3 ms·

Be Less Precious

8 points by blueridge 3y ago

imbnwa 3y ago
I came to software engineering from hospitality. I’ve worked every position in a restaurant with the caveat that the one time I got a shot at the line they got me the hell out of there. Line is especially hard, hard work during a rush or a busy Friday night, but so is every other position. You’re on your feet for hours, there’s virtually nowhere to sit that isn’t the manager’s office. You’ll see some shit too, I remember this downtown burger joint with a very bro crowd a guy bust a beer pitcher on another guy’s head in a dispute over a woman. But hospitality is nothing if not absolutely clear and transparent when it comes to communication. Corporate is full of language designed to disavow ownership and accountability, people play more politics than I have taste or ability for. There’s a shallow politeness and conviviality that makes for a theatre play of community but in truth there isn’t nearly the sense of shared struggle that normally focuses a community. People are jealous and envious, people are gatekeeping, people think they’re better than other people, people have little feudal kingdoms they dig moats around. I sometimes miss the simplicity of hospitality, though of course that thought is quickly dissuaded by the memory of being paid below minimum wage and mostly in tips with no health insurance.
catchnear4321 3y ago
precious: of great value, not to be wasted. that rant was not precious.
deleted 3y ago
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mock-possum 3y ago
Wow. This seems… mean. One of the nicest things a precious employer’s VP has said to me was that I shouldn’t feel bad about taking a mental health day if I needed it - he’d rather have me at my best, ready to do my work, rather than just barely managing to drag myself to my desk in order to be physically present and hope no one noticed my productivity was shit. This blog entry just seems so uncaring and dismissive. How awful. When he says “we” at 37 signals, does he mean he actually speaks for them? Should I be avoiding them as an employer? God I’d hate to work for someone who treated me this way.
deleted 3y ago
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8 points by blueridge 3y ago

I came to software engineering from hospitality. I’ve worked every position in a restaurant with the caveat that the one time I got a shot at the line they got me the hell out of there. Line is especially hard, hard work during a rush or a busy Friday night, but so is every other position. You’re on your feet for hours, there’s virtually nowhere to sit that isn’t the manager’s office. You’ll see some shit too, I remember this downtown burger joint with a very bro crowd a guy bust a beer pitcher on another guy’s head in a dispute over a woman. But hospitality is nothing if not absolutely clear and transparent when it comes to communication. Corporate is full of language designed to disavow ownership and accountability, people play more politics than I have taste or ability for. There’s a shallow politeness and conviviality that makes for a theatre play of community but in truth there isn’t nearly the sense of shared struggle that normally focuses a community. People are jealous and envious, people are gatekeeping, people think they’re better than other people, people have little feudal kingdoms they dig moats around. I sometimes miss the simplicity of hospitality, though of course that thought is quickly dissuaded by the memory of being paid below minimum wage and mostly in tips with no health insurance.

catchnear4321 3y ago

precious: of great value, not to be wasted. that rant was not precious.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

mock-possum 3y ago

Wow. This seems… mean. One of the nicest things a precious employer’s VP has said to me was that I shouldn’t feel bad about taking a mental health day if I needed it - he’d rather have me at my best, ready to do my work, rather than just barely managing to drag myself to my desk in order to be physically present and hope no one noticed my productivity was shit. This blog entry just seems so uncaring and dismissive. How awful. When he says “we” at 37 signals, does he mean he actually speaks for them? Should I be avoiding them as an employer? God I’d hate to work for someone who treated me this way.

deleted 3y ago

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