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Forgotten Employee (2002)

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Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#81

Post by nebulousthree »

virtual_void wrote: post #63
dinosaurdynasty wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time enjoyed is not time wasted

I think you’re right. There is a heck of a lot to be said for enjoyment regardless of productivity. It becomes problematic, for me at least, when the thing i enjoyed becomes a sort of default mode. No longer for enjoyment, more of a reflex. Then it feels like it might be wasted.

That's exactly the point where you become able to decide for yourself what you'd like to do. I would say that seeing that point negatively and reflexively going back to work your standard job is what makes that period a waste.

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#82

Post by hotpotamus »

wanderingstan wrote: post #9
shubhamjain wrote: post #3

I read it a while back. The story is probably fiction, but I have no trouble believing there must be shitload of people who must have worked an arrangement like that for themselves—taking paychecks without work. What surprises me is that almost always these people don't use their free time to do something productive—like picking up a hobby or up-skilling, they squander most of it. Ex: a programmer who outsourced his…

In the dot-com heyday my team had nothing to do. A manager explained that they had hired extra developers “just in case they needed them later”. I couldn’t take the boredom and quit to do a round the world backpacking trip. My co-worker stayed and wrote a novel. It was a perfect setup: he got payed to come in and sit at the computer all day typing, and always looked busy. I think he played his hand well.

I'll add that I'm pretty sure reading a novel in a terminal looks like work to anyone non-technical (and probably a fair amount of technical people who don't look too close).

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#83

Post by acchow »

sirmarksalot wrote: post #73
Lammy wrote: post #16

For history's sake, here are 3 of 5 parts of the original story preserved in the SA Goldmine for anyone who wants to read 2002 forum comments: Part 1: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=18... (dead link) Part 2: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=20... (dead link) Part 3: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=26... Part 4: https://forums.somethingawful…

I remember when that happened. "Sir" or "kind sir" had become a cliche, and the mods added a replacement filter to discourage people from using it. Understand that SA at the time lived by the edgelord ethos, "if I don't mean it literally, it's not offensive," so this kind of thing wasn't seen as homophobic, even though it totally was.

"kind sir" was a homophobic slur? I must have been too young to see this.

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#84

Post by hotpotamus »

yamtaddle wrote: post #74
harryvederci wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you regret asking them? Sounds like you missed out on a lot of free cash, but I guess this stupid thing called "conscience" might have spoiled the fun of that eventually anyway..

Lots of us find that kind of situation completely miserable. Not because we love work and just can't stand not being productive but because it's living with a Sword of Damocles over your head and it threatens future employability. Unless you've already got fuck-you money it's very stressful, even if you don't give a shit about ensuring the shareholders are getting a good return on their investment (I sure as hell don…

This sounds like you speak from experience that mirrors my own. It was actually a relief to get laid off (helped that the severance was pretty fair too).

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#85

Post by stevage »

kragen wrote: post #29

In Argentina the term is "ñoqui", which means "gnocchi". There's a tradition of eating gnocchi on the 29th of the month, and "ñoquis" traditionally showed up at the office only on the 29th of the month to receive their paycheck. Nowadays I assume most of them do direct deposit, but I don't know any ñoquis personally, so I can't ask. Normally ñoquis are a result of corruption, though, not bureaucratic mixups. The boss…

I remember seeing a graffiti in Buenos Aires once, "no somos noquis". It took me years before I had any idea what it meant.

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#86

Post by stevage »

harryvederci wrote: post #69
jonah wrote: post #65

Happened to me to a minor degree. After a couple years at the first company I worked for, a number of very senior folks resigned - decimating a department which was a key part of the co's DNA. I transferred into that department - working under the remaining sr. staffer trying to pick up the pieces and keep thing moving ahead. Soon afterwards, the company "reorganized", selling off all their products, focusing on one…

Do you regret asking them? Sounds like you missed out on a lot of free cash, but I guess this stupid thing called "conscience" might have spoiled the fun of that eventually anyway..

Severance = free cash. You earn more taking the severance and immediately getting another job.

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#87

Post by sirmarksalot »

acchow wrote: post #83
sirmarksalot wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember when that happened. "Sir" or "kind sir" had become a cliche, and the mods added a replacement filter to discourage people from using it. Understand that SA at the time lived by the edgelord ethos, "if I don't mean it literally, it's not offensive," so this kind of thing wasn't seen as homophobic, even though it totally was.

"kind sir" was a homophobic slur? I must have been too young to see this.

"kind sir" was auto-replaced with "kind f**"

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#88

Post by stevage »

dwater wrote: post #14

This was originally a series of posts on the Something Awful forums. The first 2 parts are gone but the later parts are still available: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=26... The author acknowledged that it's fictional.

Ahh the whole time I was trying to remember what SA might have been in 2002

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#89

Post by stevage »

natural20s wrote: post #11

This happened to someone I knew back in 2014 or so. We were hired together at C** Consulting and I was immediately shipped off to Dallas to help with an eCommerce program at a famous Watch & Accessory brand. My buddy from orientation in NJ kept in touch and was jealous I was on a project so quickly. He went back to his home and went into the C** office dutifully for the first month and just did training, enablement a…

That's dangerous. Working two full time jobs at the same time may cross over into fraud territory.

Re: Forgotten Employee (2002)

#90

Post by sneak »

shubhamjain wrote: post #3

I read it a while back. The story is probably fiction, but I have no trouble believing there must be shitload of people who must have worked an arrangement like that for themselves—taking paychecks without work. What surprises me is that almost always these people don't use their free time to do something productive—like picking up a hobby or up-skilling, they squander most of it. Ex: a programmer who outsourced his…

Time spent the way someone freely chooses to spend it is not squandered. Each of us is the authority on the best use of our time.
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