February 19 2022, 01:06

In Russian, in the culture of communication, there is no such concept as “thank you for asking.” In American English, however, it is one of the standard phrases of polite conversation – thanks for asking, as a prelude to a response. It is especially common to use thanks for asking when the question is about something important to the person being asked. Or thank you for contacting us. In Russian, it was always kind of assumed that if someone needed something, they asked, got an answer, and in such a scenario, the “thank you” should come from the person for whom all this was necessary. The exception – responses to questions from an audience. There, there is an unspoken rule to thank for the question, or even to praise for such a good question.

February 15 2022, 01:59

Reviewed it as if it was the first time. This time in the original.

Fifteen to twenty years were enough for the part of the brain that stores movie plots to retain nothing but the title and Harry Oldman’s character’s pipe from the film. Corrected that.

If you missed it — definitely check it out. That’s the kind of humor I like (unlike “don’t look up”)


preview

Yandex
https://www.kinopoisk.ru/showcaptcha?cc=1&mt=3DA67121BAA489B97A1C8C87A2BB670D25A7A4998171300770C3D2BE110F266B3C9B1DEC5E3A7B6132A4A779F5FA102C722229A2F0881E44F6D4A46648BD246FBF8F597DEE97242FA5909849A647B5B76AD03A8D0FBBD689DEF652CE7C2FEA8E29E34D5778054AD62D2D93BE3949BC8D73E3A229FCF90956C60E412C83901CE97E150D84436B97CEEDAD2BF59D6B100E1AC672D17FD0B84E38E46AF673403CF113739FA840E59119BCC0D2214E63657EF2C28259CE3D34FA8D0BB14D4FB42CED7F456340155F274908C739066CAD7DB27F00E043E7D986350691763BB6E1&retpath=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cua2lub3BvaXNrLnJ1L2ZpbG0vMzU2Mz8%2C_01bd631c1001d01f8e2f15bd3a001c52&t=2/1714391829/36aaa6cf5113bd0d8e67c426309531ac&u=7d2f35b2-ef84ecfa-937f7f25-fa45f16e&s=8b87e95d29029bf99fcb32aa5579d431

February 14 2022, 16:02

The etymology of the word “холостой” is interesting. If you think about it, it means “not producing useful work, not initiating movement”. For example, a blank shot, a blank cartridge, an idle stroke. It turns out to be a somewhat offensive definition of an unmarried man 🙂 However, unlike “неженатый”, “холостой” is not gender-specific. By the way, “холостяк” in English is “bachelor,” i.e., a bachelor’s degree.

February 14 2022, 10:29

Previously, a job’s perks included flexible schedules, working from home, and the optional nature of office attendance. I wonder if the pendulum will swing the other way in the coming years, when office perks begin to outweigh remote work? Back in the day, I worked at a company called ENTER, which had a real focus on office presence and socialization (shoutout to Ekaterina Belousova, Ekaterina Liseycheva, and Alexey Dmitriev!). There were things like gaming Thursdays (every Thursday after work the whole office would play various games), themed costume Fridays, and so forth, which created emotional attachment and served as a non-material incentive for certain people (not everyone, as those who don’t fit this mold typically don’t get hired). Cynically speaking, from a business perspective, it’s indeed a very effective tool. Nowadays, with remote work, money plays a bigger role. Essentially, the situation resembles a competition between hotels on booking.com – the one with the lower price and sufficient quality gets more bookings. Other advantages are less considered now. Overall, working remotely has a big downside. It’s always easier to fire a name on a list than a real guy in front of you in the office, with whom you went to lunch every day.

It’s interesting, will the trend shift back to the office? I bet that it will, but it will take over the premium segment. Roughly speaking, it will be a privilege that has to be earned. Employees will crudely be divided into numbered agents somewhere in the system, and real people. Some from the first group will be happy with their situation, while others will aspire to be part of the second group, where both money and respect are higher.