Absolute hero

Submitted by Moonside in just_post

I was hired as a temp but not assigned any duties. I was told it was very important that I stay busy, but I wasn’t to play games or surf the web. My primary function seemed to be occupying a chair and contributing to the decorum of the office. At first, this seemed pretty easy, but I quickly discovered that looking busy when you aren’t is one of the least pleasant office activities imaginable. In fact, after two days, it was clear that this was going to be the worst job I had ever had. I installed Lynx, a text-only web browser that basically looks like a DOS [disk-operating system] window. No images, just monospaced text on an endless black background. My absentminded browsing of the internet now appeared to be the work of a skilled technician, the web browser a terminal into which diligently typed commands signalled my endless productivity.

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musou wrote (edited )

i had a similar sort of job once and used emacs w3 for the same purpose. i technically had programming work to do at times, but i realized after my first couple days that i was hired as the company's only full-time programmer NOT because they had a need for one, but as a way to threaten the companies they bought all their software from in an attempt to get a better deal (i was not well paid). i had about 2-3 busy days a month.

eventually they caught wise and started making me answer phones so i started looking for another job, but i actually didn't quit until they told me to build something that would have been illegal.

capitalism is a farce.

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