The Open Organization

I was in college at a Career Fair, going through the booths when I chanced upon two Redhat employees eagerly promoting their company. I talked with them for two-three minutes, got into an interesting discussion about how OSS can make money, and of course, complimented them on their red hats. Somewhere along the way, the younger of the two commented on Redhat's revenue: just one non-negative sentence with a data point (revenue, I believe) that I could have read anywhere else.

In a sudden flash of unexplained anger, his older partner immediately turned to him and said "You are NOT suppose to say that." Ignoring me completely, he then admonished the younger employee for a moment more, and then immediately engaged with another college student.

The younger employee was at a loss for words: I don't think either of us saw that spout of rage coming. Not knowing what else to say, I let the younger one know that I appreciated his input and quickly left the booth.

Obviously, one bad experience does not invalidate a whole company's culture. But a video like this, where everything is presented with such cheer, always make me wonder about the hatred, anger, annoyance, and darkness festering just underneath the surface.