As thrilled as I am to start teaching again next week, I can’t help wondering how much better it could be if my college was pimped out like Google’s New York City office.
On a Thursday afternoon before the holidays, the game room at Google’s new offices in Chelsea was being put to good use. Two engineers were taking a break from coding at the pool table. A programmer in a purple Phish T-shirt was practicing juggling. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses blasted from the flat-screen television, where two 22-year-olds played Guitar Hero, a video game that lets players strum scaled-down guitars — karaoke without the singing.
Google also has free food for the employees. heh. Our last college Christmas party was pot-luck.
Apt. 11d 
I work in the computer industry. I get free food — catered breakfast, lunch, the ice cream freezer, blah blah blah. I’ve seen the game room come and go and come again. (Many of us who survived the internet bubble view game rooms as a sign of hubris, and avoid them almost out of superstition.)
This business model is designed to keep everyone in the building, working their asses off, for as many hours as possible. Note the mention of “Google employees are encouraged to socialize among themselves.” As in, you’ll have no outside life, so get used to it! Even leaving to get some food is removed as an acceptable reason for a moment’s absence. And let me tell you, this kind of workplace is not exactly thrilled when you say something like, I’m pregnant; I’ll need to take 12 weeks.
I used to work in more normal offices, where I was allowed to do things like go to the dentist, the hair salon, or the DMV over lunch. But no more. Constant lunch meetings, no free block of time of more than 45 minutes. All my errands now have to happen on the weekends, or evenings … times when I should be with my family.
LikeLike
found you when I googled “why have kids?”. thanks for that educated discussion. look forward to reading more in my spare time. happy new year!
LikeLike
Thanks, Blanche.
Jen, okay I’ll pass on the razor scooters.
LikeLike