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Comment by frockington | Hacker News Reader

In college I automatically filtered out companies that provided dinner for this reason. If you want a free meal you have to stay late. But then if you leave immediately after it looks like you were just staying for the free food so you may as well stay until 8 to look like a team player. It's a pattern I didn't want to start

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Who are the people that actually care about all this? I've yet to find anyone who cares that someone leaves early or stays late or stays just for the meal or whatever. The only thing people seems to care about is, very reasonably, output.

This is true for the 3 big tech companies I've worked for (which is the topic of this thread). Sometimes I get in at 10, sometimes 7. Sometimes I leave at 4, sometimes 8. I've yet to have someone comment on my schedule.

Yet I continue to see people say stuff like "oh free dinner is a trap! ahh!" "A gym on campus? Oh don't fall for it!" I don't get it.

Any option for take out?

Yes. There are (or used to be) to-go containers. Lots of people stayed late enough to just grab food, when I was there. You already stayed that late, it's fine. You can go home without judgement.

Further, a not-insignificant fraction of people stop working in the 4-6 range, do non-work activities on campus (gym, volleyball, various classes), and then eat dinner and leave. I've certainly never felt any form of pressure to work until (or past) dinner.

When I was there (London, finished 2012) they stopped these - apparently some folk were loading up and feeding their families.

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