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Thanks and hats off to all people doing useful work everywhere. From store clerks to firefighters, from office administrators to CEOs of companies providing use

Thanks and hats off to all people doing useful work everywhere. From store clerks to firefighters, from office administrators to CEOs of companies providing useful products/services at a large scale. We need each other. On the topic of engineering specifically, yes engineers build reliable complex systems that make the world livable. Software engineers also build the invisible bits that runs the digital infrastructure of the world. Everyone counts.

closewith 4y ago
> From store clerks to firefighters, from office administrators to CEOs of companies providing useful products/services at a large scale. I run a small software business, but also work part-time as an EMT and volunteer as a SAR medic. I make approximately 12x more from my software business per hour worked (and I'm the lowest paid employee in the business) than I do working as an EMT (and obviously the volunteer isn't paid at all). I could make a lot more again in industry. As an EMT, I work with people who are skilled, educated, hard-working, diligent, and who make enormous personal sacrifices (familially, financially, and mentally) for their patients. That includes the paramedics, nurses, doctors, and even SAR heli crews we hand over to. And yet, to a rounding error, none of them will ever earn as much as I do as a part-time software developer. Yes, there are other non-tangible benefits to working in healthcare - after all, that's why I do it. There are also enormous costs, mostly in terms of time and psychological cost. And almost everyone I work with (although not all) could make more money working less hours in a better working environment. So my hat goes off to all the labourers, but especially those I mentioned above, because they almost always have better options, but they don't leave. Almost always because they care more about their patients than their own personal bottom line.
- quickthrower2 4y ago
  Wow, so is it like $40h vs $480/h?
  - closewith 4y ago
    €18 per hour versus ~€1,500 per day.
    - quickthrower2 4y ago
      Amazing: 18 EUR seems way too low. Same as retail/barista etc. here

closewith 4y ago

> From store clerks to firefighters, from office administrators to CEOs of companies providing useful products/services at a large scale. I run a small software business, but also work part-time as an EMT and volunteer as a SAR medic. I make approximately 12x more from my software business per hour worked (and I'm the lowest paid employee in the business) than I do working as an EMT (and obviously the volunteer isn't paid at all). I could make a lot more again in industry. As an EMT, I work with people who are skilled, educated, hard-working, diligent, and who make enormous personal sacrifices (familially, financially, and mentally) for their patients. That includes the paramedics, nurses, doctors, and even SAR heli crews we hand over to. And yet, to a rounding error, none of them will ever earn as much as I do as a part-time software developer. Yes, there are other non-tangible benefits to working in healthcare - after all, that's why I do it. There are also enormous costs, mostly in terms of time and psychological cost. And almost everyone I work with (although not all) could make more money working less hours in a better working environment. So my hat goes off to all the labourers, but especially those I mentioned above, because they almost always have better options, but they don't leave. Almost always because they care more about their patients than their own personal bottom line.

quickthrower2 4y ago
Wow, so is it like $40h vs $480/h?
- closewith 4y ago
  €18 per hour versus ~€1,500 per day.
  - quickthrower2 4y ago
    Amazing: 18 EUR seems way too low. Same as retail/barista etc. here