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Not everyone wants the silence to be punctuated with smalltalk.
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If you think you’re stepping on the janitor, maybe you should stop. It’s a job, not a caste. When you apply to work somewhere as a janitor you expect to work as a janitor. Don’t pity people doing a job that pays less, you have no idea what their story is or why they’re doing what they’re doing. And if you think you aren’t adding to collective wealth and making salaries go further and further than they have before by…
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Are you're saying that unless other folks make as much money as you do, they should not be treated with simple human respect, because doing so points up the inequality in our society?
Wow.
Being kind to the folks around you has nothing to do with wealth/income inequality or other issues in our society.
Rather, it's about our shared humanity.
What's more, being kind (or at least polite) is the least you could do. If you're not willing to do so unless that other person has something you want, what does that say about you?
I'm not telling you what to do, think or say, but I hope i never meet you.
Is...being decent to everyone regardless of job status in life a new thing? Has tech come so far that we have to re-teach ourselves the basics and then brag about how we smile at "service staff"? Up next in a techbro blog post: "I have discovered that money doesn't buy happiness, and that being an asshole isn't a good thing."
That said I don't think the piece is that bad because the author at least genuinely seems to try and to be kind, there are quite a few people in the industry who are genuinely callous.
As someone who has worked a few service jobs: oh god please don't start a conversation with me if I'm on my lonesome. This advice needs a huge sticker that says 'mileage may vary'. Not everyone wants the silence to be punctuated with smalltalk.
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> Further, try to abide by their requests. If they want the trash can by the door to your office or cubicle on Thursday evening, move the damn trashcan to the door. Better yet, take your damn trashcan out to the damn dumpster your own damn self. Then we can save some damn money and fire the damn janitor. > They have 100 to empty; it's a trivial task for you. It's a trivial part of their job. They're getting paid for…
In Japanese schools, the kids are the ones doing the cleaning. Not just taking out the trash, but cleaning the blackboards, mopping the floor, tidying up the desks, cleaning the bathrooms, etc. The reasoning isn't to save money, however. It is precisely to teach them there's no such thing as work that is beneath them.
I don't know all the names of the security and janitorial folks, but I do know a few.
Whenever I notice someone doing menial work, I try to say something like "Thanks for looking out for us" or "Thanks for taking care of us" I don't know all the names of the security and janitorial folks, but I do know a few.
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The true test of character is how you treat someone who can't possibly do anything for you (anything big , I mean, not bringing your food). As for the language barrier: a smile is pretty universal.
> Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. (...) -- Ingersoll
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That seems like a rationalization to me, and one that doesn’t actually make anyone’s life better. Inequality is a fact of life. You both work hard, but you could do his job and he couldn’t do yours. He almost certainly knows that and has come to terms with it. You don’t interact with him because acknowledging the disparity causes you discomfort embarrassment. But doing that doesn’t make his life any better. And, of c…
> you could do his job Not me. And I suspect most of the rest of us here couldn’t either. Most of us would wipe a few sinks, and leave as soon as we found something more “fitting” of the class we believe ourselves to be in. That’s quitting a job, not doing a job. Doing any kind of hard labor for a career takes something that most of us tech people simply don’t have.
And he was absolutely able to do the job of a janitor.
Being a janitor is definitely a more labor intensive job than software but it doesn't compare to something like pouring concrete or roofing.