Yes
Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
21–30 of 203 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#22A coworker once walked around to my side of the desk to see what I was looking at on my screen. It was just some code that I'd written. They were surprised, and said it looked like I was staring at a picture of something truly disgusting.
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#23Mandatory Seinfeld reference [1]. Honestly, this is good advice. So much of work is actually just perception management. Looking annoyed or angry without actually being mean or inconsiderate is a bit of a cheat code.
Beyond perception management there's the issue of avoiding unnecessary interruptions. It can be hard to define what's necesary and what isn't. Rarely does it have anything to do with what someone is interrupting you for but instead, it is (once again) it's perception management.
There is a context-switching contest that comes from being interrupted and it can be hard to get back in the zone. So you want to avoid people interrupting you to ask something that would quite literally be the first link on a trivial Google search.
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#24Yes, anger fuels my thirst for blood. While I'm hunting down a bug or digging into a design decision's history. It's not rage (usually), it's more like a mixture of frustration and curiosity. Bewildered and tempting. It's almost as if I'm being teased, but I know there's actually a good reason, somewhere.
Common lines:
"What the actual fuck!?" "Are you serious!?" slams both hands on keyboard "Uuummmmmmmmm..." "Whyyyyyyyy"
Then you lean into the monitor and continue searching.
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#25Yes, I was once interrupted by a co-worker while I was working, and he just said "Smile." Part of working in the panopticon.
The only reasonable response is aggression. Any asshole who does that deserves it.
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#26Yes, and if you interrupt me to ask me if I'm angry, then I'm going to both look like I'm angry and actually be angry. Leave me alone, I have work to do! :p
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#27Yes, I was once interrupted by a co-worker while I was working, and he just said "Smile." Part of working in the panopticon.
Not creepy at all!
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#28Of course I look angry – I work with computers all day
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#29I think people can't differentiate between concentration and anger.
Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?
#30When the eyebrows get closer, the pathways for neurons are cleared out and information flows easier. Of course, the consequence of that is you look angry.
ok I made it up.