[bad416f1f5a2]

I would place a much higher significance on the reported mental health issues - it’s hard to get on disability in the US, and if you’re truly on $3k/month because you are unable to work, you have a serious disability.

Otherwise? Totally agree. The worst developers are the ones that make everything they touch that much worse merely by virtue of touching it. I’ll take dead weight, “go write a bunch of printf’s and accomplish nothing” over them any day.

[fineIllregister]

>...if you’re truly on $3k/month because you are unable to work, you have a serious disability.

They're most likely talking about Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The amount is completely unrelated to the severity of a person's disability.

The reason is in the name--it's insurance for lost wages. Workers' FICA taxes are the premiums they pay while working, and are based on wages as well. So basically: the more one makes while working, means the more they pay in while working, means the more they lose when disabled, which means the more they get paid by SSDI.

[bad416f1f5a2]

The size of the monthly pay isn’t what is significant - having any nonzero amount is. The SSDI acceptance rate is lucky to hit 30%, typically takes multiple hearings/appeals to get a payout, and can be denied if the government can demonstrate the potential for you to work outside the field you were employed in. If you receive anything from it, it is prima facie evidence of a serious disability.

So to my point, this isn’t a story about a bad programmer, it’s a story about a person who is truly so disabled that they can’t program.