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What Works For Me, In & Around the Mighty Amazon Jungle
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Would he mind if I said he looked like an older James Taylor? I don't think so. I think it's a fine look. The disarming bald pate, the amiable smile. Yes, not bad at all. He stretched his arms out wide at the bus stop and belted out the lyric:
"Oh, Nathan Jones, you've been gone too long, gone too long!"
I didn't know what he was talking about. In bus driver mode, you're multitasking even if it seems like you aren't. Adding more thought processes on top of that is exciting but difficult. It took me a few more seconds to understand he was quoting the Supremes song. For now I corrected him: "it's Nathan Vass!"
"I'm singin' the song, man!"
"Oh, I get it. Yeah, sing it again!" Now I'm realizing I actually know this guy. Way to be behind the times! I put it together as I go along, blurting out, "good to see ya!"
"Where you been?"
"I been right here! How's that 70?"
"Oh, it's there. It does what it needs to," he replies, finding a seat near the front. Watching me execute the wide left onto northbound Broadway, he asks, "you like this 49 more than the 70?"
"You know, I do. I like the crowd."
"Mellow?"
"Well, there's more energy here. Which I like."
That's something I do. You've noticed it before. I hate correcting people. I feel like it's almost never necessary. I do the above instead, steering them toward what I'm thinking. When someone says something that's obviously wrong, like the sky is red, you don't have to shut them down. I think it's blue. Sometimes it looks red. In conversation, you rarely need to explicitly say no. It's unproductive.
James Taylor understands my response and agrees, saying, "okay. Not those commuters."
"Those silent Amazon people!"
I've ragged on the poor Amazon workforce and the "silent 70" ridership way too much on this blog. They're a lovely bunch, I'm sure, though I'd hardly know it from driving them around. They're nicer than Microsoft employees, in that they will eventually make eye contact or say thanks if you preempt them, but they appear just as overworked– if not moreso.* The corporate giant has figured out how to make cutting edge white-collar work miserable, and it isn't so much that these young millenials actively choose to avoid integrating into any Seattle communities; I imagine they don't simply because they lack the time.
James Taylor reflects on the 49 ridership and exclaims, "hipsters, out here!"
Again, I gently correct him with, "little bit of everyone!"
"I don't think I can be a hipster," Taylor muses. "I'm, I'm, I'm I think I'm too old to be a hipster."
Someone else pipes in: "not ironic enough!"
"I think I need to be more jaded!"
That's the nail on the head. I say, "exactly, not enough irony!"
"I'm just a straight up kinda guy. You don't seem like a hipster."
That's the best compliment I've had all day! "Thank you! I hope not to be. I don't think I can be. I'm too, um. I'm too friendly!"
"You're genuine," Taylor remarks.
That's the best compliment I've received in… ten seconds! "Thank you!"
"You're genuine. That's a big check mark in my checkbook."
"Mine too. That's all there is at the end of the day."
If irony and cynicism help certain people feel more comfortable, that's fine. If selfhood through focused work does the same for others, that's fine too. I like certain things hipsters like (albeit for different reasons), and when I'm overworked I'm withdrawn too. Everyone is at all times going through something, and we each have our methods for dealing with it. But let us remember the last and final currency, after all has sung and gone, is truth. Authenticity of self, of action, of communication; that, and little else, has the power to cut through the noise.
Be bold, as you go forth. Bold enough to be genuine.
---
*A class divide is happening here that doesn't need to happen. A workforce 24,000 strong which skews overwhelmingly male (and white), with a positive income disparity so far above much of Seattle's income it's responsible for raising neighborhood rents twelve percent in a single year… doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Amazon, as a corporate entity, can choose to participate in solving the problems it creates. It has the capital to address issues (crucially, housing) such that it might begin to build goodwill in its own home city. The dividends of being loved where you live go far beyond the quantifiable, and if higher-ups at Amazon read this with any surprise or lack of concern, they might benefit from learning to take the temperature. As far as person-to-person interactions, millenials are a generation which care notably about others and society's interests at large. If Amazon allowed them the time to do so, I wouldn't have to listen to my female friends tell me about the disastrous brogrammer dates, amazing lack of social graces, numbingly unengaging interaction, and overall disinterest in other communities. Harsh, yes, and anecdotal, but true. I know some terrific Amazon staff. I'd love for all of us to know some more.
Amazon's workplace environment:
Amazon employee injured after leaping from 12-story building at the Seattle headquarters (Business Insider)
Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace (New York Times)
Depiction of Amazon Stirs a Debate About Work Culture (New York Times)
The Life and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp (Huffington Post)
Amazon's effects on Seattle:
Amazon’s Harmful Impacts on Seattle and Beyond (FtJ). Great starting point with a lot of links.
Has Amazon killed Seattle? One writer thinks so (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). "Reader's Digest version" of the two articles below.
Going beyond the hyperbole– some great context & research here:
How Our Success is Ruining Seattle (Jeff Reifman)
How Amazon Swallowed Seattle (Gawker)
"Oh, Nathan Jones, you've been gone too long, gone too long!"
I didn't know what he was talking about. In bus driver mode, you're multitasking even if it seems like you aren't. Adding more thought processes on top of that is exciting but difficult. It took me a few more seconds to understand he was quoting the Supremes song. For now I corrected him: "it's Nathan Vass!"
"I'm singin' the song, man!"
"Oh, I get it. Yeah, sing it again!" Now I'm realizing I actually know this guy. Way to be behind the times! I put it together as I go along, blurting out, "good to see ya!"
"Where you been?"
"I been right here! How's that 70?"
"Oh, it's there. It does what it needs to," he replies, finding a seat near the front. Watching me execute the wide left onto northbound Broadway, he asks, "you like this 49 more than the 70?"
"You know, I do. I like the crowd."
"Mellow?"
"Well, there's more energy here. Which I like."
That's something I do. You've noticed it before. I hate correcting people. I feel like it's almost never necessary. I do the above instead, steering them toward what I'm thinking. When someone says something that's obviously wrong, like the sky is red, you don't have to shut them down. I think it's blue. Sometimes it looks red. In conversation, you rarely need to explicitly say no. It's unproductive.
James Taylor understands my response and agrees, saying, "okay. Not those commuters."
"Those silent Amazon people!"
I've ragged on the poor Amazon workforce and the "silent 70" ridership way too much on this blog. They're a lovely bunch, I'm sure, though I'd hardly know it from driving them around. They're nicer than Microsoft employees, in that they will eventually make eye contact or say thanks if you preempt them, but they appear just as overworked– if not moreso.* The corporate giant has figured out how to make cutting edge white-collar work miserable, and it isn't so much that these young millenials actively choose to avoid integrating into any Seattle communities; I imagine they don't simply because they lack the time.
James Taylor reflects on the 49 ridership and exclaims, "hipsters, out here!"
Again, I gently correct him with, "little bit of everyone!"
"I don't think I can be a hipster," Taylor muses. "I'm, I'm, I'm I think I'm too old to be a hipster."
Someone else pipes in: "not ironic enough!"
"I think I need to be more jaded!"
That's the nail on the head. I say, "exactly, not enough irony!"
"I'm just a straight up kinda guy. You don't seem like a hipster."
That's the best compliment I've had all day! "Thank you! I hope not to be. I don't think I can be. I'm too, um. I'm too friendly!"
"You're genuine," Taylor remarks.
That's the best compliment I've received in… ten seconds! "Thank you!"
"You're genuine. That's a big check mark in my checkbook."
"Mine too. That's all there is at the end of the day."
If irony and cynicism help certain people feel more comfortable, that's fine. If selfhood through focused work does the same for others, that's fine too. I like certain things hipsters like (albeit for different reasons), and when I'm overworked I'm withdrawn too. Everyone is at all times going through something, and we each have our methods for dealing with it. But let us remember the last and final currency, after all has sung and gone, is truth. Authenticity of self, of action, of communication; that, and little else, has the power to cut through the noise.
Be bold, as you go forth. Bold enough to be genuine.
---
*A class divide is happening here that doesn't need to happen. A workforce 24,000 strong which skews overwhelmingly male (and white), with a positive income disparity so far above much of Seattle's income it's responsible for raising neighborhood rents twelve percent in a single year… doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Amazon, as a corporate entity, can choose to participate in solving the problems it creates. It has the capital to address issues (crucially, housing) such that it might begin to build goodwill in its own home city. The dividends of being loved where you live go far beyond the quantifiable, and if higher-ups at Amazon read this with any surprise or lack of concern, they might benefit from learning to take the temperature. As far as person-to-person interactions, millenials are a generation which care notably about others and society's interests at large. If Amazon allowed them the time to do so, I wouldn't have to listen to my female friends tell me about the disastrous brogrammer dates, amazing lack of social graces, numbingly unengaging interaction, and overall disinterest in other communities. Harsh, yes, and anecdotal, but true. I know some terrific Amazon staff. I'd love for all of us to know some more.
Amazon's workplace environment:
Amazon employee injured after leaping from 12-story building at the Seattle headquarters (Business Insider)
Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace (New York Times)
Depiction of Amazon Stirs a Debate About Work Culture (New York Times)
The Life and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp (Huffington Post)
Amazon's effects on Seattle:
Amazon’s Harmful Impacts on Seattle and Beyond (FtJ). Great starting point with a lot of links.
Has Amazon killed Seattle? One writer thinks so (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). "Reader's Digest version" of the two articles below.
Going beyond the hyperbole– some great context & research here:
How Our Success is Ruining Seattle (Jeff Reifman)
How Amazon Swallowed Seattle (Gawker)
Another aspect is cultural differences and the failure (or lack of desire or incentive) to adapt to the social norms of where they live. Also - birds of a feather - many people of different nationalities stick together with people that share their culture, language, etc - and don't have a need to really branch out amongst the locals. By staying in their own group they have little to no need to adapt to the environment they're in more than is necessary. America is one of those countries where you can get by without assimilating to the social norms and habits - I don't think the same would be easily done in some of the countries many of the Amazon employees hail from. Me personally, I subscribe to the 'When in Rome...' type of thinking whenever I've visited elsewhere around the world (or even this country).
Basically - what I'm saying is it's the nature of the beast when you consider the tech industry. You don't see it in Redmond because the MS workers are typically isolated from a real downtown urban area on their campus and then retreat to their homes elsewhere at the end of the work day and they're scattered all over the area, whereas Amazon and its people are concentrated in SLU. That having been said, I don't think Amazon really cares (or is it even their responsibility?) if their employees don't adapt and are socially awkward.
Absolutely love reading your thoughts and hearing your perspective as someone who works amongst the Amazonians. I'm compelled in turn to share yet more of my own:
It's my optimism for Amazonians that makes me give them the chance. In the post above I delicately step around the issue, indicating that their work culture contributes to their attitude (undeniable, I feel), though the causes themselves are likely elsewhere, as you describe. You're absolutely right in that software dev's everywhere are disproportionately lacking in both the ability and the inclination to interact with others. I imagine the non-communicative nature of the jobs both attract the socially inept as well as foster ineptness, in that interaction is not required for their success.
What's curious to me is that there are many jobs which don't require interaction, and yet... the accountants, lab techs, paralegals, long-haul truckers, market analysts, electricians, media managers, & actuaries whom I meet generally know how to do things like answer questions, be polite, & express interest in stuff besides themselves (!). Why are so many software dev's so unifyingly stunted in this area?
It's possible to a greater degree than before to transition from the zone of school to the comfortable zone of higher education, directly into the comfortable zone of software– without ever having to learn how talk to strangers, people outside their class group, or people in a context they don't have predetermined modes of talking toward (boss, sibling, teacher). This is where we get folks of the "all booksmarts, no streetsmarts" variety. All it takes is a year working a customer service job. If I had never been a delivery boy at Capitol Records, I would have no idea how to talk to all the people I talk to now. As I once overheard a girl telling her stoic boyfriend on my bus: ability at social interaction isn't necessary in life, but it will only help!
What gives me hope for the Amazonians is that unlike the Microsoft crowd, the Amazonians reacted with surprise– and then, crucially, acceptance– to my friendly attitude. On my 545 the riders only did the first part. It took three months of ebulliently greeting them before they would begin to make eye contact. But on the 70, the Amazonians (who also seem about a decade younger than the Microsoftians) reacted as though they'd been given permission to be friendly. They seemed to like the idea. It resonated. They'd be saying thank you to me by the time they were getting off the bus. Compare that to nearly a year before the 545/Microsoft folks started saying "you're welcome!"
Although Amazon has no obligation to socialize its employees, as you rightly point out, it should make an effort to develop some goodwill between itself and the city. The rift right now is pretty large. Microsoft's integration into Redmond had many different elements, but there are still lessons to be learned there. Why, Amazon might ask? To quote the girl on my bus again– it will only help!
I myself moved to Seattle about three years ago, and while I don't ride Metro every day (I tend to walk), I liked to see that the drivers welcomed the pax on board - and the pax often thanked the driver on their way out (even if the driver hadn't greeted them when the boarded). It was nice to see that! I make it a point to greet the driver whenever I ride, and if it's prudent to do so I'll thank them on the way out - I don't always yell when exiting from the back door.
In any event - I love reading your posts - checking for a new post is part of my morning routine :-)
--Chris
Please come drive the 44 so we can talk Lynwood and Plaza Mexico.
We're all pretty maladroit on that route, too!
And please keep supplying us with the good writing. And more photographs from your travels! All best in the new year.
Thanks for your reply to my reply, and your enthusiasm and interest for the blog!
I too love seeing the folks come alive in response to an engaging operator. I've seen it happen in so few other cities– precious few, really. I try to do my part as a passenger when I'm riding, and like to hope I'm bringing up their day a little (especially if I know them!).
Thanks for yelling thank you from the back door! I love that!
Very curious... I've known some programmers (also mostly white male) who had a certain competitiveness that I felt ended up amplifying surliness. I would love to hear more stories of your interactions with people and your impressions of them.
I'm avidly interested in changing american business culture. I've been working through business books and working customer service to get to know how to "vibe" with people on a surface level. I had no idea Amazon had such a bad culture... though I'm not surprised. Each corporate culture has an impact on family culture and societies the employees interact with. I think they are also the most influence-able and thus, a major route to modifying society. (*Eh? Metro culture?*)
Maybe there's a way to Yes & them into becoming part of a better culture... In altering bureaucracy I've found finding a hook to lead (like a policy change saving/making money) (something they believe in) helps when getting them to move towards your thoughts. What do these 'brogrammers' want?
I also wonder if the whole loss of jobs has more to do with Global trends and the economy of "Innovation Hubs". There is a huge shift towards concentration of wealth through mechanization, globalization and disaster/predatory capitalism. It's my hope this will help society at large develop a *need* (finally) for a reevaluation of 'value'.
Excellent read. Thank you for the digest of information Nathan. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts!
- Thomas
I feel like many elements of improv lend themselves well to good social interaction. Saying yes or affirmation in general has a significant use for sure!
Very fascinating how cultures vary from route to route. Sometimes the interior state of the bus is enough to tip you off to which route it is!
The link between competitiveness and surliness– yes indeed. The need to prove oneself, or assert one's self-worth is something I see as evidence of an insecurity of sorts. Which isn't a bad thing per say, but it can be an aggressive solution to a vulnerable point of character.
I agree with your ruminations– yes, sooner rather than later a reevaluation of societal infrastructure is going to be required, especially if the number of jobs continues to lessen with proportion to the number of citizens. I'm curious to see if that will happen in our lifetimes, or a generation or two down the road.
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