2 ms·
Can't speak for OP, but for me it's much more of the former than the latter. When I lived in Seattle, and later SF, I loathed to tell someone my job. Firstly b
by potatolicious 13y ago
Can't speak for OP, but for me it's much more of the former than the latter.
When I lived in Seattle, and later SF, I loathed to tell someone my job. Firstly because in that city it automatically paints a "has a truckload of cash" target on one's head, regardless of whether or not it's true.
Secondly because the tech folks in the city are blamed for basically all of the city's woes (this is true in both Seattle and SF). It has little to do with how "low status" software work is (because in those places, it's not really).
Now that I'm in NYC I feel much more free about telling people my job. For one thing, the response is generally "oh that's cool, tell me more" instead of "[eyeroll] yet another one", and secondly I'm not the biggest species in the pond anymore. The response to "I'm a software engineer" isn't automatically "you must make a lot of money".
- patio11 13y agoBeing blamed for things they self-evidently do not control? Eye rolls? These are classic markers of low status.
- potatolicious 13y agoIt's tricky I think. There are really two orthogonal statuses at play. There's the status conferred by being far wealthier than typical for the area. There's also the status conferred by having a respected/liked job. In Seattle/SF your wealth status is high, but your interestingness status is low. Dirt low even. In NYC your wealth status is middling, but your interestingness status is relatively high. I prefer this setup far, far more. But I'm also not a sociologist - maybe we're defining status differently.
- walshemj 13y agowell at least she didn't say "thats nice what sort of cars do you work on" when she found out that he was an engineer