5:30, sure, that's end of day anyway, but if I zipped out at 3 to engage in my social hobby, I'd expect some frowning too.
(2 stories down)
Why can't we hire developers? There's a developer shortage! Why do people hit mid 30s and leave sf?
What are slacking engineers doing when I'm not watching them? If I can't supervise them coding, how do I know they aren't fucking off?
edit: No fucking way can you leave early during the week, but if shit goes bust on the weekend, all hands on deck and no comp time. Aren't startups fun?
(In Canada, Good Friday was a holiday, so I had the day off anyway). And really, who cares if you leave at 3 pm once/year regardless of the reason? It should be a non-issue.
That is how (many of) us foreign atheists look at it. It's self-evidently a social hobby with some funny rules. It gets special treatment because the practitioners of this hobby get significantly more aggressive about it than the people playing collectable card games.
Where do you draw the line between hobby and culture? They're not exclusive. Something can be both hobby and culture. Just you, on your own, with no interaction with other humans? Hobby. Involves someone else? Both. Can something be culture without being a hobby? Sure. Eating, for example (but if you like eating competitively, and practice your technique and subscribe to "Big Mouth Monthly", its hobby too).
Just suggesting not to throw it in one bucket with card games and may be research it more.
2) Good Friday comes once a year.