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Is going to the office a broken way of working?

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Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#261

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

soylentnewsorg wrote: post #238
Ancalagon wrote: post #8

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

Here's the thing though: you should not socialize with anyone at the office. The healthiest thing anyone can do for their career is to not mix work and friends. Once you're friends, you're sharing political opinions, life stories, and religious views. People pick up on that, and while you might be pleasing one guy, you're pissing off someone else. No matter your stance on something, you're going to be pissing off som…

To each their own, but to be honest I'm always baffled, and quite saddened, by this "don't make friends at work" "advice".

I've made many, many friends at work, and this near-paranoia level of "you might be pissing off someone else" - so what? I don't need, or want, to be friends with everyone, and I'm quite fine if some people don't like me.

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#262

Post by cbtacy »

lamontcg wrote: post #184
Ancalagon wrote: post #8

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

Sounds like the problem is that our social involvement outside of work is totally broken and we make our lives revolve around our work, and think that's entirely normal.

mic drop

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#263

Post by amznthrwaway »

snek_case wrote: post #198
ipaddr wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't want to get covid. Getting close to large groups or new groups feels unsafe. Going out unnecessary feels socially unacceptable.

Personally, I'm vaccinated and I feel pretty safe. I'd like to resume a more normal way of life. It's just that there's nothing happening. There's no office, no happy hour or hanging out after work. Very few dinner or coffee invitations. No meetups. No going out dancing. Just way less events in general. > Going out unnecessary feels socially unacceptable. Human beings are social creatures and it's normal that we have…

I don’t want to make this a personal attack, but go fuck yourself, you mentally weak, pathologically dishonest little piece of shit.

There’s plenty to do if you want to go do it. Even in places with restrictions, there are tons of things to do.

So quit whining, you absolutely worthless piece of dog shit.

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#264

Post by faangthrowawa »

dboreham wrote: post #129
foobiekr wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to the office to work the other day for the first time since February 20th, 2020. It was great. So quiet, open, well lit, great and comfortable desk and chair, .. Obviously, I could improve my home office, but in reality my home office is taking space that I otherwise was using before 2/20 and now there's a whole space in my home that is allocated to being a work station instead of what it was before. A few ot…

I can't think of a single job I've had where the lighting, desk and chair were remotely as good as I have at home.

I used to flat share in London with some other people in tech. Pandemic WFH setup was the taking turns on the one couch (and floor) for a long time.

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#265

Post by amznthrwaway »

bserge wrote: post #209
snek_case wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I'm vaccinated and I feel pretty safe. I'd like to resume a more normal way of life. It's just that there's nothing happening. There's no office, no happy hour or hanging out after work. Very few dinner or coffee invitations. No meetups. No going out dancing. Just way less events in general. > Going out unnecessary feels socially unacceptable. Human beings are social creatures and it's normal that we have…

Local hackerspaces have been closed for months. Meetups online only. Why would I not be 2000km away? Good fucking job.

[dead]

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#266

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

LudwigNagasena wrote: post #40
Ancalagon wrote: post #8

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

I think people like you need a new app, something like Tinder for lunch. I personally have no will to move to a high cost of life area and spend 1+ hour on commune just because my coworkers can’t find friends.

Yes, lets make finding casual acquaintances as awful as online dating, that's the ticket!

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#267

Post by mastazi »

geofft wrote: post #78
IggleSniggle wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relatedly, I think this is part of what fuels more extreme social groups. If you don't have rotary/bowling/church/golf whatever group that you hang out with in real life, and you've got nothing else, then when you finally find a group they will be more likely to be a group that by its very nature has a stronger set of convictions; enough so that it overcomes the social norms and inertia and gathers in-person.

Aren't lodges, churches, and golf clubs kind of the stereotypical examples of race- and class-exclusionary groups? I suppose it's not exactly a strong set of convictions if you're passively going along with broader social pressures to segregate on race and class, but if we're talking about the health of society (which I think we're implicitly doing), I think segregating on worldview is actually a whole lot healthier.

Keen golfer here, I don't blame you, your vision of golf is very wide spread and it is a stereotype based on how golf works in some places. Like all stereotypes, it is based on a partial truth, but there is more to golf than that.

There are several countries, (including Scotland where golf was born), where golf clubs are on average very affordable and most golf courses, including some of the best and most famous ones, are public courses (you can go and walk your dog or do whatever, there is no fence)[1] Scotland is not the only country where public courses are popular[2], but it's the most talked about example, due to golf being born there.

Even in countries where golf is usually associated with "social status", like the USA, things are slowly changing, there are golf courses that aim to integrate with the local communities [3][8] and golfers that promote a more inclusive way of practicing the sport[4][5][6].

On a separate note, there are also efforts to make golf courses more environmentally sustainable. Again, Scotland leads the way with their courses that are not irrigated, and intentionally left to brown-out during summer[1][7], but there are also similar efforts in other countries including the USA[9].

[1] Scotland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icSVHHG8vnE&list=PL5vefWGHKL...

[2] In Australia many golf courses have no full time staff, and you pay using the "honesty box", those courses also usually have unlimited public access (non golfers can walk in any time) https://australianseniorgolfer.com.au/26181/honesty-box-golf...

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-JIYgZrnrc

[4] https://randomgolfclub.com/

[5] https://thefriedegg.com/

[6] https://good-good.fireside.fm/

[7] https://sustainable.golf/

[8] https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/what-the-futu...

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyMdFbmBbTk

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#268

Post by kaesar14 »

raisedbyninjas wrote: post #186
Ancalagon wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the other point I wanted to make (but frankly I was too scared that maybe it’s just because I suck at meeting people now that I haven’t socialized like a normal person in a year). It just seems harder to meet people _in general_ than it did even two years ago. Like where is everybody? Does everyone stay home literally all the time now?

We've been staying home for well over a year now. Virtually all shopping is delivered and have eaten at a restaraunt once I think. Our work as had one outdoor happy hour that I would have gone to, except for non-pandemic issues. I've been blown away at the recent movie box office ticket sales. Maybe the covid blasé people are going out 50% more often than they did pre-pandemic.

You’d be an extreme outlier in almost any city or town in America for this attitude, at this point in the pandemic

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#269

Post by compiler-guy »

nzmsv wrote: post #26

All you need to know about requiring work from an office is this: the people selling the supposed benefits of increased collaboration, creativity, and productivity do not themselves work this way. There is no CEO or VC who spends their entire day sitting in a cubicle, even if they have a token one.

This really isn't true, or at least not of many CEOs. The classic being Andy Grove, but many others have also sat in cubes with the rest of the workers:

===

Back in 1995, a BusinessWeek profile of Grove said he sat in a cube "precisely to eliminate barriers between chief executive and staff. When he is around, anybody can stop by and bend his ear, even to tell him he screwed up on a decision. There's no fear of getting fired -- Grove encourages what he calls 'constructive confrontation.' "

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2016/03...

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#270

Post by baud147258 »

I personaly prefer to go to the office a few day per week, which is helped by the current arrangement at my workplace where everyone can come the day they want or not at all. Of course living within walking distance of the office sure help, I don't know if I'd say the same thing if it took me 90 minutes to go there. But even then, I think I collaborate better in person, as there's not the friction that seems inherent (to me) to remote collaboration.

The office also brings perks that I don't have access to at home, like better internet speed, air conditionning and the coffee machine; on the subject of coffee (and lunch) breaks, going to the office allows to talk with people that I would never talk if I worked remotely full-time; most of those discussions aren't usually work related, but those who are interesting and I learned thing I wouldn't have otherwise.

On the other hand, being able to do housework during the day is really good

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