Revenge Against the Nerds...

I’ve mentioned before that I work for a “technology” company in Southwestern Ontario. No, it’s not the company that makes the Blackberry, BUT I wish it was. I have a number of friends that work there and the perks are pretty sweet – i.e. ice cream delivered every Friday in the Summer, employee only private concerts (historically, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi and mostly recently U2). Ahh, the life…

Now that I’ve totally been side-tracked, what’s the point of this you may ask? Ummm, I forget.

Wait besides from needing a new job, my point is this… because I work in a technology company, the majority of the employees are males under the age of 25 – software developers, hardware developers, engineers, analysts (aka GEEKS with no social skills, fashion or common sense).

It’s like I’m working in nerd frat house from the 80’s movie – Revenge of the Nerds. The similarities are:

· There is a beer keg in our lunchroom. The “boys” seem to think that simply holding a beer mug gives them the cool appearance they so desperately need.

· There is also a pool table, ping pong table, foosball table and a Super Mario arcade game in the lunchroom. It’s almost like a daycare, except toddlers actually know how to pick up after themselves, which brings me to my next point…

· There are so many empty pizza boxes, pop cans and chip bags strewn about the office that I am surprised we don’t have a roach infestation to go along with it. Don’t even get me started on the cleanliness of our microwave ovens. These guys are slobs.

· Flip flops, surfer shorts and pocket protectors are the office attire norm – even in January. They are obviously “smart”, so one would think they would understand that it’s currently -7 Celsius or 20 F.

· Most play World of War Craft on their computers. What happened to Spider Solitaire as the time killer of choice?

The corporate mentality in this place and other technology companies in the region is “give them freedom and make their work environment comfortable and your employees will work even harder for you”. Oh and don’t upset them in any way because they are emotionally unstable…

WTH? Obviously management does not eat in the lunchroom, share a common workspace or work in the immediate vicinity of these socially-challenged, acne-riddled, un-bathed slobs.

In my opinion not enforcing even a low level of standard, just makes them unaware of their surroundings, reinforces their belief in further self-entitlement and cheapens the value of their co-workers who work hard, pick up after themselves, actually bathe in the morning and are socially contributing members of the workplace team.

I don’t know who sucks more – management or The Geek Squad.