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

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.