Ask HN: Things you got in trouble for at work that were not a big deal? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Things you got in trouble for at work that were not a big deal?

12 pointsmattbgates16 comments

One time, my supervisor called me into a meeting to tell me that he did not appreciate me using "hate text" for the landing pages I was creating. I actually did not know what he was talking about and I asked him about it. This is what he showed me. He actually printed it out:

<< Lorem ipsum dolorem sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer nec odio. Praesent libero. Sed cursus ante dapibus diam. Sed nisi. Nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. Duis sagittis ipsum. Praesent mauris. Fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. Mauris massa. Vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Curabitur sodales ligula in libero. Sed dignissim lacinia nunc.

Curabitur tortor. Pellentesque nibh. Aenean quam. In scelerisque sem at dolor. Maecenas mattis. Sed convallis tristique sem. Proin ut ligula vel nunc egestas porttitor. Morbi lectus risus, iaculis vel, suscipit quis, luctus non, massa. Fusce ac turpis quis ligula lacinia aliquet. Mauris ipsum. Nulla metus metus, ullamcorper vel, tincidunt sed, euismod in, nibh. Quisque volutpat condimentum velit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nam nec ante. >>

A few words along with "dolorem" got picked up in the translator as "hate, pain, suffer, sorrow".

The supervisor told me not to use this text, but had scolded me once before for using a "bacon ipsum" and a "cupcake ipsum" generator saying, "We need to provide the client with serious work. Funny text like this is not appropriate." So I went back to using Lorem Ipsum text.

I had come to find out that one of my co-workers "reported me" because her Chrome browser decided to try and translate the Lorem Ipsum text. She thought I was purposely writing that I hated her. And this is why I almost got fired. It took two other co-workers, who had near-identical text, to convince my supervisor that I did not write hate speech.

At IBM I got "called on the carpet" to the Director's office because I was seen in the hallway without my jacket. (1978)

Back in the past I worked at Franklin Lakes, the IBM Office Products Division headquarters. I was a VM/360 Systems Programmer. I printed out a "core dump" of memory and since the printer was just down the hall I walked out of my office, picked it up, and returned. Someone saw me, called my manager, who passed it up the hierarchy as an "infraction"... and I ended up getting chewed out by the Director (3 levels up the management chain).

Office Products sold typewriters, paper, and punched cards. Our typewriter repair persons (all male) wore suits and wing-tip shoes to service your typewriter.

Times have changed.

I sympathize with you. I am in my late 30s so I didn't experience that level of inanity, but I did work somewhere where I had to carry a pager. I let the battery die though not on purpose. I was terrified the third time it happened. They never really mentioned it. They just took me out of the rotation and gave me a supervisory role over the other people in my team who had been there for many years and who did answer their late night pages. This was when I knew it was time to leave that job.

I got in trouble as an intern at an investment bank between high school and college because I was seen wearing sneakers (with a suit). My direct boss had to take me out shopping for some fancier shoes, which was something of a challenge because I don't wear leather.

I really have to hand it to that boss.

The original text is about suffering and pain (presenting an interesting philosophical argument which I've come to associate closely with George Lakoff's "moral credit and debit" theory, that we tend to think people who have suffered automatically earned virtue from it).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum#Latin_source

Of course that doesn't mean that people who use this text are wishing suffering on anyone.

See also

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%...

This tells me your supervisor was never a creator (lorem ipsum is like hello world), lacks good judgment (should have researched the complaint and dismissed it as benign, explained to your naive colleague), and lacks good temperament (scolding is immature). I would look for a better supervisor and company.

Using some joke lipsum generator for client facing designs is a sign of poor judgement, but excusable and serves as a teachable moment. Not understanding what lipsum is at all is much less excusable. I would note, however, that you failed to clearly explain the source of the text and its purpose and did so after being scolded for using something similar.

Lorem ipsum hate speech, thats a new one... You work for a shitty company who hires shitty people.

The company itself is okay, but the people? Ha... they even promoted her to a senior position.

So if you think about it, this was over an hour of company time wasted on debating Lorem Ipsum.

get out while you still can with your sanity and reputation intact. You work for a bunch of dunces who will never have your best interests in mind. you have been given a gift of complete clarity into the stupidity of management. Don't waste anymore time trying to reconcile. Start actively seeking a better position & company.

I don't understand your distinction between the company and the people working at or managing it. The company = the people at the company.

Plus the product(s) it makes, plus the work environment, hours, regulations, etc.

While I get along with most of my co-workers and the supervisor bothers me every so often, it has become a lot less. There are certainly benefits to remaining at work there including what you say AND ... 10-15 minute ride to work, vacation time, sick days, my own cozy cubicle, privacy, pay isn't horrible, and I get some creative freedom. So yeah, there are some people that suck, but we also make a killer product and we market for some top companies including Pepsi, Bond No. 9, Goldman Sachs, Toys R Us, almost off of Las Vegas and many, many others.

So thank you for pointing that out vanderreeah.

You're not wrong but your statement could be misinterpreted to say that OP is a shitty person. I'm sure that's not what you mean.

Wow, I've used Lorem ipsum before and people seem really confused by it and think I put it in purposely and that it was part of the final design.

We had a few clients tell us: "Hey, can you take that Spanish out? We want English."

Surprising that there are people out there who have no idea what Lorem Ipsum is.

Your supervisor sounds like a typical middle-management asshat.

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