Dear Employee, We Don't Like the Car You Drive | Hacker News Reader

Dear Employee, We Don't Like the Car You Drive

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36 pointsbhartzer27 comments

Please stop with this kind of garbage content on HN.

If you want to read random people bitching on Twitter, just use Twitter.

Presumably the garbage will stop getting posted as soon as HR departments stop writing it.

I went to dinner with a C-level exec in our organization. After dinner, he said: "oh, hey, check out this car with duct tape on the bumper...can you believe it?"

"that's my car, Brian."

"oh, well, it's still hilarious." And he took a picture.

I don't know if the letter on Twitter is true, but I'm 100% sure that story happened to me. People are weird about cars. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

To me, a car is like my shoes. It's a utilitarian thing that's meant to brave the worst of the elements, not a showpiece status symbol.

But then you could say that about your house paint/lawn, and your HOA will make sure you change your mind...

I think it IS valid to reason "maintaining this standard of vanity is a diagnostic signal that you're financially and psychologically sound and socialized and also affects the morale of others around you", kind of like maintaining a neat uniform in the military. But :C

Assuming the letter is real, it may refer to a job where the quality and care of your car directly reflect your job performance--say if you work at a car dealership, detailer, mechanic, custom finish shop, etc., or if your job requires you to take clients out in your car for any reason.

I am the opposite, I love my car and I hope to drive as many different brands as possible. Most of us are probably going to spend a big portion of their lifetimes in one so why cheap out. It's like a house, you want to make it cozy and arrange the interior to your liking, why should the car be any different when you're spending so much time inside of one?

The diagnostic signal is what I was thinking - you want your employees/coworkers not to show signs of neglect for their ride at the very least.

Just want to mention, there is no proof that this is an actual letter. None of the information in this entire thread is verifiable (except an anecdote about IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad being denied entry to a business awards ceremony for arriving by bus, that one is true).

There's not even a claim that this is an actual letter. The author reports simply that it "showed up in one of the car forums I'm in" - he's not claiming that he personally got it, or that he knows the person who got it, or that anyone in particular says they were sent it.

Like, I don't want to overgeneralize, but it's pretty disturbing to see how many people are willing to guess whether a meme tweet is true based entirely on their preconceptions of what companies in general are like.

Since I have no background knowledge on what this person's occupation is, I think it's at least plausible.

For example, if you drive a really beat up car, and park it every day in front of your place of business, then it might actually reflect negatively on the business. People might see it and think "I wanted to go somewhere professional, why is this rusty junk here?".

Now, if your business doesn't deal with clients or customers, then the argument of impressing people goes away, but without more information it's impossible to say whether it's reasonable or unreasonable.

On the front page of HN. WTF.

I think it was on r/funny on Reddit or something too.

I hope this doesn't start to become a trend here.

Isn't the difference what we make out of submissions? Fake or not, neither does preclude having a serious discussion about a topic.

What stood out in the letter was people being under the general suspicion of fraud when there is the indication of financial problems. Is this really happening in the U.S.?

When I asked my current employer re: the background check required at hire, they gave me a similar line about "financial distress as a key indicator of fraud... etc etc". Whether or not the fraud is actually happening, it's a hiring practice that I've been subject to. (Texas, U.S.)

Interesting, thanks! Beside finding the general suspicion questionable, I was also curious because asking for debt or a financial background check is (only) OK here in Germany when there is a legitimate interest of the employer, e.g. when someone will be working directly with money (cashier, bank employee, ...) but not for other positions like .. software engineer, hairdresser, you name it.

In a nation where the majority of bankruptcies are medical in whole or in part its horrible that if you lose your job including due to medical issues you likely won't get another.

If this is real, it is reprehensible. I drive a 15 year old Toyota with a couple dents and a touch of rust. I also don't have a car payment. I feel that is far more responsible, in a financial sense, than purchasing a brand new car and having to make payments.

Agreed. If they're that concerned about their corporate image, then they should lend him a corporate vehicle.

This has to be fake. There's no way a company would do this, right? I mean, unless this was from the Away CEO or something.

Credit Bureaus in Germany will (last I heard) consider the condition of your home and other property as part of your creditworthiness. Security clearance can involve interviews with childhood friends. Why is this such a stretch?

Not normal banks or bank-like institutions. The ones which lend consumer money (to buy a great phone, or other vanity devices) may have a look at you home to estimate the risk of you not paying back.

If your home is neat your chances increase because you're more thustworthy

A normal credit is all done at the bank.

How many similar decisions are made by management that isn't dumb enough to write such a letter.

This kind of thing happens often in places where you need a US Clearance to be employed, and, you get judged at all ends of the spectrum. Too new, too old, too different. It made a bit of stink when I showed up to the work site in an avocado green former US Forest Service Chevy Tahoe I bought at government auction. Also, the Colonel's Secretary "inadvertently" got hit with a window tint violation ticket ("too dark") by Base Security on her brand new Kia sedan with factory tint.

This is obviously satire. But it's a satire of very real human psychology.

20 years ago I was making low six figures and driving a Camry with 200k miles, and regularly took a ribbing for it from my colleagues.

I eventually bought my (dream) car, a Nissan 350z, used, with 19k miles on it, for 23k. I was told by at least one person to "man up and buy a BMW."

The funniest thing about it was, in Irvine, a 350z is a pretty inexpensive car. When I would drive my same vehicle in Riverside county, it was not uncommon for people to just stare at the car go by, as they'd never seen one before.

Next day, roll up in Messerschmidt KR200. Is this better?

Hilarious. I was thinking maybe go out and find an old, rusted-out, barely running AMC Eagle, but this is better.

This is fake

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