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Comment by hyperbovine | Hacker News Reader

Getting fired from something you poured your heart and soul into for close to five years, sacrificed relationships, health (+40 lbs), etc., must feel awful. I suspect he really does feel love for many of the people who were in the trenches with him during this time, as he avers in the closing line. Staring at your bulging bank account can only do so much to lessen that pain, at least in the short term.

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Staring at an empty bank account, a pile of bills & wondering how you're paying rent next month does a remarkable job at distracting you from the emotional aspect of getting fired as well.

Yes, thank goodness for being broke.

so true. just that if they superimpose then for sure you go into depression. Now that can be life changing.

I really hope this is sarcasm.

hammering a nail through your foot supposedly cures your headache too. At least in the short term.

Oh the tears of sorrow the poor guy will shed into his heated swimming pool after being ejected from such a respectable business, with 200 million to his name...

I don't think I have been this touched ever since Lassie died.

Lassie died?!

Got stuck in a well after Jimmy went off to war. The new dog was a pug, and was averse to leaving the couch. The family assumed she ran away.

Hush, don't let the bad man's lies scare you. Lassie is still alive and she's with Santa's Little Helper in a doggie spa in the maldives.

Maybe they meant Old Yeller.

Because wealthy people don't experience passion. Down with the 1%! #occupy

I should imagine that staring at $200 does a lot to lessen the pain. Groupon has been a big scam from the start and to come out of that with a huge pile if cash is nothing short of a scandal. In America the banks nearly bring down the whole of the western world's economies and we bail them out so they can give themselves huge bonuses instead if sending them to jail. And this guy gets to spend the rest if his life in luxury leaving behind a miserable bunch of share holders and customers.

Yes, how dare people make money. Those bastards!

"Make" fine, but the post you responded to said they were a scam. Surely you don't imagine that any way one can make money is noble? On the off chance that you do, would you mind telling me where I could find you after dark with lots of cash on you and no firearm?

I think claiming Groupon is a scam is a pretty subjective statement.

And the answer to your question is never all three :)

This comment is totally unnecessary given all the caveats downandout made, and as someone who has lived through hard times it upset me to read your comment, although I do appreciate the edit that was made.

Your hard times are only hard relative to that of others, and even then, only in some aspects.

But we know the human brain doesn't work like that anyway. My life is, in almost all aspects, better than the vast majority of the people in the world, but that doesn't stop my brain from making me feel completely awful when something bad (relatively) happens. Your brain doesn't say 'well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water'.

Locus of perception. Even just being "cold" relative to someone else (temperature).

Locus of perception isn't really a "phrase" that is accepted, though it would merit some Cog Psych research to quantify the phenomena above.

> well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water

I'm not sure whether it's my brain, or 'me' that's saying it, but this is pretty much what I tell myself every time something 'bad' happens to me. Works like a charm.

> Your brain doesn't say 'well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water'.

You should maybe look into getting a more compassionate brain.

In what way is your message to him helpful?

That's ridiculous. You've never felt upset about a girl (or guy) , or because you lost your job, or just because you had a shitty day? You can probably rationalise it away as 'well people are worse off than me' but it likely doesn't make you feel a whole bunch better.

You're right, I could have worded that differently and better. What I intended to say was that even then, there's usually some thoughts about being happy for the wonderful things I do have, bubbling in the background (not continuously, of course). And like you said, I also try not to go with the "some people have it much worse" line of reasoning.

I'm afraid he can't read that from behind his mountain of money.

He is still serving as a director on the board, so it's not as if he's being booted out of the company. He (or the shareholders) may choose to change that, but for the time being he is still involved directly in the well-being of the company. This would be a great opportunity to learn how to manage the company the way it should be (Groupon Hate aside) and perhaps return as CEO in the future or be better prepared for whatever is next.

It may feel awful but the previous poster's point was probably that there's no stress to go along with it. For middle class people who get fired they may have all those feelings and effects as well but they also have the stress of needing to get a job within a few weeks.

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