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Poor in Tech

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Re: Poor in Tech

#211

Post by Grustaf »

creshal wrote: post #29
ideamotor wrote: post #19

Assuming the trip to Greece was a joke was pretty good, as was the comment about hearing other people’s hobbies and just thinking about the expense. There are definitely cultural signifiers from wealth. Discussing housing endlessly is the biggest one.

Taking a 3 day vacation overseas definitely is a joke. You'll spend as much time sitting in a plane or waiting at the airport as you'll spend at your destination, how's that supposed to be relaxing?

Maybe from the US (unless you go to Cuba or the Caribbean). In Europe it makes total sense, even from far away Scandinavia. You can easily be in South of France before noon.

Re: Poor in Tech

#212

Post by username90 »

teachingassist wrote: post #22
avancemos wrote: post #7

Instead of seeing the bright side of life, in which this person clearly vastly improved their situation in life, all they can see is what they don’t have. “I knew I was the only poor person at my tech startup because I had the only fat body in the building.” I’m sorry, but no, being poor doesn’t make you fat. Your eating choices make you fat. Poor people have agency too. Agency is not something you buy. This is comin…

Food insecurity is an aspect of poverty and is not uncommon in the United States. "Your eating choices" as a poor person might be to eat what and when and where you can afford to.

Why could people manage to stay slim 20 years ago but not today? It isn't like the poor are more insecure now than back then.

Re: Poor in Tech

#213

Post by chefandy »

magicalhippo wrote: post #28
est31 wrote: post #10

> I knew I was the only poor person at my tech startup because I was the only person who would say hello to the cleaning lady as she meekly made her rounds around us when we worked late. Everyone else had a long habit of ignoring anyone like her. That's IMO the worst behaviour of the rich listed in this article. I've heard stories that at Google, the non-engineering workers at campus may not socialize with engineers…

I'm definitely not poor, and I've always greeted the cleaning staff. That's not a sign of being poor, it's a sign of not being an ass.

Socially dominant cultures' mistreatment of others is always more visible to the others. You're one data point. People on the other side of the divide have many more data points from which to judge.

I worked in an Ivy League university while poor— and continued doing so for quite some time. I assure you that treating people in lower socioeconomic classes either as invisible or a mildly concerning presence, depending on the context, and coming from a wealthy, white background is closely correlated. Many of the wealthier students, faculty, and professional staff treated the cleaners, landscapers, catering staff and cafeteria workers like furniture. Of course, there were exceptions.

I saw a similar juxtaposition in tech, though the ratio of wealthy to non-wealthy wasn't as extreme as it was in an elite university.

Re: Poor in Tech

#214

Post by Grustaf »

contriban wrote: post #205
cblconfederate wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus nobody would 'recommend a hotel'. An island, maybe

You said that because you’re poor too. Rich people travel right into resorts, not specific places, because resorts sell you the dream directly. I definitely saw the videos of those dreamy Greek hotels with in-room balcony pools and if I were rich I would know their names too. I’m sure that if you contact them you’ll just have to drive to SFO and the rest will be taken care of by them.

Not all rich people want to go to cookie cutter resorts, seems more like an upper middle class thing. Maybe it's different in the US.

Re: Poor in Tech

#215

Post by ryanbrunner »

Grustaf wrote: post #203
ryanbrunner wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indoor rock climbing for sure. A gym will cost you at least $50 a month (where I am, but I doubt it's that much different elsewhere), and the equipment costs aren't astronomical but do add up, especially compared to "cheap" sports (at least $200 for shoes / harness, and additional gear depending on what sort of climbing you want to do).

I'd say even the receptionist at a SV startup can easily afford to do rock climbing if she wants to.

Right, but if they just started at that job, and they previously had worked for much lower pay, they wouldn't be exposed to indoor rock climbing much at all. I don't think the author is saying that they couldn't rock climb if they wanted to, it's just a very different context when people can suddenly have (relatively) expensive hobbies.

Re: Poor in Tech

#216

Post by vetinari »

MattGaiser wrote: post #34
creshal wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking a 3 day vacation overseas definitely is a joke. You'll spend as much time sitting in a plane or waiting at the airport as you'll spend at your destination, how's that supposed to be relaxing?

If you fly business/first class. I know people who went to Macau for a weekend or Paris and that is how.

Since Concorde service was discontinued, business or first class passengers are not going to spend less time on board of the airplane than economy passengers.

12+ hours for each way quickly dampens the enthusiasm for the weekend.

Re: Poor in Tech

#217

Post by FriedrichN »

MattRix wrote: post #171
FriedrichN wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must say I was rather triggered by that statement. I'm 100% sure that at one point my earnings were much lower than hers and I wasn't "a fat body". I had a second hand road bike that consisted of many different parts and I loved that thing, I've put thousands of kilometers on that old frame. And guess what, I still use it to this day, even though I could buy a fancy new one. As a matter of fact, not having a lot of…

Did you grow up poor, as she did? If not, then you are missing the important context of what it’s like to grow up in a food scarce environment.

We never had much money, but we ate well. And I ate a lot, but I was also very active. Being active is free.

I know this will upset people, but if poor people are fat, food is not scarce. The quality of food may be low, but low food quality does not make one fat, a surplus of calories does.

To be absolutely clear, I know there is a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and obesity. It's much more complicated than "just eat less", many factors play into this. Including food IQ. It's much more easy to overeat on Cheetos than it is on potatoes and green beans. A persons social environment will have a big influence on how and what they eat, how much they will move, etc.

Re: Poor in Tech

#218

Post by SkipperCat »

tyrex2017 wrote: post #18
est31 wrote: post #10

> I knew I was the only poor person at my tech startup because I was the only person who would say hello to the cleaning lady as she meekly made her rounds around us when we worked late. Everyone else had a long habit of ignoring anyone like her. That's IMO the worst behaviour of the rich listed in this article. I've heard stories that at Google, the non-engineering workers at campus may not socialize with engineers…

i found that one weird in my experience, there is no difference in how poor or rich people behave towards low-level staff. in general, my feeling is the rich are more friendly, but it may be less genuine

I personally think its how your family and friends raised you. Some folks think people are object, some acknowledge their humanity.

Re: Poor in Tech

#219

Post by jccalhoun »

A lot of these things I don't consider signs of being poor but signs that you aren't throwing away your money. Sure you can be poor and frugal but I would bet a lot of those people are racking up tons of credit card debt because they are betting on their stock being worth something eventually.

Re: Poor in Tech

#220

Post by oaiey »

strken wrote: post #176
isomorph wrote: post #116

Many of the comments on this article are so cold. I can’t believe it. When I read the original article I was imagining all the constructive ways HN readers would interpret it and hold a mirror up to their own behaviour. Some commenters are doing this. But it surprises and depresses me how many people are commenting saying “no, this list isn’t what it says it is, it’s a list showing the author has a negative mindset /…

In some ways it's a laundry list of ways rich people in the Bay Area act like wankers, which is interesting, but also quite irritatingly stereotypical. There are plenty who don't refuse to talk to the cleaning staff, lecture others on their choice of tampon, or snob fat people at the gym. I don't want people from outside the bubble (e.g. me, three years ago) to read this and think they'll be surrounded by wall-to-wal…

I also do not read this article that way. I think she does not complain about them. Most of them are most likely nice people (ignoring the gym paragraph). She reflect that "she realizes" that she is "poor compared to them". She does not imply that they are bad people or that she feels miserable about her "poorness" (she seems to earn much more than before .. and quit ... and probably got something better ... and ... seems to write a successful novelthingy)
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