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Poor in Tech

megelison.com

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Re: Poor in Tech

#251

Post by Grustaf »

scaramanga wrote: post #232
Grustaf wrote: post #184

> Nobody had walked me away from my desk to keep me from stealing pens or staples or secrets. Are you saying poor people are always dishonest so by trusting you they treated you like a rich person, which is bad because ?? . Honestly I'm just confused.

The article is about how poverty isn't just a financial situation but a shrinking of your world view. The author isn't complaining about that situation. She finds herself being surprised by it, and then noticing her own surprise begins contemplating what it might mean. I guess it means that poor people are continually treated as if they are thieves or guilty of something, and after being treated that way for so long,…

I just find it so tedious when people spend their energy complaining, instead of making the best of their situation. At least when their situation is as good as hers.

Re: Poor in Tech

#252

Post by chubot »

I enjoyed this, it definitely made me think and generated a good conversation. I read it as mostly a list of observations and not something to be defensive about.

Re: Poor in Tech

#253

Post by fallingknife »

throwaway713 wrote: post #97

A lot of this list just reads that they have coworkers who are jerks. Not interacting with cleaning staff? That seems like a personal problem. And I’ve seen plenty of frugal VPs that drive 15 year old cars and make their own lunch. That said, I was also pretty horrified once when I was waiting in the lunch line and heard the person in front of me complaining that their six month $100k bonus wasn’t as high as they tho…

You shouldn't be horrified at that complaint. If a company hints that it's going to be 150k when they hire you and it ends up being 100k that is a valid complaint. You are just perpetuating the don't talk about pay rule which benefits the company over the workers.

Re: Poor in Tech

#254

Post by Aunche »

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…

For me, and I suspect many others in tech, this has more to do with introversion than anything else. When I cleaned for a cafe, I just wanted to focus on my task on hand.

Re: Poor in Tech

#255

Post by onion2k »

"Because they have never been poor, they had no idea what I might do. Why would I steal, when everyone clearly has enough?"

The assertion that "poor people are more likely to be dishonest" betrays a view of poor people that isn't very nice. Rich people are just as likely to steal if they think they can get away with it.

Re: Poor in Tech

#257

Post by drewbug01 »

Grustaf wrote: post #184

> Nobody had walked me away from my desk to keep me from stealing pens or staples or secrets. Are you saying poor people are always dishonest so by trusting you they treated you like a rich person, which is bad because ?? . Honestly I'm just confused.

I think what the author is getting at is that at many office jobs that lower-class folks work at, on your last day you'll be "walked out" by security to make sure you don't steal anything, "cause a scene," etc. The implication is that this is something that happens to lower-class workers, but not upper-class workers. And the "lower-class" job comes with low pay, and thus: poor. That's the logical connection I get when reading it.

As someone who used to work in a "lower-class" (and low-pay) tech job (outsourced tech support, but the outsourcing firm was in America) - this is how they treated employees when they resigned (and when they were fired). It resonated with me, and I do not think it's a particularly rare thing in "lower-class" white-collar work.

Re: Poor in Tech

#258

Post by username90 »

strken wrote: post #223
Grustaf wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

She is a writer and not a software engineer. Comparing her salary to software engineer interns therefore isn't fair.

Re: Poor in Tech

#259

Post by [deleted] »

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 /…

[deleted]

Re: Poor in Tech

#260

Post by sidlls »

giantg2 wrote: post #67
culturestate wrote: post #5

To me, this reads more as a list of "from outside the valley bubble" signifiers than it does as a list of things that people who've grown up in poverty might do, even if the former was a result of the latter. There are some exceptions - not noticing missed paychecks is the biggest - but most of it is just stuff that happens every day in other offices. Making your lunch at the office and not bringing Advil from home?…

"Making your lunch at the office and not bringing Advil from home? I know generationally wealthy investment bankers who do these things" Generally they don't like to waste money. That's part of how they stay rich for generations (as opposed to someone who hits the lottery and the next generation is basically back to where they started in many cases).

You think someone with generational wealth would stop to even consider the cost of advil or a lunch in FiDi? They don't. This little bit of mythology has always been amusing to me. They may make their own lunch out of habit or simply because they have a preference or whatever--but cost isn't a reason for people of that much wealth.

They don't like wasting money, but what they consider "waste" is not the same thing as what someone who isn't wealthy would consider waste.

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