Is not caring about your company or work that abnormal? /u/JackyJack41 CSCQ protests reddit

Hello everyone,

I work as a developer in a large organization, earning significantly more than the average developer at my level and location. I mention this not to boast, but to provide context: I am, by far, one of the least invested developers I know.

Nearly everyone around me seems, in my eyes, to be a work fanatic. These are the kind of people who log 2–3 extra hours on sick days just because their team lead asks them to. They believe drawing clear boundaries between “work” and “life” is unreasonable, insisting that “work is done when work is done.” If they don’t finish their tasks within regular hours, they’ll stay late to complete them, even though—ironically—if they finished early, management would simply assign more work to fill their time.

I’m particularly wary of developers who treat their work as if they own it. They become personally invested, even prideful, about their code and projects. Perhaps my perspective comes from my experience as a self-employed freelancer, where the work was always for clients, not for me. I’ve never seen my work as “mine.” It belongs to whoever pays for it, and they’re free to use, change, or discard it however they see fit. If my boss were to delete all my code and call it garbage, I honestly wouldn’t care. It’s not a matter of lacking pride—I simply can’t bring myself to be emotionally invested in work that holds no personal significance for me.

For example, if I finish work at 6 PM and production crashes at 6:05, I won’t answer the call or even think about it as long as I can deniably do so. I’ll address it the next day if it’s still unresolved and assigned to me. Similarly, I don’t check emails or respond to calls outside work hours. However, when I’m at work, I’m fully focused—no personal calls, private errands, or non-work-related conversations outside of breaks.

In my environment, voicing these views would likely provoke fierce criticism. So, I’m left wondering: is my mindset really that absurd?

Hello everyone,

I work as a developer in a large organization, earning significantly more than the average developer at my level and location. I mention this not to boast, but to provide context: I am, by far, one of the least invested developers I know.

Nearly everyone around me seems, in my eyes, to be a work fanatic. These are the kind of people who log 2–3 extra hours on sick days just because their team lead asks them to. They believe drawing clear boundaries between “work” and “life” is unreasonable, insisting that “work is done when work is done.” If they don’t finish their tasks within regular hours, they’ll stay late to complete them, even though—ironically—if they finished early, management would simply assign more work to fill their time.

I’m particularly wary of developers who treat their work as if they own it. They become personally invested, even prideful, about their code and projects. Perhaps my perspective comes from my experience as a self-employed freelancer, where the work was always for clients, not for me. I’ve never seen my work as “mine.” It belongs to whoever pays for it, and they’re free to use, change, or discard it however they see fit. If my boss were to delete all my code and call it garbage, I honestly wouldn’t care. It’s not a matter of lacking pride—I simply can’t bring myself to be emotionally invested in work that holds no personal significance for me.

For example, if I finish work at 6 PM and production crashes at 6:05, I won’t answer the call or even think about it as long as I can deniably do so. I’ll address it the next day if it’s still unresolved and assigned to me. Similarly, I don’t check emails or respond to calls outside work hours. However, when I’m at work, I’m fully focused—no personal calls, private errands, or non-work-related conversations outside of breaks.

In my environment, voicing these views would likely provoke fierce criticism. So, I’m left wondering: is my mindset really that absurd?