I don't think I have ADHD, but I burned out pretty quickly after a few months of 8h/day pair programming. I started taking medication and took some extended vacation.

Thankfully the CEO of the company wasn't much into it, so he forced our pointy-haired boss of a manager to make it optional.

The whole team unanimously decided to never do it again.

This almost made me tear up. I've genuinely never thought before this thread that there were companies that did this, and that it's just not a big deal to people with decision making power. I don't do anything for 8 hrs a day, but if I had no choice but to be doing 8 hrs per day of pair programming, I'd really be having some dark thoughts. Not exaggerating, this scares the shit out of me. Thanks for sharing. I actually feel like I need to step away from my computer and relax a bit just trying to imagine myself in that position.

Yeah, in this case was a single manager abusing his power, who doubled down whenever we aired our grievances, to the point of forbidding talking about it. The CEO however was more sympathetic to our pleas.

The 8h shift looking at a shared screen was absolute terror. No privacy, a lot of machismo with people claiming "I don't need to look at the documentation", terrible productivity when pairing with certain employees that didn't really took the work seriously.

Mandatory pairing simply doesn't work, period. It's like they say about therapy, wanting to do it is a pre-requisite for it working...

Makes me almost wonder what management is actually good for, besides a high level filtering system...

I like continous pair programming, but not because I actually continuously pair - if someone wants to watch me work, or is too green to go it alone quite yet, its fine. But usually we only pair when it makes sense to, i.e. we are at the beginning of something and figuring out what to split up.

If management tried to force real continuous pairing down everyone's throat all the time....yeah no. That management should be fired, they don't understand how people work.

Ya, seems reasonable enough. You have control over the gate, either to teach or to work something out. People are allowed to have an opinion on this in general.

> By chance, do you struggle with eating sounds in offices to the point where you panic?

Yes. Especially ice chewers. Which one PM thought was hilarious as he worked through a cup of just ice.

I had a coworker at the same last job I mentioned, that sat next to me in our open office, and used to crack and eat eggs at his desk, among 4 other meals that he'd decide not to bring to the kitchen. I literally couldn't find a pair of earmuffs or headphones that could help me get back in the zone after hearing that.

> By chance, do you struggle with eating sounds in offices to the point where you panic?

Not particularly, but having to deal with distacting sounds, pressure to focus, and feeling trapped in a cubical can definitely make me uncomfortably anxious.

Agreed. I've never been in a true individual cubicle thankfully. Only pod style ones.

Fellow ADHDer here. That issue with eating noises is called misophonia. Check out the subreddit.

> By chance, do you struggle with eating sounds in offices to the point where you panic?

Not to be rude, but the stereotype of the software developer is fast becoming one of fragility. A low wage worker spending their day working a fryer or a guy at a construction site would be thrilled to have such working conditions to where their biggest problem is someone eating too closely while making $100k+ per year in the air conditioning.

I’m going to assume good intent and resist posting a snarky response.

Why is it so terrible for anyone to want to work in a specific environment that they find comfortable? Why do you think that the ability to work as a fryer or construction worker is somehow “better”? Why are people who have the capacity to either ignore or tolerate bad working conditions and continue working considered morally superior?

As human beings we’re all so different and unique in our ways and preferences. We are at a stage in our evolution where we can provide people the kind of environment that they prefer to work in; even let people choose the kind of body and gender they think works best for them. Why is that so bad? Can’t we just let go of the toxic masculinity involved in such comparisons?

I am not even touching on the nature of knowledge work itself which has very little to do with physical toughness and everything with being in environments conducive to problem solving. Please just stop with these rubbish admonishments.

interesting that you equate “fragility” with the opposite of “morally superior” - “Fragile” seems like a fairly accurate description of the described phenomenon, you are the one who seems to be ascribing moral value on the basis of that description. Why is that? Why should we care if someone else describes us as “fragile”?

Only if the person in question is merely annoyed by such sounds.

For some people, it’s quite literally perceived as someone’s kid screaming next to them.

What people forget is, we don’t have a choice. People who have a disability will have to deal with it no matter what job they do.

It’s like yelling at a person in a wheelchair to stop bitching about the lack of an elevator in a three-story office building because they have a “good job” and getting up the stairs isn’t a big deal because you do it every day.

This analogy may sound like an exaggeration, because there is no way you can comprehend something so minor and trivial could be a problem. And that’s kind of the point. It’s extremely difficult to understand something you haven’t experienced.

Most people jump to the conclusion that these things aren’t a big deal and they’ve seen people lie about it to manipulate people. Therefore, a person claiming to have a disability that isn’t obvious is lying to get things they don’t deserve.

Not everyone has a fully working brain or body. :(

I find it far easier to program in an automotive shop (banging, yelling, loud revving, etc) than in an open office next to someone slurping food every twenty seconds. Well, that's unfair, as in the former I had almost no problems getting into flow. I expect it's similar for people who like working in coffee shops.

In the zone, that slurp becomes worse then fingers across a chalkboard. Great way to put subtle bugs in your code.

Yep, absolutely true

Software work is fragile, just like all kind of deep work, because you're holding everything in your head. I've worked in fast food and in software. In fast food I was constantly thinking about lots of things all the time, because it's mostly physical work. I can't do that in software, I need my mind to be here to work. That also means that in fast food interruptions weren't a big deal. Everything you work with is physical, it's right here, it won't disappear. Thoughts are not like that, they are fragile, you have to protect them.

Of course I'm happy to work in software rather than in fast food. And I think many people would prefer working a desk job rather than a physical job. But humans get used to things. I remember my time working in fast food, but it's hard to remember exactly how I felt and say "Wow, working in an office is way better" every time I encounter something that I don't like in an office. I also think that just because I have better working conditions now doesn't mean I should stop trying to improve them.

>Not to be rude, but the stereotype of the software developer is fast becoming one of fragility. A low wage worker spending their day working a fryer or a guy at a construction site would be thrilled to have such working conditions to where their biggest problem is someone eating too closely while making $100k+ per year in the air conditioning.

Oh my! People complaining about things that are relative to the situation they are in! How fragile!

The only thing I find rude about this is that I don't see how it's relevant, and maybe that it implies it's an optional emotional response, or a recent one. I get where you're coming from, but it has nothing to do with software developers, and also who cares about their identity as a tough software developer more than their own sanity!?

I've worked blue collar jobs. I've sold cars. I was in the infantry. I still hate listening to someone eat in close proximity, smelling their food and farts and all the other things people do in the office.

Misophonia is a real thing that is genuinely difficult to deal with for those of us who have it.