Re:Forgotten Employee (2002)
by wahnfrieden on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @01:44AM
(#6088426)
It seems to be an embellishment for the sake of the story. He mentions in the original thread that he's pursuing a 3rd degree, has spent time writing short stories and is in the middle of a novel, and spends time in the lower rungs of professional racing and writing a biography about that.
He also reportedly claims to have made it all up but I couldn't find the source.
Re:Forgotten Employee (2002)
by chaostheory on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @03:49AM
(#6088716)
Yes. I remember the original author admitting that this was really just a short story for practice.
Stop. I want to believe this is real.
edit: Actually working in corporate America I can believe this is real aside from the nobody knowing you. You can have a manager and they can know you do nothing but they can't get rid of you.
Re:Forgotten Employee (2002)
by chaostheory on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @10:56AM
(#6090375)
I'm sure it's happened in real life before, but I strongly feel that this particular story was just an exercise in creative writing. Just pay closer attention to the writing style vs other personal accounts.
Oh I know. This story had me hooked. I couldn't stop reading it.
Re:Forgotten Employee (2002)
by ExpendableGuy on Thursday July 25, 2013 @12:54PM
(#6103401)
I was buying it until the part about him catching a VP in the act.
Yeah, even though I also can't remember/find the source, I remember reading ages ago that he admitted it as just a practice short story.
If memory serves (i read the original plus a mirror on github), this originated from the somethingawful forums.
I'll see if I still have those bookmarks at home and throw them in a website archivist.
Re:Forgotten Employee (2002)
by tudorconstantin on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @01:06AM
(#6088337)
He was definitely good at corporate politics. A great skill to have, since it makes him employable and buys him time in whatever company he'd work to learn the stuff he'd eventually need to do
Agreed but he's using his free time to play Snake? Its one thing when people use this sort of position to build a new business or develop new skills, its sad when they let that time go to waste. As you get older you realize you're never getting that time back, ever. And even though you feel the same way you did when you were 20 you can't reset the clock.
The traditional use of that free time, of course, is to post on the internet (Usenet, Slashdot, HN, depending on your era).
Which keeps you up to date on important events and helps network with others in the industry. Not the most productive use of time, but better than playing snake.
As a top-50 HN poster, this is what I like to keep telling myself. ;)
I didn't know we were being ranked.
Re:Forgotten Employee (2002)
by fnordfnordfnord on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @11:56AM
(#6090834)
OTOH, I've worked with people who I wished were as productive as this guy. At least he didn't go around actively screwing things up.
Yep, I think a lot of us have probably worked with a few NNPPs[1].
That is a fair point, I've known people who didn't really have any job responsibilities and yet insisted on 'helping.' Which resulted in lower productivity for everyone around them. One of the reasons Office Space was funny was that the stereotypes exist because these sort of people exist in real life.
It is one thing to build up enough savings such that you can live off the 4% annual draw down stipend like MMM advocates, and then wasting your time. It is something else completely to be depending on someone else to pay you a salary.