Comment Remember What It Says in 'Mythical Man Month' (Score 2) 432
The gentleman who wrote MMM, Fred Brooks, has somewhere in the book, I believe in the foreward of the 25th anniversary edition, that 'for the ability to earn my daily bread doing that which I would gladly do for free, I am eternally grateful'.
Honestly, that's almost the level of love you need to stay in this line of work.
I know this is going to sound like 'boring old fart lecturing the kiddies', but for those of you without 10+ yrs of experience in the biz, you need to remember that decent salaries for doing this are a pretty recent phenomenon. I didn't earn $40K a yr until '95, by which time I was already getting close to 20 yrs of experience. The salaries being handed out in the early to mid 80's, particularly to those who worked with PC's, were abysmal at best. Those who entered the field in the late 70's to early 80's had to do it for love, because it sure as hell wasn't for the money. I was grateful simply for the ability to get paid at all to do something that I got such a charge out of in high school.
So, to the hot dog and soup guys I say I'm glad you found your calling, and I hope it brings you as much pleasure as mine does me.
Honestly, that's almost the level of love you need to stay in this line of work.
I know this is going to sound like 'boring old fart lecturing the kiddies', but for those of you without 10+ yrs of experience in the biz, you need to remember that decent salaries for doing this are a pretty recent phenomenon. I didn't earn $40K a yr until '95, by which time I was already getting close to 20 yrs of experience. The salaries being handed out in the early to mid 80's, particularly to those who worked with PC's, were abysmal at best. Those who entered the field in the late 70's to early 80's had to do it for love, because it sure as hell wasn't for the money. I was grateful simply for the ability to get paid at all to do something that I got such a charge out of in high school.
So, to the hot dog and soup guys I say I'm glad you found your calling, and I hope it brings you as much pleasure as mine does me.