Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk

Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by MichaelCrawford on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @07:15AM (#9724987)

I've been a coder for 27 years. My experience was that it was always far more effective to apply for jobs with dead-tree cover letters, resumes and envelopes, all on matching stationery.

I prefer a formal yet understated look, either pale blue or pale grey watermarked cotton bond.

A while back I looked for matching paper and envelopes at office depot. I quite sadly found a few scattered boxes of paper and envelopes, but none that matched each other.

I have two partially empty boxes of paper but no envelopes. I know I can order them online but I far prefer to support brick-and-mortar stores.

I went shopping for what I thought was a desk lamp but it turned out I wanted a "task lamp". I found just the right lamp at Sears.com so I dropped by a Sears store in Portland.

"No, we don't carry lamps but you can find them all on our website," said the cheery young salesgirl.

"Yes I know, I found just the lamp I want at Sears.com," I solemnly replied.

"But the reason I am here today is so you will have a job."

Her face fell; that had simply not occurred to her.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by joe5150 on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @09:23AM (#9725514)

Whether it occurred to her or not, she most likely has absolutely nothing to do with Sears' inventory decisions, so I don't understand what the need of saying something like that is.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by worklogin on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @11:05AM (#9726296)

Perhaps to get other people to realize the impact of online-all-the-time shopping has on brick and mortar retail and the people it employs, and the human contact lost.

I might have said the same thing, with no malice.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by joe5150 on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @11:18AM (#9726401)

Then your problem is with the corporate office, and not individual salespeople who don't need to be reminded that they're being obsoleted by online shopping, and who can't do anything about it even if you do.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by MichaelCrawford on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @08:28PM (#9736097)

I don't think she was aware that the corporate office was working towards obsoleting her.

I eventually found the exact same lamp at Fred Meyer.

One time I went to pay my AT&T bill. "Use the kiosk" they said. "No I want to pay in cash." "We can take cash but there's a fifteen dollar service charge for that."

"I just took the bus twenty miles so you will have a job."

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by worklogin on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @12:07PM (#9726826)

What I'm hearing is that ignorance is bliss.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by MichaelCrawford on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @03:42PM (#9734728)

I was pointing out that her management had instructed her to make herself unemployable.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by joe5150 on Saturday June 20, 2015 @04:23AM (#9749363)

And she's supposed to do what? Disobey, when it's already been made clear that management doesn't care about her job? Apart from boosting your own ego or scoring points against a low-wage retail worker, I really don't see anybody benefiting from your pointing this out.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by kps on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @11:00AM (#9726261)

Sears grew up as a mail-order catalogue merchant — they were the Amazon of the day, tookin de jerbs of local brick-and-mortars.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by cma on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @08:32AM (#9725243)

Or more likely her face fell because she took it as an insult.

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by fao_ on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @11:35AM (#9726533)

(I don't mean to come across as standoffish -- quite the opposite. I'm just being curious) How that could be taken as an insult?

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Re:Mathematicians Are Hoarding a Type of Japanese Chalk by cma on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @04:47PM (#9728594)

Offering charity to someone can be seen as putting yourself above them socially, and someone could read that as the primary intent. She might see him as denigrating her job. Especially if it is after she just offered help and the he seemed non-plussed.

I don't know if that was the case here. There is a lot of phrasing and body language involved as well, which we aren't seeing in his retelling (other than her own, "face fell," which he manages to read large amount into the same as she might have read (or misread) out of his).

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