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

291–300 of 817 posts

Re: Poor in Tech

#291

Post by maury91 »

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.

In my country the price to do adult soccer is "one soccer ball", many soccer fields are free, you just go and if no one is playing you can use it. The only problem is that you can't play at night because no one is going to turn on the light for you.

The fancier soccer fields with lights on cost 25€/hour, divided by 22 players it becomes just 1€ each ( and you still need to bring your ball )

Re: Poor in Tech

#292

Post by istjohn »

gadders wrote: post #177
ratww wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eating healthy is not just about eating less, it's also about eating the right things. If eating was just about quantity then nobody would eat salads, there would be no Keto diet, and nobody would complain about McDonalds.

Calories In/Calories Out is 90% of it. You're better off being relatively slim on junk food than being fat on good quality good.

But junk food is less filling and satiating than real food and much more dense calorically. You can eat lettuce all day and never consume the number of calories in a fast food burger.

Re: Poor in Tech

#293

Post by Kye »

tasuki wrote: post #269
Applejinx wrote: post #155

"Three paychecks is a month and a half of income (rent and two car payments by my fevered calculations, which never stop)" Pay attention to those last three words. This is very important. I've been on both sides too, and to me those words are like a slap in the face: stark reality. If you're poor enough (relative to the costs of your life) you are at a constant exhausting deficit because you CANNOT stop calculating a…

In many places around the world, poor people don't have "old car problems".

They also don't necessarily find themselves in places that are entirely car-dependent. You can't really get by without a car in most of the US, and it's by design. Even in big cities.

Re: Poor in Tech

#295

Post by don-code »

ludamad wrote: post #249
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 /…

Being HN, people love to debate, and god forbid you give an in for moral high-grounding. My student loans were crushing at one point. Now I require my friends and family to remind me the weight of a 'few thousands'. I feel drawn towards a bubble where I can do opulent activities without guilt. I've heard people say to me "yeah, eventually you just cut off those friends still working at McDonald's". I've never agreed…

> yeah, eventually you just cut off those friends still working at McDonald's

That's profound. As "the friend in tech", I've never had this said to my face, but have definitely felt it. There's an us-versus-them mentality when it comes to dealing with those who aren't also in tech; that, somehow, there's no reason to be friends with those who aren't also white-collar professionals. What's more, my own tendency to be friends with non-professionals has in some cases alienated me - who wants to go to a housewarming where half of the people bring Bud Light and tell inappropriate jokes?

This split is something I've personally had a lot of trouble rationalizing.

Re: Poor in Tech

#296

Post by falcolas »

GlennS wrote: post #128

Some interesting culture differences in there. For example, one of the reasons that soccer/football is popular worldwide is because it's very cheap. Is it not so in the US? Also the assumption that everyone takes painkillers?

> soccer/football is popular worldwide is because it's very cheap

Cheap, in terms of money. Expensive, in terms of time. Due to the lack of money to make time available, the poor often have no time for such diversions (even as children, since someone needs to pay the dues and take the child to practice/matches).

Also, if you're like most lower class Americans, you're likely selling your physical labor/wellbeing for a living, making more physical activity after work unappealing.

Re: Poor in Tech

#297

Post by throwaway0a5e »

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 /…

This doesn't surprise me one bit. Tech is just another white collar country club. The rules are just slightly different than the bankers country club and the surgeons country club and the lawyer's country club.

If you're not one of the people who typically joins that kind of club you can hack it but you won't feel like you belong or you might but it will take you many years.

Re: Poor in Tech

#298

Post by monoideism »

est31 wrote: post #31
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…

There are food deserts in the USA, where you literally can't buy high quality food like vegetables in a large area, and have to resort to only eating the highly processed and highly unhealthy food. These food deserts usually are located in the poorer neighbourhoods. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert

Food deserts are a big problem. Most of the urban food deserts developed after major riots burned down existing grocery stores in the late 60s (and then again in the 80s in LA).

New food deserts now exist in Minneapolis (and likely other cities as well) after the recent rioting and burning there:

https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-longfellow-neighborh...

https://www.marketplace.org/2020/06/04/neighborhoods-where-s...

Ironically, in the most recent riots, many - perhaps most - of the destructive rioters were middle-class "activist" kids who don't have to live with the results of their actions.

Re: Poor in Tech

#299

Post by fmajid »

strken wrote: post #130

I ate the free "cheetos" (unfortunately, they were actually peatos), the free breakfast, used the occasional paracetamol tablet, got too drunk at parties and ate half the canapés, said hi to the cleaners, couldn't work out why everyone was so into snowboarding, failed horribly at networking, had an android, lived in the needles and shootings part of the Tenderloin, was just over the obese BMI when I left, and have ne…

Funny story: the main investor at my previous startup was a multibillionaire, one of the richest men in Canada (via his captive VC fund). He came to visit us maybe 3–4 times, and each time he'd make a beeline for the goldfish crackers in our canteen.

Re: Poor in Tech

#300

Post by watwut »

sol_invictus wrote: post #26
protomyth wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would imagine you got it right with the "get out of the gym if you are not already fit". It's amazing how badly people act towards people starting out on their fitness.

Literally never seen this happen. 98% guarantee the stigma is in the obese person’s own head more than anything. It’s just easier to transfer the responsibility to ”an unfriendly environment” than taking responsibility & control of your own feelings and actions

I have seen adults being hostile to fat people. Both in face and behind back. I don't think stigma is in obese persons head. I was curious about what went on in that gym specifically.
Post reply on HN