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What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

thebillfold.com

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Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#111
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sometime it is very difficult for human to understand GOD and his punishment ! What a rude, and offensive thing to say.

"God and his punishments" == "bad things that happen, life being unfair" etc.? I read this as someone trying to give their condolences the best way they know how, according to their beliefs, in a language that is not their native tongue.

I reread what he wrote and I have to say on reflection you're probably right and my first reaction was probably too harsh. However, there is something wrong with expressing sympathies for a person's death by saying something that amounts to "yeah, that's because my imaginary FRIEND punished him". It implies the dead person was killed by an all-knowing supernatural force as a response to a transgression.

Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#112
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes no sense. 過労死 is just a compound word basically consisting of "too much work death." Using your "they have a word for it so it's common and blithely ignored" logic, you could say that "infanticide" happens all the time and is ignored in English-speaking countries simply because there's a word for it.

> you could say that "infanticide" happens all the time and is ignored in English-speaking countries It does, but most cases can be covered up as SIDS.

I'm seriously wondering, do you have a citation for that? I've never heard that mentioned before now.

Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, bluekitten, you've been hellbanned since December 13.

Interesting. bluekitten seems to have been hellbanned after posting only two comments. Is that all it takes? Edit: And in the time it took me to post this, the comment appears!

Yes. Hellbanning is random. Although making 'dissenting' comments, or disagreeing with the hivemind certainly accelerates your hellbanning.

I've been hellbanned umpteen times for essentially no good reasons.

Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just yesterday I was nearly run over by a taxi (in Seattle, what?) running a red light. As I realized he wasn't stopping I thought to myself, "at least all my code is checked in and pushed". True story.

God, I hate taxis.. always beeping at you when you take 1 second to cross the street or make a turn (if you're riding in front of it)

Just throw them the middle-finger if the honk... at least that's what I do.

Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#116

One of my coworkers, my mentor and someone who taught me what it meant to be a good programmer, was murdered by his wife, who also murdered their two children and then killed herself. It took place over a holiday, and I noticed he hadn't shown up afterwards. After a couple of days, I asked my boss if he was on vacation, and he said no, so I emailed him. His body and his family were found the next day by his neighbors…

Hi Steven, Sorry to hear your horrible experience loosing good friend and after reading your reply, i feel that the person like him did not deserve such death :( Sometime it is very difficult for human to understand GOD and his punishment !

> Sometime it is very difficult for human to understand GOD and his punishment !

OP isn't stupid. He has no problem comprehending the wrath of your imaginary friend, nor the imaginary nature of the aforementioned wrath. He lost a dear friend and mentor. The one who has trouble understanding reality is you.

Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#117
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a rash of news reports about fifteen years ago suggesting exactly that: that people regularly die at their desks in Japan from overwork. Since then, I've read that it was a vast exaggeration, but perhaps the person to whom you're responding missed those reports. They may not know what they're talking about, but it's probably not entirely their fault.

well with Internet nowadays it's really easy to check the information compared to 15 years ago. There's really no excuse to write something as if you are sure of what you are saying without double checking, especially on these kind of topics.

People generally don't double-check things that make for interesting stories and fit their view of how the world works. And for almost everyone, when it comes to foreign places they have not personally visited, that view is made up of stereotypes frequently bordering on racism.

Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#118
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes no sense. 過労死 is just a compound word basically consisting of "too much work death." Using your "they have a word for it so it's common and blithely ignored" logic, you could say that "infanticide" happens all the time and is ignored in English-speaking countries simply because there's a word for it.

Or the word "decimation". How often do we round up a group of people and kill every tenth?

I had 3 of those last week. Didn't you?

Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#119
post #91
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are all just 1 second away from a tragedy. When I was learning how to drive a car my instructor told me: see the light turned green, hold on, wait for an idiot, then wait for a taxi cab, then go slowly.

Similarly, my mother always told me to drive as if the oncoming person who appears to be stopping is NOT, and that people with turn signals on are liars or forgetful, and will continue straight, when evaluating safety of turning right. Sometimes it feels like I drive like the stereotypical granny, but this has saved my bacon several times in the past two decades.

Everyone drives like that in India :)

Re: What Happens When One of Your Coworkers Dies

#120
post #65

“That’s Colin,” says Bill. Dead people don’t get salaries, so Colin’s appears as a surplus. Cold.

I couldn't help but read this in the voice of Ed Norton's character from Fight Club.

Yeah, I think it would go well with that bored, disconnected tone talking about terrible, inhuman things.

  JACK (V.O.)

  I'm a recall coordinator. My job is to apply the formula.

  ....

  JACK (V.O.)
  
  Take the number of vehicles in the field, (A), and multiply
  it by the probable rate of failure, (B), then multiply the
  result by the average out-of-court settlement, (C). A times
  B times C equals X...

  JACK

  If X is less than the cost of a recall ... we don't do one.
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