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this comment is posted on literally every discussion about money and work on HN. there's always That Guy who points out "won't you think of the people who aren'

this comment is posted on literally every discussion about money and work on HN. there's always That Guy who points out "won't you think of the people who aren't as x, y, z. don't you know you're privileged! how dare you talk about this!"... this vapid, reflexive concern trolling is tiring and repetitive. so someone will feel bad by reading about your very privileged existence and the fact that you have a job and you're in the market for a house close to your work? is that really the bar we're expected to adhere to? is this actually offensive? insensitive? rude? we don't need to be reminded there are poor people out there. no shit, really? we see it every day. some of us started out that way, some of us are the children of millionaires. so what? i'm not going to self-police what i talk about on the internet just because poor people exist in this world. i don't feel envy or animosity towards the rich or the poor. some poor people get rich, some rich people lose their damn marbles and go to the poor house, dragging entire families down with them - let me guess, you feel no sympathy towards that type of poor person, right? they deserved it, right? either way, life goes on. it's like stating that water is wet or the sky is blue and then chastising people about not mentioning the water and sky when they talk about their new smart phone or laptop. absolutely no value add. it's a non-sequitur. who does this actually help, by pointing this out? nobody is going to accidentally buy a million dollar house with their well compensated corporate job if they're not by definition winning/privileged. we're not selling subprime mortgages here.

yamazakiwi 4y ago
Because it is common for people in bubbles to forget, that's the entire point. It should be easy for you to ignore if you've seen it as often as you state. It sounds like you prefer a conversation to be more tailored to your experience, that is normal. In places like HN, a large portion of people live in their bubble and don't see out of it. Bringing up a more common experience is necessary to put a topic in complete context in some cases or at a minimum expands the field of view, it's not meant to make you feel guilt. A part of being human is to point out abnormality, and many times it's done without even a thought. I'm not sure why you're having a melt down, just ignore it if it bothers you. Telling people to stop mentioning their experience isn't going to be constructive and people who WANT to guilt trip you can just fuck right off so don't let it get to you.
- inconceivable 4y ago
  the fact that you are posting on HN and able to form complete sentences is a privilege. just this morning i walked past a homeless guy that was clearly out of his mind and on drugs. won't you think of him when you enter your bubble of keyboard-ability? i demand that you acknowledge his state of precariousness in a sacrificial caveat before you speak one more word of your laptop-able existence. afterwards i demand you meditate for 5 minutes and say your affirmations of gratitude out loud three times.
  - yamazakiwi 4y ago
    I was gonna say that no one was bleeding heart baiting as hard as you're alluding but the imagery of demanding affirmations of gratitude was too funny, to the point I no longer care.
_ktx2 4y ago
You really tripped off a cliff in interpreting what I wrote. The person I replied to said, "I got what you got working remotely by living close to where I work". Do you understand now why there's such a far degree of separation between those two things? Far more people can afford to work remotely than those that can afford to live near a tech campus. Having privilege isn't shameful. Often privilege is gained along side accomplishments that were earned. Hybrid work is a relevant topic, and a lot of people readily eschew remote workers experience by saying, "You can have all that by living close to campus! Oh it's too expensive to buy? Just rent! Oh, rent is expensive and not nearly comparable to my 10 year old mortgage? Get room mates!" It gets old, and they're not proper analogs. Anyway, sorry you raged hearing about why this wasn't an analog, have a better day.
- inconceivable 4y ago
  your transparent, smug condescension is greatly appreciated.
  - _ktx2 4y ago
    Not so much smug, but annoyed at your meltdown, and I agree it wasn't helpful. I do get that hearing about privilege, especially if you're exposed to those conversations a lot (or more than others) can be pretty annoying. I've found myself in that seat before and I've felt how, I think, you're feeling. That said, I've also gotten used to realizing that not everyone hears that point of view every day or even often enough. The hybrid work conversations have been a glass house of just that. Nobody wants to hear how good they have it compared to new entrants, they just want to be getting what they've been getting and in order to do that everyone else needs to fall in line. The other annoyance that I had was some of your invented strawmen about how I don't empathize for people that make less than I do. I certainly do, and members of my family are among those folks. Like others, I've had to make hard decisions on how to best support them, even if it means at times giving up things that this life could afford me. That's why I do my best to argue for a world where all or most people can succeed; the point of pointing out privilege isn't to say, "You shouldn't have that". It's to say, "Other people should be afforded what you have too, especially if the difference is just geography". I did mean that I hope you have a better day.

yamazakiwi 4y ago

Because it is common for people in bubbles to forget, that's the entire point. It should be easy for you to ignore if you've seen it as often as you state. It sounds like you prefer a conversation to be more tailored to your experience, that is normal. In places like HN, a large portion of people live in their bubble and don't see out of it. Bringing up a more common experience is necessary to put a topic in complete context in some cases or at a minimum expands the field of view, it's not meant to make you feel guilt. A part of being human is to point out abnormality, and many times it's done without even a thought. I'm not sure why you're having a melt down, just ignore it if it bothers you. Telling people to stop mentioning their experience isn't going to be constructive and people who WANT to guilt trip you can just fuck right off so don't let it get to you.

inconceivable 4y ago
the fact that you are posting on HN and able to form complete sentences is a privilege. just this morning i walked past a homeless guy that was clearly out of his mind and on drugs. won't you think of him when you enter your bubble of keyboard-ability? i demand that you acknowledge his state of precariousness in a sacrificial caveat before you speak one more word of your laptop-able existence. afterwards i demand you meditate for 5 minutes and say your affirmations of gratitude out loud three times.
- yamazakiwi 4y ago
  I was gonna say that no one was bleeding heart baiting as hard as you're alluding but the imagery of demanding affirmations of gratitude was too funny, to the point I no longer care.

_ktx2 4y ago

You really tripped off a cliff in interpreting what I wrote. The person I replied to said, "I got what you got working remotely by living close to where I work". Do you understand now why there's such a far degree of separation between those two things? Far more people can afford to work remotely than those that can afford to live near a tech campus. Having privilege isn't shameful. Often privilege is gained along side accomplishments that were earned. Hybrid work is a relevant topic, and a lot of people readily eschew remote workers experience by saying, "You can have all that by living close to campus! Oh it's too expensive to buy? Just rent! Oh, rent is expensive and not nearly comparable to my 10 year old mortgage? Get room mates!" It gets old, and they're not proper analogs. Anyway, sorry you raged hearing about why this wasn't an analog, have a better day.

inconceivable 4y ago
your transparent, smug condescension is greatly appreciated.
- _ktx2 4y ago
  Not so much smug, but annoyed at your meltdown, and I agree it wasn't helpful. I do get that hearing about privilege, especially if you're exposed to those conversations a lot (or more than others) can be pretty annoying. I've found myself in that seat before and I've felt how, I think, you're feeling. That said, I've also gotten used to realizing that not everyone hears that point of view every day or even often enough. The hybrid work conversations have been a glass house of just that. Nobody wants to hear how good they have it compared to new entrants, they just want to be getting what they've been getting and in order to do that everyone else needs to fall in line. The other annoyance that I had was some of your invented strawmen about how I don't empathize for people that make less than I do. I certainly do, and members of my family are among those folks. Like others, I've had to make hard decisions on how to best support them, even if it means at times giving up things that this life could afford me. That's why I do my best to argue for a world where all or most people can succeed; the point of pointing out privilege isn't to say, "You shouldn't have that". It's to say, "Other people should be afforded what you have too, especially if the difference is just geography". I did mean that I hope you have a better day.