After a hard morning fine tuning my presentation – “The Apps Market, Making Money” – for the upcoming RunRevLive.11 conference I decided it was high time I gave myself a little treat. Time to venture out in the April showers in search of a McDonalds.
This lunchtime trip reminded me one my favourite books featuring software development. In ‘JPod’, author Douglas Coupland – best known for coining the phrase ‘Generation X’ – gives a tremendously funny account of life at fictional game development company Neotronic Arts. Six very different but equally talented programmers are forced to whittle their lives away on pointless projects, having been group together not because of complimenting skillsets but instead based purely on the statistical glitch that they are the only developers in the company whose surnames start with the letter J.
What has this got to do with McDonalds you’re wondering (or indeed what has it got to do with software development?). Filling my office with the strong smells of McDonalds’ Big Mac and Fries reminded me that employees of ‘Neotronic Arts’ referred to this as ‘The Taint’ and offending colleagues were shunned by their co-workers for the rest of the day for polluting the hallowed working environment. I’m still new to RunRev….. what if my new co-workers would feel the same?!?
Fortunately RevPod employees have more in common with each other than mere coincidental initials (Coupland fans will be relieved to hear that Rev Surnames are representative of a plethora of letters from B through W) so my naughty but nice Friday treat was welcomed by everyone in the office — who immediately descended upon it and scoffed all my fries!
I have thus returned to my presentation half fed and only half satisfied. Between the British weather and my fry stealing cohorts, is it any wonder that my thoughts turn to the exquisite dining experience I have been promised in the Dolce Hayes Mansion Hotel for RunRevLive.11. I’m certain the whole Rev team will earn their lunches there – but I’m equally certain that the hotel staff will not be as forgiving of ‘The Taint’ as my new colleagues are. Good thing their Silver Creek dining room leaves nothing to be desired.
My verdict: in programming, just like every other industry, we all need the occasional lunch time treat. But if you hear someone whisper “Oh no… The Taint” next time you bring yours to the office now you’ll know why. And you’ll know what to do with them – banish them to banality in the JPod.
