Re:Living Like It's 99: No Social Media, No Smartphone
by pessimizer on Monday February 22, 2021 @01:29PM
(#26228275)
My read is that it's specific to the case of being a programmer/sysadmin. Even if you're not on call, it's usually pretty unimaginable to be completely uncontactable if something breaks.
So privileged might literally mean "not having the most common job held by the people reading this."
Re:Living Like It's 99: No Social Media, No Smartphone
by bussierem on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:10PM
(#26228995)
I think that needs to be specified even further, because although this seems to surprise many people on this site, the vast majority of programming jobs do not require you to be "constantly contactable if something breaks". I have been a dev for almost 10 years now and never had a job that required anything to this level of "ability to be contacted", and neither have none of the people in my social circles. I genuinely feel bad for the people who end up stuck in jobs where this is the case, and in that way perhaps I would be more privileged than the GP
Re:Living Like It's 99: No Social Media, No Smartphone
by dkdk8283 on Monday February 22, 2021 @03:40PM
(#26230277)
Every job I’ve had came with reachability expectations
Re:Living Like It's 99: No Social Media, No Smartphone
by brewdad on Monday February 22, 2021 @04:15PM
(#26230741)
Hopefully not 24/7/365. I think that's what OP was getting at. At the very least, weekend coverage should be passed around various co-workers.
Re:Living Like It's 99: No Social Media, No Smartphone
by Lammy on Monday February 22, 2021 @01:15PM
(#26228039)
It's a pretty big deal to ask somebody to shut off what might be their only form of social connection. It sounds like you have the privilege (not pejorative) of having a decent social network irl if you have a wife and family, as do I now that I'm later in life, but I can remember being an only-child teenager in the middle of nowhere with no social outlet other than online.
Re:Living Like It's 99: No Social Media, No Smartphone
by bussierem on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:11PM
(#26229011)
I know you're not the OP, but this is a very fair point. I would imagine though that if you're in such a situation you don't see your online time or phone as much of a detriment; You would see it as a lifeline and most likely be quite happy to have it. The GP does not seem happy with the idea of phones in this case.
I recently broke my phone and it took ~10 days to get a replacement. During this time, I had my wife text my family that I had no phone and wouldn't be responding to anything for a while. I felt no urgency, nobody got upset that they couldn't reach me, and thankfully there were no emergencies.
What level of privilege do you consider me having (or lack thereof that you apparently have) that doesn't let you do this? Genuine question btw, not trying to be facetious. I found the use of "privilege" here to be an interesting word choice and was hoping you could expand a bit.