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From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

jasonshen.com

171–180 of 352 posts

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#171
post #143

I work in FAANG and enjoy Costco. Sometimes in the food court I day-dream of working there. You know what you are doing, you use your body, you go home and don't think about it. I told my friend. He thought it sounded a lot like larping.

If you work in a FAANG (presumably as some sort of knowledge worker) you have a unique opportunity to never have to work again within just a few years of saving.

I could do that and then go work at the Costco food court. Somehow that doesn't feel any less like larping.

On a serious note, how does one do that? It doesn't "feel" that way, but I know that's lifestyle inflation.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#172
post #9

"The experience was physically taxing, he was diagnosed with tendonitis after moving hundreds of boxes a day, but it pulled him out of his depression and helped him gain perspective and a deeper sense of meaning"....... I have mixed feelings about this. What this has proven is working at amazon warehouse sucks, and is not sustainable. I've had many physical shitty jobs in my 20's. Then, I had some health issue and co…

Software development is taxing on your brain the same way physical labor is taxing on your body. It’s depressing, soul sucking work. You’re stuck inside, staring at a screen for 8+ hours a day.

[deleted]

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not propaganda, it's a perspective. He's pretty involved in activism on the behalf of trades work, not just the mouthpiece of some think tank ad campaign.

Quoted post unavailable.

What a hot take, I may have spent too much time on the internet myself today.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#174
post #143

I work in FAANG and enjoy Costco. Sometimes in the food court I day-dream of working there. You know what you are doing, you use your body, you go home and don't think about it. I told my friend. He thought it sounded a lot like larping.

If you work in a FAANG (presumably as some sort of knowledge worker) you have a unique opportunity to never have to work again within just a few years of saving.

That's what I thought too, but then the stock price imploded.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#175

Similar story with me. Except I ended up in AWS! Worked in different big tech for 7y, and took a sabbatical because I could, and so why not? Well after a year of travelling and working on my own ideas and a bit of contract work, I entered a complete pit of depression. I mean contemplating ending it all to stop the pain. Instead big daddy Bezos was handing out tech jobs like candy so I took one begrudgingly just to ha…

Can you help me understand this perspective? Was there really nothing you wanted to do with your life that you had to resort to getting a corporate job to keep yourself sane? A guy a used to work with went through the same thing recently after his startup was acquired. I’m not sure how much he made, but I’m pretty sure he’s set for life. He stayed retired for about six months before getting bored and getting another…

In my experience when you leave something you carry “doingness” inertia. If you carry that into a motivated and structured activity then you might have a great time, especially if you find others who want to do the same thing.

If you dump your “doingness” into something that doesn’t feed back into your social connection or reputation, like playing video games alone in the middle of the day while everyone else is working, and expect Gandalf to drop in and send you on an epic quest, you’ll find yourself adrift at best.

From what I’ve seen, most people who find themselves lost do not have a “one and only dream in life.”

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#178
“You will never understand how it feels to live your life with no meaning or control, and with nowhere left to go.

You’re amazed that they exist, and they burn so bright that you can only wonder why?”

—- Pulp, Common People

The Shatner cover is something special: https://youtu.be/ainyK6fXku0

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#179
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would. Imagine getting paid to be outdoors in the sun getting exercise. Imagine not having to spend an extra hour each day in a crowded gym doing boring repetitive movements because your sedentary job would ruin your body otherwise. Imagine not having posture and back problems at age 30. Imagine having the output of a hard days work be a physical object you can point to your son and say “see? I made that”.

If you are an American SWE or have a corresponding salary, you pretty much only have to work for 10 or so years before retiring, assuming you learn how personal finance works and learn to live without a fancy car or any status-related possessions. Heck you could do it in 5 years if you are a FAANG employee.

Genuinely wondering how you came up with that. How much do you think Americans have left after taxes and living expenses?

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What this has proven is working at amazon warehouse sucks, and is not sustainable. This person went from a 23-year career sitting at a desk to doing physical labor all day. Any physical labor is going to take a toll on someone in their 40s who hasn't been doing physical labor. I have a lot of people in my extended social circle who are in physical labor jobs. Amazon Warehouse jobs are always viewed as the "easy" fa…

You can also write a very similar rant about how sedentary desk jobs are not sustainable with all the obesity related life shortening conditions it leads to :)

Obesity and weight gain in general is mainly caused by diet, not exercise. You can run 12 hours a day but if you eat 10k calories a day, you're going to end up fat.
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