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The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

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Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#411

Post by nommm-nommm »

dustinmr wrote: post #291
nommm-nommm wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does saying what the parent say equate to having "little respect?" Some people enjoy their job, no matter what they do, for sure. Absolutely. Some people hate their job but pretend to love their job because part of their job (service) is to give the appearance that they are very, very happy. Pointing that out is not disrespectful.

To me the tone implied that all hotel workers must hate what they do or even see it as demeaning. Perhaps I read too much into it.

Your read way too much into it, your naïveté was simply being pointed out. There was no such implication.

Part of good customer service in the US is pretending you're really really happy to do whatever it is you are doing for your customer. "It is my pleasure to serve you." The staff at Texas Roadhouse wear shirts that say "I love my job," for crying out loud. It's extremely unprofessional to complain to your customers so you're going to put a positive spin on everything.

Doubly so if you are really jonesing for a tip.

If I were in a customer service position and my customer asked me how I liked my job I'd tell them I loved it, no matter if it were the truth or not. I'd lie through my teeth because its my job to be positive, not honest. That's not to say you're always going to be dishonest.

It's just like when a stranger asks you "how you doing?" You say, "good, how about you?" Even when you're miserable. It's just a social nicety people​ do and has no bearing on how someone is actually doing. Pointing that out isn't implying that every single person who says "I'm doing good" is secretly miserable.

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#412

Post by magic_beans »

sheeshkebab wrote: post #182
alkonaut wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on which europeans you mean. The higher taxed countries like the nordics pay mad taxes. I don't mind though because I feel it's well spent (i.e. my attitude towards public spending is that it is usually pretty efficient ). That's probably a big difference to the US where the attitude seems to be that taxes are pretty much a black hole. Tax calc for me: Employer pays $8k Payroll taxes deducted: $2k My gross sa…

US way: You make $8k a month: You pay $2k in taxes (Employer pays an additional $1k in tax), so your income is 9k. You pay $500 in health and other benefits (employer pays another $500) If you spend remaining $5.5k, you'll usually pay $250-$500 In sales taxes. In other words, you have $5k remaining to spend on shit that you probably don't need.

8k a month!!! That's a damn nice salary. Even BEFORE taxes I don't make as much as $5k a month.

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#413

Post by magic_beans »

jdietrich wrote: post #152
readittwice wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should Americans bother to have a passport? Their country is so huge, probably more than you could visit in a lifetime. Deserts, mountains, cities, ... In Europe countries and the continent are smaller, Vienna for example literally has 3 other countries in commuting distance. It is quite obvious that you are more likely to need a passport here in Europe. A much fairer comparison would be to only count Europeans t…

Visiting a foreign country is regarded as an essential rite of passage in many parts of the world. Being surrounded by people who speak a different language, use a different currency and have a different culture provides a very valuable life experience. Your understanding of "normal" can shift very quickly when you get to experience being a foreigner. I can't help but think that passport ownership is one of the funda…

Don't be so high minded. I know PLENTY of Dutch, Germans and French people who have never left their country.

Many, many Americans travel extensively or are children of immigrant parents who travel to their home country often.

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#414

Post by Accacin »

alkonaut wrote: post #274
Accacin wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wage inequality and higher education I agree with, but we do quite well with parental leave don't we (the UK)?

> but we do quite well with parental leave don't we (the UK) No. No you don't. :)

Maternity leave in the UK is the highest in the EU. Paternity is much less generous, though still better than a lot of other countries.

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#415

Post by Accacin »

dagw wrote: post #211
Accacin wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wage inequality and higher education I agree with, but we do quite well with parental leave don't we (the UK)?

but we do quite well with parental leave don't we Relative to the US, absolutely. Relative to Scandinavia, not really.

I mean, we're talking about Europe as whole. The UK has the highest maternity though paternity is much worse but still better than quite a few EU countries.

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#416

Post by astrange »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #116
tscs37 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please keep in mind that your costs of living are also different. In the EU you don't pay as much for the same services as in the US, especially healthcare. I'm not sure about Japan but it could be the same thing there.

Tokyo's definitely cheaper than the bay area or NYC, but it's still not exactly cheap. The median monthly rent is low, but you have to figure that the median apartment is tiny by American standards.

I see this comment a lot in threads about quality of life - people say American life is better than the 60s because houses are bigger. Why do you want that?

I'll accept "having more than one child" but not "having a bigger TV".

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#417

Post by idanoeman »

derivagral wrote: post #305
emodendroket wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> every single dev I know has roommates or an hour+ commute into the city They should probably look for housing near a commuter rail then

This generally won't solve the commute issue; you spend time driving, parking, on the train, walking/subway to work area. And then all of that in reverse. You still 'lose' 50+ minutes each way.

Bike to / from the commuter rail

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#418

Post by alkonaut »

Accacin wrote: post #414
alkonaut wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but we do quite well with parental leave don't we (the UK) No. No you don't. :)

Maternity leave in the UK is the highest in the EU. Paternity is much less generous, though still better than a lot of other countries.

The new (2015) UK rules are more generous, but still not the "highest in the EU" (c.f Sweden's 480 paid days). Swedes also don't need to take it at full rate meaning you can e.g make it a 2 year leave with lower pay. That might be possible in the UK too. Typical Nordic is 12 month maternity + 6month paternity I.e until the child is 18months.

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#419

Post by TulliusCicero »

astrange wrote: post #416
TulliusCicero wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tokyo's definitely cheaper than the bay area or NYC, but it's still not exactly cheap. The median monthly rent is low, but you have to figure that the median apartment is tiny by American standards.

I see this comment a lot in threads about quality of life - people say American life is better than the 60s because houses are bigger. Why do you want that? I'll accept "having more than one child" but not "having a bigger TV".

You'll have to ask someone else, I don't want a huge house and have strongly pro-density political leanings.

Re: The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess

#420

Post by coldtea »

prolly_a_moron wrote: post #393
coldtea wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's definitely not the case, since the numbers I cited are adjusted for inflation. Inflation adjustment doesn't take into account costs that are prevalent in an era but totally absent in another: like internet access, cellphone bills, and such. Nor how much one not puts into their retirement account / savings to spend on daily needs. If it was just supposed to be relative to the past, we would all be content for…

> Inflation adjustment doesn't take into account costs that are prevalent in an era but totally absent in another: like internet access, cellphone bills, and such. Nor how much one not puts into their retirement account / savings to spend on daily needs. Yes it does. Have you looked at how the BLS calculates the market-basket they use for CPI calculations? It's determined by actual spending by actual people on actual…

>Yes it does. Have you looked at how the BLS calculates the market-basket they use for CPI calculations? It's determined by actual spending by actual people on actual goods.

The CPI calculation does take into account "new expenses", but in a backwards way from what I asked for above and for the reverse purpose (to hide the negative changes).

Instead of just adding something like a cell contract into the "new necessities" in the basket, they substitute lesser goods instead of comparing like for like across periods, as if it's reflecting a difference in what people want to buy (aka the "burger vs steak" substitution) instead of what they can afford to buy. They have even long substituted home owning costs for rent. So, yeah, "it's not inflation", it's just a declining standard of living instead of a fixed (or progressing) one.

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