'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters • Hacker News Board

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#31

Post by falcongod082 » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 3:43 AM UTC

roenxi wrote: post #15

chiefalchemist wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps the Waffle House is just a well-run company? Forgive me for sounding cynical but I'm going to play Devil' Advocate and ask: Are they well run, or opportunistic? In an area hit by disaster any mom & pops are likely going to be slower to reopen. They have to wait for the insurance company. They have to worry about the homes and family. Etc. WH on the other hand can finance themselves while they wait for the i…

You are inches away from a sudden lightbulb moment that people's ability to have a positive impact is not that closely related to their intentions. It isn't cynical to claim they are being opportunistic as much as it is myopic. If you want all recovery efforts to be done by gloomy stoics who are clawing back at a lifestyle stolen from them by cruel nature while telling heartbreaking stories about how hard it is to re…

Didn't we already try the bread and circuses thing? Capitalism is exploitative by definition, civilizations lasted longer that it has existed so how "stabilizing" it is is certainly not a given, in fact there's evidence for the exact opposite. Capitalism doesn't "restore equilibrium", it dictates it, it's authoritarian and non-merit based.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#32

Post by falcongod082 » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 3:45 AM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #29

falcongod082 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

an organization is centralized by definition, it's just a matter of scope, the arbitrary place where you draw the line depends on your politics.

> an organization is centralized by definition No, it's not. An organization can be distributed/decentralized as well as centralized. “Organization” does not specify the latter in opposition to the former.

*as well as centralized?...sure it can, which means that it's centralized. What it cannot be is completely independent.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#33

Post by paulddraper » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 4:00 AM UTC

wcunning wrote: post #23

kiba wrote: post #9

Speaking of disasters, I wonder how many people actually follow the government's recommendation for things like basic disaster kits.

Round numbers? Something approximating zero... In all seriousness, I actually sat down and read the FEMA recommendations on things to keep on hand. It's surprisingly thorough and surprisingly difficult to keep all of it in stock, rotated so that it doesn't spoil and checked on on a regular basis. Growing up, my mom was an avid coupon shopper, not necessarily because we needed it, just because she could. That meant th…

> 200 gallon gas tank

That...is a lot.

IMO to pass the 50 percentile, you need a two weeks of canned food, 20 gallons of water, and a first aid kit.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#34

Post by diminoten » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 4:31 AM UTC

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #25

wcunning wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation on the average wage? Federal minimum is $7.25/hr, and at least in my midwestern town, McDonald's is paying $11.25/hr, starting, so that seems shockingly low as an average. Or is that the average of the tipped staff, before tips?

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Waffle_House%2... https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Waffle-House/salaries But really, if the employee was making $11.25/hour, would that somehow make it more ethical? $22k/year is still borderline impoverished for a 3 person household: https://www.thebalance.com/federal-poverty-level-definition-...

Wouldn't it be $44k/year?

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#35

Post by pessimizer » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 4:43 AM UTC

diminoten wrote: post #34

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Waffle_House%2... https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Waffle-House/salaries But really, if the employee was making $11.25/hour, would that somehow make it more ethical? $22k/year is still borderline impoverished for a 3 person household: https://www.thebalance.com/federal-poverty-level-definition-...

Wouldn't it be $44k/year?

The usual estimate is 2000 hours/year.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#36

Post by tomcam » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 4:58 AM UTC

chiefalchemist wrote: post #13

tpmx wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ericsson has a similar response program in place for disasters around the world. They call it "Ericsson Response". The goal is to setup GSM-based emergency networks from scratch very quickly in severe disaster areas where infrastructure is disrupted by natural or other kinds of disasters. For example: Nepal after the devastating earthquake in 2015. They're flying in containers of GSM network equipment, diesel generat…

> Perhaps the Waffle House is just a well-run company? Forgive me for sounding cynical but I'm going to play Devil' Advocate and ask: Are they well run, or opportunistic? In an area hit by disaster any mom & pops are likely going to be slower to reopen. They have to wait for the insurance company. They have to worry about the homes and family. Etc. WH on the other hand can finance themselves while they wait for the i…

> Forgive me for sounding cynical but I'm going to play Devil's Advocate and ask: Are they well run, or opportunistic?

If they helped you during a disaster would it matter?

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#37

Post by diminoten » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 5:30 AM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #35

diminoten wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it be $44k/year?

The usual estimate is 2000 hours/year.

Yes, per person, and two people who can work in the household.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#38

Post by megaremote » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 5:38 AM UTC

jandrewrogers wrote: post #10

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #3

Whenever I read about this I always wonder if this is one of those modern dystopia things where a business is endangering its employees in order to stay open in a disaster zone. Like what kind of waivers are people in these Jump Teams signing?

That is an exceedingly cynical way of looking at it. People usually volunteer to do this kind of thing and have no small amount of personal pride that they are able to help their neighbors in a disaster. It is a very positive experience for the people that do it, and they are often some of the first people on the ground. This is a manifestation of the self-reliance bias of American culture, they want to fix things th…

I am sorry, you are being delusional. Volunteers have the choice, and if they are in a difficult situations themselves they can opt out. Requiring someone to come in to work, when there lives might be on the line themselves, is incredibly dangerous.

I can't believe your attitude, it is insane and so dangerous.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#39

Post by trentmb » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 5:41 AM UTC

tpmx wrote: post #8

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #3

Whenever I read about this I always wonder if this is one of those modern dystopia things where a business is endangering its employees in order to stay open in a disaster zone. Like what kind of waivers are people in these Jump Teams signing?

Ericsson has a similar response program in place for disasters around the world. They call it "Ericsson Response". The goal is to setup GSM-based emergency networks from scratch very quickly in severe disaster areas where infrastructure is disrupted by natural or other kinds of disasters. For example: Nepal after the devastating earthquake in 2015. They're flying in containers of GSM network equipment, diesel generat…

> They're flying

Grunts are, the executive staff, directors, and share holders ain't doin' shit.

Re: 'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

#40

Post by AmericanChopper » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 6:33 AM UTC

jandrewrogers wrote: post #10

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #3

Whenever I read about this I always wonder if this is one of those modern dystopia things where a business is endangering its employees in order to stay open in a disaster zone. Like what kind of waivers are people in these Jump Teams signing?

That is an exceedingly cynical way of looking at it. People usually volunteer to do this kind of thing and have no small amount of personal pride that they are able to help their neighbors in a disaster. It is a very positive experience for the people that do it, and they are often some of the first people on the ground. This is a manifestation of the self-reliance bias of American culture, they want to fix things th…

For every good thing a company does, there’ll always be a HN commenter ready to explain why it’s exploitation.