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I don't work at Google and from where I sit now, it's hard to imagine myself wanting to work for Google, but this complaint that it's infantalizing its employee
by icambron 13y ago
I don't work at Google and from where I sit now, it's hard to imagine myself wanting to work for Google, but this complaint that it's infantalizing its employees is ridiculous. Making your own food and doing your own laundry are not substantial life challenges. Growing up is not about learning to do chores you don't actually have to do. (When you make enough money to pay someone to mow your lawn, are you back to being a little kid?) The whole article is premised on the idea that the status quo in which most adults do have to do (or choose to do) their laundry is somehow intrinsically superior, which is just silly. Think of all the other services you don't do yourself, or even that your grandparents do but which now come in the form of a household appliance. Why do some services go in the bucket labeled "self-sufficiency" and all the other ones don't?
Growing up is also not about throwing out the brightly colored things and getting rid of the spaceship models. Why would you think that? Because someone told you to act like a Real Adult? Because when you grow up, you need to trade in your dinosaurs for responsible abstract art or else...well, what, exactly? Growing up is about taking responsibility for yourself. That's basically it. Maybe Google is preventing that too, but this article doesn't make that case.
- maximumsteve 13y agoPerhaps not everyone feels this way, but I think that there are a large amount of employees that feel like they've failed by not being completely self-sufficient(i.e. contract or own their own business). They can still be easy to work with, productive, etc., but they may view their job trying to feed them and do their laundry as an encroachment on their personal life and perhaps even a vie for more of their time by 'no longer having an excuse'. Of course, this goes unsaid because 'they're just providing services you're too good to do yourself.' In addition, expecting someone with administrative aspirations to play in a ball pit could be considered downright offensive, thanks to its perceived condescension and lack of any real interest.
- colanderman 13y agomaximumsteve, your posts show up as dead (meaning no-one without "showdead" turned on can see them). Not sure why, you seem perfectly coherent. I suggest starting a new account.