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Comment by nickc181 | Hacker News Reader

My comments

First, thanks for taking the time to read the article.

1) No - no one asked me to write it. I wrote it because the NYT article is a complete hatchet piece full of false assertions, and the record needed to be set straight 2) All the data I provided is 100% true and above reproach 3) So much of the NYT article is junk it's laughable. A company that doesn't reimburse travel expenses, for instance -how do people even make this stuff up? 4) If Amazon was a fraction of what this article described, no one would work here, myself included 5) What you got from the LinkedIn article is what actually happens at Amazon. It doesn't sell as well as sensationalism. Sorry to disappoint

I appreciate your time in reading the article, as well as your opinions. I make it a point not to "argue on the Internet" - you have my apologies for not responding to you personally

Respectfully,

-Nick

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"I receive anytime feedback, both positive and constructive, for the folks that work for me."

It saddens me that you can't say "negative" here as the obvious counter-point to positive, instead opting for kool-aid management speak. Up to this point I hadn't looked at your job title, but this sentence made me do just that as it reeked of feigned management behavior. Suspicion confirmed.

> A company that doesn't reimburse travel expenses

I've had that happen and i live in a country with massively stronger employee protection laws than the USA.

> All the data I provided is 100% true and above reproach

You claim it is. That does not make it so. The very fact that you feel the need to say it, and say it in a fashion that is highly ignorant of reality, makes what you say even more suspect.

At the end of the day, what we have here is two parties, who're both highly motivated to spin a story their way.

Btw, out of sheer curiosity:

>> If you get an answer wrong because you disagree with the principle itself, then maybe we need to reconsider our way of thinking.

Has Amazon ever reconsidered its way of thinking in the matter referenced there? Please provide examples.

Saying that you "don't understand" allegations of sexism at Amazon, as a white man, is going to be tough for folks to accept. You've likely never experienced the sexism. As a fellow white man, I've never really dealt with racism directed at me in general society. Does that mean I should assume it doesn't exist outside my personal experience?

"How would adhering to this work against a specific gender? How could being an attentive, respective leader, who is vocally self-critical and candid be a bad thing?? Even if this could logically happen based on gender, of all things (and I can't for the life of me rationalize how) HR is in the room for promotion and review discussions to ensure that what Jodi and David refer to doesn't happen."

Clearly you have no empathy for gender issues. Discrimination is usually NOT logical, and as a man working in a leadership role, being a bit more humble about other gender's experiences and feelings would make you more credible. At all credible.

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