We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by topspin on Monday June 21, 2021 @02:03PM (#27581824)

You quoted part of that without comment on something I think is crucial:

    "My kids are driving me crazy."

I've seen that in practice. Long ago I watched a manager of mine on a lengthy call with his wife discussing the absolute chaos going on at home with the kids, the school, etc. When he hung up he said the most sincere thing I ever heard from him; "Thank God for work."

And he had a wife at home to referee it all. If one then asks what might the conditions of a household be where she works as well... Yeah. That explains a lot.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by Uhhrrr on Monday June 21, 2021 @02:25PM (#27582106)

My data point is that it sucks, distance learning sucked, and my wife just quit her full time job so we could at least get to your manager's state.

None of this bears on whether people should be allowed to work remotely, of course.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by topspin on Monday June 21, 2021 @02:39PM (#27582342)

So when the parents indulge the escape of "work" because home is a living nightmare what are we left with to raise the kids? Instragram?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by Uhhrrr on Monday June 21, 2021 @03:15PM (#27582993)

Good question! When there is not a pandemic they can go to daycare and play with other kids.

When there is? Well, I am not proud or happy about this, but my kids have very detailed knowledge of and strong opinions about Minecraft.

BTW, home is not really a living nightmare, and kids are wonderful, but they do need human attention.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by drewcoo on Monday June 21, 2021 @03:07PM (#27582854)

I don't know but I think we need a "scared sterile" program for the kids (similar to "scared straight").

I didn't realize there were so many reluctant parents until COVID. I feel society has coerced people into lives so unhappy that they'd rather spend time at the place everyone else is trying to escape than with their loved ones.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by closeparen on Monday June 21, 2021 @04:23PM (#27583937)

Spreading child-supervision duties around the extended family and community so parents can do other things besides be with their children 24x7 has been a feature of many human cultures for many thousands of years.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by kelnos on Monday June 21, 2021 @05:16PM (#27584612)

Right, but the times they are a'changin', and many people don't live within reasonable distance of extended family anymore.

We can throw up our hands and either say a) stop moving away from your extended family, b) deal with the struggle, or c) don't have kids. Or we can use our big brains and try to figure out a better way for everyone to live where/how they want, but also be able to raise kids in a loving, supportive environment where the parents can still get a break sometimes.

I don't know what that better way is, but I think it's pretty fatalistic and defeatist to assume it doesn't exist.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by closeparen on Monday June 21, 2021 @05:30PM (#27584785)

There's a huge space of professional and community childcare options other than "extended family" and "don't have kids". That the dual-income middle class has been using for decades.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We Can't Let People Work from Home, for Stupid Reasons by kelnos on Monday June 21, 2021 @05:11PM (#27584550)

This is likely to be an unpopular opinion, but perhaps people who feel that way about their kids shouldn't have them in the first place.

[ Parent | on HN ]