Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Poor in Tech

megelison.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 817 posts

Re: Poor in Tech

#221

Post by npwr »

8fGTBjZxBcHq wrote: post #20
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…

It's normal and cool actually that we can take something that affects a MAJORITY of Americans and is tightly correlated to poverty and make it a matter of individual responsibility and moral weakness.

As someone who does not live in the US, it is often discussed in my social circles. To us, it appears that this cultural propaganda is a political necessity to stay far from communism. The cultural conception of the extent of the free-will impacts notably justice (individual responsability vs. psy impact of the environment) and wealth redistribution (welfare vs. meritocracy).

The conception that most of the bad things that happen to an individual is because of poor choices makes perpetuating inequalities easier. Notably thoses that stem from free market capitalism.

In France we have a strong cultural awareness of our low/inexsitent free-will. This translates readily into state welfare.

Re: Poor in Tech

#222

Post by grayclhn »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #146
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've heard stories that at Google, the non-engineering workers at campus may not socialize with engineers at all. I worked at HQ as an engineer, and didn't notice any such thing. Most of the time I probably didn't say hi to cleaning staff, for the same reason I wouldn't say hi to most of the people I pass by in the office: because they weren't someone I knew. Of course this might vary depending on context, but I wa…

> Do other people say hi to every single person you see in the building every day?

Yeah, pretty much.

Re: Poor in Tech

#223

Post by strken »

Grustaf wrote: post #200
olingern wrote: post #68

I grew up poor and now live and work around "never been poor" folks. Classism 100% exists. The thing that I noticed most folks can't grasp is the appreciation for the small things and the security they have. I find that people who have never experienced being poor are often lacking in both humility and "can do" attitudes. For me, not being wealthy is a feature, not a bug. I realize I'm speaking from a place of privil…

Of course you view things differently if you've never been poor. But that doesn't make you evil, and OP is not a victim. In none of her examples was anyone treating her badly. (I know you are not claiming this, just saying). In fact, as you hint, having been poor and then getting in to the middle class you probably have a better chance of making it big.

Paying her less than the interns was not a very nice thing to do.

Re: Poor in Tech

#224

Post by lelanthran »

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.

> 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.

I did, poorer in fact. I only stopped being thin when I got a good salary.

She's full of it[1].

[1] 'It' being 'victim complex'.

Re: Poor in Tech

#225

Post by username90 »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #40
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?

I'm sure it's a much better experience if you fly first class.

Average workers at tech startups don't fly first class...

Re: Poor in Tech

#226

Post by jonfw »

tome wrote: post #99
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.

Are indoor rock climbing and adult soccer known to be especially expensive activities? I haven't done much indoor rock climbing, but I've done a lot of adult soccer, mostly for free.

The gyms in my area are several times more expensive than regular gyms, but as far as a hobby goes it's pretty cheap.

I'd say a hundred bucks a month keeps me in shoes, chalk, and a gym membership

Re: Poor in Tech

#227

Post by SamuelAdams »

mcherm wrote: post #2

I've seen this before. Not often, because the companies I have worked at have rarely hired someone from this social strata. But in the cases where we have, I have seen the alienation. Aside from the obvious "be genuinely friendly", does anyone have suggestions of what to do as a coworker to support someone suffering from this cultural barrier?

Sure. First thank you for the honest question. I was poor growing up. Many things on this list resonate with me, but I'll add a few others.

> During middle school, I would often skip lunch altogether.

> The first time I went on an out-of-state trip was during college.

> I went snowboarding (for the first time) with some friends a few years ago (age 24) and they didn't even balk at the $500 / night room prices for the all inclusive resort.

> I now feel rich because my car's check engine light is not on.

Ways you can help with this:

* Understand that your coworkers may not have the same experiences as you. If someone tells a joke ("Summering in the Cayman islands" [referencing tax evasion or similar]), perhaps pull them aside later, one on one, and explain why the particular thing was funny.

* Talk about the last book you read. Why was it interesting to you? Poor people and rich people read very different books. Offering insight into whatever issues you read through books might help them have easier conversations with others. For example I'm currently reading "An American sickness" which discusses the rising cost of health care in America. A poor person would focus on why *their* individual healthcare is so expensive, but a rich person looks at the whole system. And that is what this book more or less discusses.

It's not unlike learning a foreign language. Even if you memorize the words and phrases, there's all sorts of ways they are used that can make it difficult to use as a communication tool. Try to identify those odd words or phrases and explain those to others. However this can apply to any company / culture, its not necessarily a rich / poor thing.

Re: Poor in Tech

#228

Post by Grustaf »

kstenerud wrote: post #111
domano wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. Coming from a rather poor background (refugee) i was lucky enough to not experience this in tech. I do notice a disconnect in perspective and priorities though. Also i live in europe, where this is maybe a tad different.

I live in Europe now, and it's far less pronounced here. Americans seem much more status and class conscious.

I'd say the difference is that Americans are obsessed with money, and they think you need to flaunt it just because you have it. The idea of having a rusty old beater car, let alone bike to work, if you're rich just baffles them.

Status and class here is much more subtle, you often can't tell from the way a person dresses (at least at first glance) and what he drives if he's a billionaire or secretary.

Re: Poor in Tech

#229

Post by isomorph »

Kalium wrote: post #190
isomorph wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the considered reply. I don’t think it would be cold and I don’t think I would have such a visceral reaction. I think the offhand tone implies a kind of misplaced confidence and shutting down of conversation - almost contempt - which is not a good way to start a conversation.

You're completely right. The offhand tone many have adopted is how they might react to a purely technical piece, rather than someone's genuine pain exposed to their view. It would, after all, not be wildly out of place to react to a technically detailed root cause analysis document by questioning some of its assertions that struck readers as overreaching. For my own part, when I find myself reacting to someone's tone…

That makes sense. Regarding your final sentence - I guess I felt that for me it’s been the other way round. I feel that in most HN discussions I had silently been empathetic and not demanded any level of empathy from anyone, and clearly that was not going to work in this instance.

Re: Poor in Tech

#230

Post by MrBeansForReal »

She is such a masochist. Women bring misery wherever they show up. IT has been fun for such a long time. But they will destroy anything so it is all about them. The Womym. Always suffering, always unhappy, always about THEM. How can you even be poor when a software developer? This takes some serious clinically recognized masochism to be so!
Post reply on HN