tear on the car. No carbon emissions. No wasted time. Also no risk of injury if you get into an accident. And even if you bike to work that latter point still stands due to the passively homicidal assholes driving cars out there.
  - JohnBooty 5y ago
    Yeah. With our environmental disaster unfolding, it's hard to sit there in a car burning fossil fuels for many hours per week and feel good about it. Even all-electric vehicles have a pretty significant environmental impact; they still have to be manufactured and the electricity still has to be generated elsewhere.