The small cafe near the workshop in the neighborhood is a really interesting place.
在我经常使用的共享办公空间一楼附近有一家小咖啡馆。
首先，年轻的老板非常亲切，价格也很实惠，而且大多数顾客都是外带，所以非常适合简单处理工作或任务，我偶尔会去那里，最近听说他们换了Blendy Coffee豆子，咖啡变得更好喝了，所以成了我经常光顾的地方。
However, occasionally there are people holding heated discussions at this cafe. They seem to be from a nearby 'blockchain-based game development company'.. Their conversations are often quite fascinating, so I often end up overhearing them unintentionally.
Also, in early this year, I had the experience of having my copyright stolen in an NFT project without intending to, and I spent quite a lot of time trying to interact with NFT creators. Based on this, I was able to work with an NFT-related Web3 company for about two months.
Given my short experience in the field and my own thoughts, and even my concerns, heated discussions among junior developers and planners I didn't even know were quite interesting to me.
Most of their topics cover fields that are quite weighty in the recent IT world. Not only their main business of Web3-based P2E (Play to Earn) games, but also hearing their all-encompassing worries and thoughts about the blockchain sector, which has shown much stagnation recently, and even discussing the metaverse sector, it seems like an opportunity to hear the thoughts of the dream-filled content industry workers in their late 20s to early 30s in the current era.
Of course, one shouldn't listen to others' stories without permission.. But they were shouting loudly in a small cafe, making a racket.. Even if I create my own quiet space with the latest noise cancellation, it gets invaded and I have no choice but to listen. (But I can't just leave that place, can I?)
Seeing the boss who couldn't do anything about them talking so loudly that it felt rude, I just smiled and gave a look that said 'it's okay,' turned my back, and tried my best to gesture 'I am not trying to listen to your story.' and ended up listening to their story, which was inevitably interesting.
However, a few days ago, I heard a story that gave me quite a lot to think about.
That day, I was working alone at a cafe when two people walked in and started talking, and sure enough, they started talking very loudly... a story that went straight into my ears..
Just by hearing the keywords or content, I knew it was that company again.
So, I was forced to listen to their story against my will (?)...
That can't be right.
Today, it was a conversation between the boss and the junior server developer who declared their resignation, rather than the juniors.
While I have heard many stories, to summarize, the junior employee wanted to switch to the VR industry, and the representative seemed to be engaging in a conversation where they were on parallel lines, with the representative repeatedly asking why they wanted to leave and listing complaints.
After many pointless stories, the junior employee said, "My salary is low, and...", and from that point on, the CEO began criticizing the employee, saying, "If you do your work like that, there's no way I can give you more money."
Of course, I had my doubts at this point.
‘ Then why not just wish them well and let them go? ‘
But as if seizing the opportunity to criticize, the CEO suddenly accelerated, launching into a barrage of abuse and insults. He immediately declared that the VR field has no future, is practically a dead sector, and that he had tried an Oculus device six or seven years ago and it was the worst; he said the field is doomed, and that you are too stupid and pitiful to challenge it, so he couldn't just leave you be.
Suddenly, it got really interesting, so I kept listening to his logic..
” Didn't Oculus eventually get acquired by Facebook? It's not a big corporation, but being acquired by a social media company is the end of the line. On the other hand, blockchain has infinite value. Look at Wemade Coin; its market cap has already surpassed all global corporations. Here you have a company where you can earn a lot of money and whose value reaches the sky, yet you are someone who can't do the job. They are paying you a little money to work for them, so how can you want to go out and work in the VR field, which has no vision and looks like it's going to fail..
Of course, you aren't at the level where I can say you're my person.. Because I'm nice.. I can't just leave you as you are. Well, even if you really want to do what you want to do.. No matter how I look at it, that's not the right choice. Isn't that a stupid choice? I really know a lot and have done a lot, so I can't just watch your stupid choice, so I'm talking to you.
I am absolutely not doing this because I need you or trying to hold you back. I'm just someone who can't leave things like this. I can't stand your stupid judgment. Why go there? Go to a big corporation instead. But you know big corporations have no future too, right? Look at blockchain; even companies that started 4 or 5 years ago have surpassed all big corporations in market cap.
I don't understand you. “
Oh my...
Of course, I wasn't recording or writing down those stories in real-time at the time, so I'm rewriting based on my memory, and there might be some slight adaptation involved.. But anyway, I spilled such shocking stories that.. I have a memorable memory of it.
Throughout the story, I wanted to turn my chair around and butt in, meddling inappropriately, logically dismantling the nonsensical claims one by one, and telling the junior employee to "run away." I felt this way dozens of times.
Well, but it's obvious that I shouldn't butt in...
Furthermore, while continuing to criticize other fields and strongly emphasizing the employee's foolishness, the speaker did not convey their intended message or main point clearly, instead going in circles with their story..
After listening to the story for a while, the employee started chiming in and opening up a little bit.. He began to reveal his true feelings.
“Of course, you might not be satisfied with your salary.
But what about me? You guys can't do your job properly at all and don't even earn your keep, yet I'm pouring my own savings into you because I love the blockchain field and have a heart to contribute to it, right?
You guys take the money, but I'm just giving it away.
Yeah, sure, our revenue isn't clear yet and we aren't making big money, but in exchange, we give you coins. Even if XXX Coin (looks like the company's coin) looks worthless right now, once the P2E game we're building comes out, it's going to jump to an absurd value.
You know our XXX game? How much did it run? Right now, I'm just giving you the path to becoming rich. And yet, how can you not even be grateful and talk about your salary being insufficient while doing this to me?“
Yes. To tell the employee that we cannot meet the salary they requested, we spent almost 30 minutes criticizing other business areas and other companies incredibly harshly.
Is it because they think they look incompetent if you just say you can't meet their desired salary? Anyway, the end of this long story was... I can't give you the salary you want, but please keep working here.
If you have experience with projects utilizing server-related features, either by developing games or working at a related company, you will sympathize with how important a server developer is to that team, and how difficult it is to find a replacement if they quit or go AWOL.
Maybe the company is forcing employees' passion pay with low salaries and the company's unknown future coin.. And when a tired server developer expresses their intention to resign and change jobs, they hurt him with harsh criticism, while at the same time trying to justify themselves to the other party by saying that they are right and that they are not making any mistakes.
Even though he never saw her face, that junior employee was either soft-hearted and kind, or perhaps he still had affection for the company, or maybe the CEO's gaslighting skills actually worked? The employee spoke the words the CEO wanted to hear, saying he would think it over again, and the two left the cafe with their arms around each other, vowing to make it work...
我们一生中难免会犯错，有时也会因此伤害到身边的人。
However, admitting a mistake and correcting it requires far more courage than one might think. And those who believe they are superior based on their own thoughts and believe they have accumulated more than others seem to find it even more difficult to summon that courage.
At some point, when the other party says something that really hits the nail on the head, rather than admitting, 'Ah, I was wrong...', it seems that most people just get angrier and criticize more broadly, while simultaneously exercising a self-preservation instinct that says, 'I wasn't wrong...'
Of course, even as a third party, I had experienced that in the past, and seeing it from a third-person perspective was a valuable experience where I could realize how crude and foolish it looked.
我不知道那家公司是哪家，也不知道那位初级员工后来怎么样了，但那位代表仍然猛烈抨击所有技术公司，特别是VR公司，甚至抨击最近发布新产品的META的愿景，同时坚信区块链业务比世界上任何其他业务都更优越，且具有最高的价值，尽管该公司目前尚未实现盈利。
At the very least, it gave me the realization that day: ‘I shouldn’t live like that…’
I should live thinking "thank you."