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The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

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Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#11

It makes it sound as if work was more healthy in the past. Was it? When? I know hunter gatherer times were supposed to be paradise, but anything since then? Farming sounds rather arduous. Or what about mining, or working in factories where safety measures have not yet been invented?

The present population of workers the article is referring to with "work culture" are white collar workers. Comparing like to like, these wouldn't be people working in factories or mining. The equivalent jobs in previous eras would be those of priests, monks, and scribes; of surveyors, navigators, and architects; of military officers; and of nobles tinkering around in the sciences.

Compare the working conditions of those jobs to those of current white-collar work.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#14
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're going to comment here please make it civil and substantive. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

This is about as civil of a kick in the butt as this post deserves. Enjoy bitching about the best it will ever get, you fucking whiner. Flag away.

[deleted]

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#15
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is about as civil of a kick in the butt as this post deserves. Enjoy bitching about the best it will ever get, you fucking whiner. Flag away.

[deleted]

If you really feel compelled to read flagged comments, you can turn on "showdead" in your settings.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#16
post #5

Dealing w/ RSI has been an eye opener for me. What makes it worse: working on a laptop, working on the plane, having to do long hours in poor ergonomic conditions. What do I have to do to be good at my job? Basically, that. What happens if it gets worse and I can no longer use a computer for at least eight hours a day? That is my livelihood

It WILL become a problem.

The biggest issue with RSI and other repetive-use injuries (which happens in many professions and even athletics, especially with bad form) is that it happens slowly, then suddenly. It's so slow that it's discomfort. And you ignore that discomfort, especially as your concentration is on a computer monitor with important stuff to worry about being displayed on it. Also, sometimes inflammation happens later (later that night, later that week, etc.).

Start now to reduce your RSI (and RSI isn't your only problem, more on that below):

Get an external keyboard either that has an ergonomic design is is comfortable for you, and a mouse too. A Mac keyboard will be nightmare, don't use it. A Mac 'Magic Mouse' or trackpad will cause damage. It's not made for serious long-term work (there might be a lawsuit one day).

Pro tip: this may sound crazy, but get two mice, one left, one right. Change often. Learn to use the lefty even if you're right-handed, or vice-versa. You'll be surprised at how quickly you get used to it (and you'll laugh when someone tries to show you something on your workstation).

Get a desk that moves up and down. Spend some time standing, some time sitting. Again, change often.

Next, other than RSI is your neck and back. As your rhomboids get stretched and weak from forward rotation of the shoulders, the rear neck muscles get stretched and weak, the serratus goes unused, the chest and front-neck muscles get short and tight... You arch your head forward which causes your head (which already weighs about 8 pounds) to exert a lot more than 8 pounds of force on those muscle groups. And you also look at your phone all day, which you hold down below you. Well you're in for a world of nightmares and headaches that'll make the RSI a distraction by comparison.

Start early to avoid these things, before it becomes too late.

Sincerely,

A guy with some greying and screwed up wrists/hands and neck.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#17
post #5

Dealing w/ RSI has been an eye opener for me. What makes it worse: working on a laptop, working on the plane, having to do long hours in poor ergonomic conditions. What do I have to do to be good at my job? Basically, that. What happens if it gets worse and I can no longer use a computer for at least eight hours a day? That is my livelihood

Off topic: Is it RSI or tennis elbow? I got really bad tennis elbow from my Macbook (my theory is the copy paste using a key four in from bottom left rather than the corner key of a windows computer is the issue, as it changes the position of your hand when doing it from pinky to thumb).

Anyway, if it is tennis elbow, you can buy a strap that alleviates ALL of the pain. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=tennis+elbow+strap My mate couldn't life 1kg with a bicep curl, put the strap on and did 10KG. It is like a miracle!

Longer term, you need to loosen out your bicep and upper traps. But really, just try that strap and see!

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#18

It makes it sound as if work was more healthy in the past. Was it? When? I know hunter gatherer times were supposed to be paradise, but anything since then? Farming sounds rather arduous. Or what about mining, or working in factories where safety measures have not yet been invented?

As other commenter says, it's not "this or that", but having said that, quality of life for the middle class was definitely better only a few decades ago. An average job would get you a house, a car and a pension, working eight hours a day, five days a week. And "middle class" meant a much greater range of jobs. Factory work could get you a house, a car and a pension. Time with kids, no worries about the future, or h…

Agreed this is the biggest change... Those days are over.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#19
> I see a workplace that has become shockingly inhumane.

A thousand times this. Very few of the lessons my parents taught me apply in the corporate world. Be honest and straight with people, assume good intent, take responsibility, etc.

All that behavior will do is paint you as naive. Sure there's room for honesty and responsibility, but only when used appropriately (strategically). Strikes me as acutely inhumane every time my career is rewarded for suppressing those behaviors.

I am not even allowed to tell a candidate (another human being that probably NEEDS a paycheck) why I didn't hire them and what they can do to improve their viability.

Just because the company has discarded this person it also means I must discard them as well? It kills me every time, but I NEED my paycheck more than I prefer to help my fellow human.

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