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Poor in Tech

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381–390 of 817 posts

Re: Poor in Tech

#381
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…

This is the status quo at almost every company.

Re: Poor in Tech

#382

"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…

I’ve been extremely lucky moving to the Bay Area to be someone who has not failed. I grew up poor. Today, I have enough money for rent and bills, I still think and worry about them. The endless what if’s are a lifetime long curse, and there is no cure.

Re: Poor in Tech

#383

One of the parts that most stood out to me was how the author was apparently paid much less that her comparably-skilled coworkers, since she didn't negotiate for higher pay. How common is this in tech companies in and around San Francisco? Are there a lot that would pay you as little as possible--even far below what is common for your skill set--if you didn't defend yourself through negotiation and awareness of marke…

She is a writer at a tech startup. Likely all her peers were engineers.

I'd assume, though, that a tech writer's base salary would be higher than a receptionist's and maybe an executive assistant's. I'm trying to gauge if she was being vastly underpaid for her skill set and if Bay Area tech companies tend to do that if you don't negotiate aggressively.

Re: Poor in Tech

#384
post #50
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 don't think that's rich vs. poor. I think that's sociopath vs. non-sociopath. Maybe she was the only non-sociopath at her company?

The two are highly correlated.

Re: Poor in Tech

#385
post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I can relate to this guy. Not about the billionaire part, but about the goldfish part. Good to know that we at least have something in common.

> What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.

–Andy Warhol

Re: Poor in Tech

#386
post #366

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 /…

You’re the top comment on HN right now. What are you exactly complaining about?

I'm complaining about what I wrote in the comment. It wasn't the top comment when I wrote it. That happened after I wrote it. It got a lot of upvotes so I guess people who agree with me were more comfortable upvoting/replying after I wrote it than commenting before me. Maybe because they knew that the comment would attract criticism like yours

Re: Poor in Tech

#387
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. What kind of society is this that Google is building?

This isn't true at all.

Re: Poor in Tech

#388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this sarcasm?

No. I think that dumb people deserve good lives as well, having policies that only works for non dumb people is dumb.

Hmm... I'd agree that policies should help everyone, including people who are "dumb"... but not that poor people are categorically dumb.

Re: Poor in Tech

#389
post #366

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 /…

You’re the top comment on HN right now. What are you exactly complaining about?

I've noticed this trend lately on HN of people digging through user history to make some meta commentary about the poster. It's weird. This isn't reddit. Let the statement speak on its' own regardless of who posted it or why.

Re: Poor in Tech

#390
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 once read a AskReddit about people who worked for extremely rich people.

Many said that the old man and wife, who built the fortune, were nice humble people that understood that they are so lucky to have made it in life. Many comments also said that their children were absolute spoiled brats who were the exact opposite to humble.

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