Re: Dress any way I want to...

[mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM]

Laura writes:
>I have worked almost exclusively for Silicon Valley startups, where
>dress code and work hours are mostly irrelevant.  Just do what you
>have to do by the time you have to do it, and it doesn't matter if you
>do it while standing on your head and fondling a alpaca.

Sounds great! (I miss my alpaca...)

In defense of older, more established companies (like, oh, maybe, er, IBM?),
things have really loosened up a lot.  I may have to check my guanaco at the
door, but I get to wear jeans, T-shirt and sneakers (FINALLY got to wear
my suit to a friend's wedding last weekend - thought it would _never_ leave
the closet).  I don't think I've seen any nose rings yet, but I have the
grace to think it's a lack of applicants, rather than prejudice.  Plenty of
people with retro haircuts (or lack thereof) and Docs around the place....

I remember when computers used to be geeky.  Back then there were two
outcast groups in highschool: the nerds and the deadheads.  Now the line
ain't quite so clear.  Most of the programmers I'm friends with listen to
alternative music, dress weird, and hang out at grungy bars.  I'd use the
word cyberpunk here, but I understand it's passe now.

Computers and the alternative scene seem to have really hit it off.
:cheap psychoanalysis on
Perhaps the same sense of alienation which fuels a departure from
the mainstream, finds fulfillment in hours of isolated coding.
:cheap psychoanalysis off

Of course, all generalizations are false!

Take care,

Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf, not IBM's