Yesterday's case was even worse because this same guy would sit with a colleague and discuss the house she's buying and other things in the middle of doing his own work (and he's charging his clients for his time and I'm sure he's not charging for such downtime), which I found particularly galling as a real double standard on downtime.
Actually, the fact that this individual would chit chat about personal crap while on the clock is probably why they thought this particular programmer was simply slacking.
No,not at all. I am saying the person who does all this chatting is projecting -- they are the one who actually slacks on the job but doesn't see it as such. I see this same dynamic at work all the time (and I am not a programmer): People who spend gobs of time on a daily basis discussing all kinds of personal stuff with other employees. They are in "management" type positions, so I think they view it as "part of their job"/"team building" etc. I don't think it is. And these folks who spend so much of their day shooting the breeze are the exact same people who get after others (lower ranking than themselves) for talking to coworkers "instead of doing their job" -- even if they actually are discussing work and not just shooting the breeze.
No big. Probably just a case of "Mz talks like Elle Woods* yet again" anyway. (I say this based on the low number of upvotes for my first remark and the much higher number of upvotes for my second one.)
* A la the scene in Legally Blonde that goes something like this: "He's gay! -- what kind of shoes do I have on?" ..."Uh, black?" ..."See! He's gay!"
Actually, the fact that this individual would chit chat about personal crap while on the clock is probably why they thought this particular programmer was simply slacking.