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I'm someone who doesn't drink a lot of coffee. I've noticed co-workers, often, who will be cranky and apologize in the morning hours because they are dependent

I'm someone who doesn't drink a lot of coffee. I've noticed co-workers, often, who will be cranky and apologize in the morning hours because they are dependent on caffeine to function. This seems like a bad state of affairs when what 90%? of developers are dependent on caffeine to function.

markrages 4y ago
A good excuse to be cranky in the morning is worth the price of addiction.
bigbonch 4y ago
Michael Pollan has an interesting take on being addicted to Coffee. He suspects most of the modern world is thanks to caffeine and coffee breaks. His conclusion is: although there are some 'negative' side effects, those effects are minimal and the positive effects outweighs them considerably.
drakonka 4y ago
Not denying that caffeine addiction is real, but I also think "lack of coffee" has become a sort of blanket excuse for just being sleepy or not fully energized, regardless of the actual coffee intake. It's a common thing to just say, sometimes as a joke and other times as a convenient lighthearted excuse when someone misses a social cue or does something silly: "Sorry, haven't had my coffee yet!" And most people who hear it kind of get it as well. They don't _actually_ think this person is physically addicted to caffeine. They hear it with the understanding that this person is just a bit tired, distracted, or out of it that morning/day/whatever.
xboxnolifes 4y ago
Assigning some reason to anything someone wants to say is the most common conversation pattern I consistently see. It's not specific to coffee. People may be cranky, but the excuse that it's because they haven't had their coffee yet is an ad-hoc justification. If you handed them a coffee to drink in that moment, they would just have another excuse. It's the same conversation pattern that people follow when they say: "I think X, because Y". You then go and show they that Y isn't true. They come back with "Ok, but I still don't like X". Y was never relevant.

markrages 4y ago

A good excuse to be cranky in the morning is worth the price of addiction.

bigbonch 4y ago

Michael Pollan has an interesting take on being addicted to Coffee. He suspects most of the modern world is thanks to caffeine and coffee breaks. His conclusion is: although there are some 'negative' side effects, those effects are minimal and the positive effects outweighs them considerably.

drakonka 4y ago

Not denying that caffeine addiction is real, but I also think "lack of coffee" has become a sort of blanket excuse for just being sleepy or not fully energized, regardless of the actual coffee intake. It's a common thing to just say, sometimes as a joke and other times as a convenient lighthearted excuse when someone misses a social cue or does something silly: "Sorry, haven't had my coffee yet!" And most people who hear it kind of get it as well. They don't _actually_ think this person is physically addicted to caffeine. They hear it with the understanding that this person is just a bit tired, distracted, or out of it that morning/day/whatever.

xboxnolifes 4y ago

Assigning some reason to anything someone wants to say is the most common conversation pattern I consistently see. It's not specific to coffee. People may be cranky, but the excuse that it's because they haven't had their coffee yet is an ad-hoc justification. If you handed them a coffee to drink in that moment, they would just have another excuse. It's the same conversation pattern that people follow when they say: "I think X, because Y". You then go and show they that Y isn't true. They come back with "Ok, but I still don't like X". Y was never relevant.