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I see your pre-sales engineer and raise you an entire office full of Japanese salarymen. M-san once came up to me at 7 PM and apologized profusely for having t

by patio11 12y ago

I see your pre-sales engineer and raise you an entire office full of Japanese salarymen. M-san once came up to me at 7 PM and apologized profusely for having to leave early. "It's my little boy's birthday and, you know, we've been in crunch for the last 4 months and I only see him on Sundays [+], so I really wanted to make it this year." Seriously. Actually happened. [+] Edit for clarity: No, this is not because M-san and his wife are divorced. This is because M-san was routinely working during substantially all of his son's waking hours Monday through Saturday.

lifeisstillgood 12y ago
Sorry to pick up the thread so late, but isn't this horrifically damaging to family structure in Japan? If the general idea that absent father hurt / damage kids is right is to this just creating generation(s) of damage? isn't there pushback?
- patio11 12y ago
  isn't this horrifically damaging to family structure in Japan? Yes!
  - lifeisstillgood 12y ago
    oh ... I have for a while been working 20 mins from my house, for a university in Texas and other clients. The effect on my relationship with my wife and children was dramatic compared to the slogging commute and long hours (but naught compared to the salaryman stories I hear). We lose sooo much with long commutes and long hours - and yet the gain for companies is trivial especially compared to gains that simple management improvements can make. I spent last year holidaying on the Greek island of Kefalonia - and realised that if I stayed there and worked, I would be six hours out from Texas instead of five. And the holiday "campus" I stayed in was idyllic - and there was very little in my imagination stopping me and 25 other families from parking up there and living and working - I strongly suspect that an ideal arrangement is small clusters of live / work / school environments coming into being.

by patio11 12y ago

lifeisstillgood 12y ago

Sorry to pick up the thread so late, but isn't this horrifically damaging to family structure in Japan? If the general idea that absent father hurt / damage kids is right is to this just creating generation(s) of damage? isn't there pushback?

patio11 12y ago
isn't this horrifically damaging to family structure in Japan? Yes!
- lifeisstillgood 12y ago
  oh ... I have for a while been working 20 mins from my house, for a university in Texas and other clients. The effect on my relationship with my wife and children was dramatic compared to the slogging commute and long hours (but naught compared to the salaryman stories I hear). We lose sooo much with long commutes and long hours - and yet the gain for companies is trivial especially compared to gains that simple management improvements can make. I spent last year holidaying on the Greek island of Kefalonia - and realised that if I stayed there and worked, I would be six hours out from Texas instead of five. And the holiday "campus" I stayed in was idyllic - and there was very little in my imagination stopping me and 25 other families from parking up there and living and working - I strongly suspect that an ideal arrangement is small clusters of live / work / school environments coming into being.