<story><title>Poor in Tech</title><url>http://megelison.com/poor-in-tech</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>zozbot234</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m not sure I see anything wrong with not bothering the cleaning staff while they&amp;#x27;re at work.  The whole reason they&amp;#x27;ve been hired is to spare everyone else the time and effort involved in cleaning, so to have everyone waste time on greetings would just be demeaning their work.</text></item><item><author>domador</author><text>The only other implicit criticism toward her coworkers was ignoring and not greeting the cleaning staff.  For the most part, her coworkers come across as privileged, rather than mean or otherwise morally deficient.</text></item><item><author>oaiey</author><text>I also do not read this article that way. I think she does not complain about them. Most of them are most likely nice people (ignoring the gym paragraph). She reflect that &amp;quot;she realizes&amp;quot; that she is &amp;quot;poor compared to them&amp;quot;. She does not imply that they are bad people or that she feels miserable about her &amp;quot;poorness&amp;quot; (she seems to earn much more than before .. and quit ... and probably got something better ... and ... seems to write a successful novelthingy)</text></item><item><author>strken</author><text>In some ways it&amp;#x27;s a laundry list of ways rich people in the Bay Area act like wankers, which is interesting, but also quite irritatingly stereotypical. There are plenty who &lt;i&gt;don&amp;#x27;t&lt;/i&gt; refuse to talk to the cleaning staff, lecture others on their choice of tampon, or snob fat people at the gym.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t want people from outside the bubble (e.g. me, three years ago) to read this and think they&amp;#x27;ll be surrounded by wall-to-wall wankery and class prejudice if they take a job at a SF startup, because it&amp;#x27;s not wholly representative of all employees at all startups. Most of them are nice. Most people &lt;i&gt;everywhere&lt;/i&gt; are nice.</text></item><item><author>isomorph</author><text>Many of the comments on this article are so cold. I can’t believe it. When I read the original article I was imagining all the constructive ways HN readers would interpret it and hold a mirror up to their own behaviour. Some commenters are doing this. But it surprises and depresses me how many people are commenting saying “no, this list isn’t what it says it is, it’s a list showing the author has a negative mindset &amp;#x2F; is not from the Valley bubble, and that problem can be fixed by just getting over it.”. We can do better than that.&lt;p&gt;As someone who has sat at some interesting class and race intersections during my career in tech, including my time at some very prestigious institutions like the University of Cambridge and FAANG, and has exhibited and noticed many of the listed behaviours and the lack there of, I can say this article had the undeniable ring of truth and made me feel sick to my stomach. Guilty for when I’ve been on the rich side and angry for the times I’ve been on the poor side.&lt;p&gt;The psychology of growing up with financial uncertainty - and a risk of racial exclusion - is hard to shake and can be passed from parent to child. My life has mostly been financially blessed but you can’t buy your way out of the mindset, or snap your fingers &amp;#x2F; empty the cache &amp;#x2F; cycle the power the way the average HN commenter seems to think you can.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>NortySpock</author><text>Not even a &amp;quot;good evening&amp;quot; for your fellow human?&lt;p&gt;I usually nod or say a quick greeting in passing as I head out for the evening. I&amp;#x27;ve also thanked the guy who refills the soda can dispenser, pointing out that the company runs on caffeine.  Each of these interactions takes less than 30 seconds and reminds us of our shared experience on this planet.</text></comment>
<story><title>Poor in Tech</title><url>http://megelison.com/poor-in-tech</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>zozbot234</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m not sure I see anything wrong with not bothering the cleaning staff while they&amp;#x27;re at work.  The whole reason they&amp;#x27;ve been hired is to spare everyone else the time and effort involved in cleaning, so to have everyone waste time on greetings would just be demeaning their work.</text></item><item><author>domador</author><text>The only other implicit criticism toward her coworkers was ignoring and not greeting the cleaning staff.  For the most part, her coworkers come across as privileged, rather than mean or otherwise morally deficient.</text></item><item><author>oaiey</author><text>I also do not read this article that way. I think she does not complain about them. Most of them are most likely nice people (ignoring the gym paragraph). She reflect that &amp;quot;she realizes&amp;quot; that she is &amp;quot;poor compared to them&amp;quot;. She does not imply that they are bad people or that she feels miserable about her &amp;quot;poorness&amp;quot; (she seems to earn much more than before .. and quit ... and probably got something better ... and ... seems to write a successful novelthingy)</text></item><item><author>strken</author><text>In some ways it&amp;#x27;s a laundry list of ways rich people in the Bay Area act like wankers, which is interesting, but also quite irritatingly stereotypical. There are plenty who &lt;i&gt;don&amp;#x27;t&lt;/i&gt; refuse to talk to the cleaning staff, lecture others on their choice of tampon, or snob fat people at the gym.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t want people from outside the bubble (e.g. me, three years ago) to read this and think they&amp;#x27;ll be surrounded by wall-to-wall wankery and class prejudice if they take a job at a SF startup, because it&amp;#x27;s not wholly representative of all employees at all startups. Most of them are nice. Most people &lt;i&gt;everywhere&lt;/i&gt; are nice.</text></item><item><author>isomorph</author><text>Many of the comments on this article are so cold. I can’t believe it. When I read the original article I was imagining all the constructive ways HN readers would interpret it and hold a mirror up to their own behaviour. Some commenters are doing this. But it surprises and depresses me how many people are commenting saying “no, this list isn’t what it says it is, it’s a list showing the author has a negative mindset &amp;#x2F; is not from the Valley bubble, and that problem can be fixed by just getting over it.”. We can do better than that.&lt;p&gt;As someone who has sat at some interesting class and race intersections during my career in tech, including my time at some very prestigious institutions like the University of Cambridge and FAANG, and has exhibited and noticed many of the listed behaviours and the lack there of, I can say this article had the undeniable ring of truth and made me feel sick to my stomach. Guilty for when I’ve been on the rich side and angry for the times I’ve been on the poor side.&lt;p&gt;The psychology of growing up with financial uncertainty - and a risk of racial exclusion - is hard to shake and can be passed from parent to child. My life has mostly been financially blessed but you can’t buy your way out of the mindset, or snap your fingers &amp;#x2F; empty the cache &amp;#x2F; cycle the power the way the average HN commenter seems to think you can.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>gammarator</author><text>There is a difference between “not bothering the cleaning staff” and not acknowledging that they exist and are human and are standing right in front of you.&lt;p&gt;Author is describing the second, and it happens pervasively in the upper classes.</text></comment>