Laptop sticker? Forum

[Anonymous User]

but putting a sticker on your laptop seems to be a tiny example of making work your life in a way I'd encourage people not to do.

i disagree with this quote and agree with the above partner that not putting the sticker is too try-hard. the more you allow work to dictate or cause you to stray from your natural behavior, the more you are "making work your life". i align decorating laptop with decorating office for the most part, so you can within reason

Yeah this is such a weird take. Is putting up pictures in your office also bad suddenly? Having a fridge in your office? Cmon guys be normal. You don't have to live like a prisoner.

I mean, I already said it was a pretentiously philosophical comment. And I don't have any problem at all with decorating your office (though someone I knew bought a leather couch for their office which I thought was a bit much). But I also have a personal laptop at home, so for me my work laptop is my work laptop and I like to keep it mentally separate. It's not actually mine, it's my employer's. Decorating it with stickers, for me, isn't like decorating my office, it's like accepting that work invades all corners of my life and there are no boundaries.

But if I'm the only weirdo who feels that way, that's cool. Like I said, I don't think it's a big deal actually to put a sticker on your laptop.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who is in house and uses outside counsel extensively, imo having stickers on your laptop can only really hurt your image, not really help it. For example, there is an off chance that you bond with your client about your NRA/Pokémon/meme sticker, but its more likely to offend them or have them question your judgement.

[MrTooToo]

I feel like this thread should be submitted, in full and without need for further comment, to the American Journal of Psychiatry under the proposed title: "Neuroses and the Law."

[Anonymous User]

Should people judge you about it? No. Will someone judge you about it? Yes. Is the risk worth the reward -- here not mixing up your laptop with another associate's, which will never happen? Up to you to decide, but seems like a no to me. People judge others all the time for superficial, inconsequential things (see the dozens of clothes threads). I have had a partner comment to me negatively about a male associate who was not perfectly clean shaven when the offender at issue had maybe the slightest hint of a five o'clock shadow,.
While you personally might not care, it is immature to not acknowledge that others might so that people can calculate the risk/reward accurately.

[Anonymous User]

Should people judge you about it? No. Will someone judge you about it? Yes. Is the risk worth the reward -- here not mixing up your laptop with another associate's, which will never happen? Up to you to decide, but seems like a no to me. People judge others all the time for superficial, inconsequential things (see the dozens of clothes threads). I have had a partner comment to me negatively about a male associate who was not perfectly clean shaven when the offender at issue had maybe the slightest hint of a five o'clock shadow,.
While you personally might not care, it is immature to not acknowledge that others might so that people can calculate the risk/reward accurately.

This type of thing is so office specific it's hard to advise. For example, the shaving thing. I keep a beard and the first few months I neurotically kept it neat and trim, shaving my neck ad cheeks carefully every time I went into the office. Then a few times I forgot and nobody seemed to care or notice. And I noticed that some partners routinely showed up with several day's beard. So I stopped caring so much, and still haven't received any comment. I generally keep it under control, and maybe someone is silently judging me, but I am within the norms of my office.

Point being: you just gotta get in there and figure it out using those people skills that got you through life from birth until 2020

[Anonymous User]

Should people judge you about it? No. Will someone judge you about it? Yes. Is the risk worth the reward -- here not mixing up your laptop with another associate's, which will never happen? Up to you to decide, but seems like a no to me. People judge others all the time for superficial, inconsequential things (see the dozens of clothes threads). I have had a partner comment to me negatively about a male associate who was not perfectly clean shaven when the offender at issue had maybe the slightest hint of a five o'clock shadow,.
While you personally might not care, it is immature to not acknowledge that others might so that people can calculate the risk/reward accurately.

This type of thing is so office specific it's hard to advise. For example, the shaving thing. I keep a beard and the first few months I neurotically kept it neat and trim, shaving my neck ad cheeks carefully every time I went into the office. Then a few times I forgot and nobody seemed to care or notice. And I noticed that some partners routinely showed up with several day's beard. So I stopped caring so much, and still haven't received any comment. I generally keep it under control, and maybe someone is silently judging me, but I am within the norms of my office.

Point being: you just gotta get in there and figure it out using those people skills that got you through life from birth until 2020

Except nobody will have a sticker.

[Anonymous User]

Should people judge you about it? No. Will someone judge you about it? Yes. Is the risk worth the reward -- here not mixing up your laptop with another associate's, which will never happen? Up to you to decide, but seems like a no to me. People judge others all the time for superficial, inconsequential things (see the dozens of clothes threads). I have had a partner comment to me negatively about a male associate who was not perfectly clean shaven when the offender at issue had maybe the slightest hint of a five o'clock shadow,.
While you personally might not care, it is immature to not acknowledge that others might so that people can calculate the risk/reward accurately.

This type of thing is so office specific it's hard to advise. For example, the shaving thing. I keep a beard and the first few months I neurotically kept it neat and trim, shaving my neck ad cheeks carefully every time I went into the office. Then a few times I forgot and nobody seemed to care or notice. And I noticed that some partners routinely showed up with several day's beard. So I stopped caring so much, and still haven't received any comment. I generally keep it under control, and maybe someone is silently judging me, but I am within the norms of my office.

Point being: you just gotta get in there and figure it out using those people skills that got you through life from birth until 2020

Except nobody will have a sticker.

In my office at least, nobody will notice or care if you have a tasteful sticker on your laptop. Obviously in some offices people will, because all the weirdos in this thread work somewhere.

[Anonymous User]

Should people judge you about it? No. Will someone judge you about it? Yes. Is the risk worth the reward -- here not mixing up your laptop with another associate's, which will never happen? Up to you to decide, but seems like a no to me. People judge others all the time for superficial, inconsequential things (see the dozens of clothes threads). I have had a partner comment to me negatively about a male associate who was not perfectly clean shaven when the offender at issue had maybe the slightest hint of a five o'clock shadow,.
While you personally might not care, it is immature to not acknowledge that others might so that people can calculate the risk/reward accurately.

This type of thing is so office specific it's hard to advise. For example, the shaving thing. I keep a beard and the first few months I neurotically kept it neat and trim, shaving my neck ad cheeks carefully every time I went into the office. Then a few times I forgot and nobody seemed to care or notice. And I noticed that some partners routinely showed up with several day's beard. So I stopped caring so much, and still haven't received any comment. I generally keep it under control, and maybe someone is silently judging me, but I am within the norms of my office.

Edit: this feels just like that RTO thread a while back where people continued to repeat that there are no benefits from being in person.

Point being: you just gotta get in there and figure it out using those people skills that got you through life from birth until 2020

Except nobody will have a sticker.

In my office at least, nobody will notice or care if you have a tasteful sticker on your laptop. Obviously in some offices people will, because all the weirdos in this thread work somewhere.

How can you make such bold statements about everybody in your office? What is it, like 5 people? I'm so glad I don't know all of my coworkers well enough to make that representation.

This continues to be the sticking point. We all agree that some of these people exist (even though the opinion is held by a stupid and small minority), and we all agree OP is within their rights to pay attention or ignore them, depending on how risk averse they are. The thing that continues to derail this thread (and which is demonstrably false) is when people like you say things like "nobody will notice or care."

Edit: this feels like that RTO thread from a while back where people continued to assert that there are no benefits to being in person.

[Anonymous User]

Should people judge you about it? No. Will someone judge you about it? Yes. Is the risk worth the reward -- here not mixing up your laptop with another associate's, which will never happen? Up to you to decide, but seems like a no to me. People judge others all the time for superficial, inconsequential things (see the dozens of clothes threads). I have had a partner comment to me negatively about a male associate who was not perfectly clean shaven when the offender at issue had maybe the slightest hint of a five o'clock shadow,.
While you personally might not care, it is immature to not acknowledge that others might so that people can calculate the risk/reward accurately.

This type of thing is so office specific it's hard to advise. For example, the shaving thing. I keep a beard and the first few months I neurotically kept it neat and trim, shaving my neck ad cheeks carefully every time I went into the office. Then a few times I forgot and nobody seemed to care or notice. And I noticed that some partners routinely showed up with several day's beard. So I stopped caring so much, and still haven't received any comment. I generally keep it under control, and maybe someone is silently judging me, but I am within the norms of my office.

Edit: this feels just like that RTO thread a while back where people continued to repeat that there are no benefits from being in person.

Point being: you just gotta get in there and figure it out using those people skills that got you through life from birth until 2020

Except nobody will have a sticker.

In my office at least, nobody will notice or care if you have a tasteful sticker on your laptop. Obviously in some offices people will, because all the weirdos in this thread work somewhere.

How can you make such bold statements about everybody in your office? What is it, like 5 people? I'm so glad I don't know all of my coworkers well enough to make that representation.

This continues to be the sticking point. We all agree that some of these people exist (even though the opinion is held by a stupid and small minority), and we all agree OP is within their rights to pay attention or ignore them, depending on how risk averse they are. The thing that continues to derail this thread (and which is demonstrably false) is when people like you say things like "nobody will notice or care."

Edit: this feels like that RTO thread from a while back where people continued to assert that there are no benefits to being in person.

Vibes.

[Anonymous User]

Y'all claiming no one will care are clearly forgetting the hiring/firing power lies with a cabal of older attorneys, a very vocal minority of which desperately want everyone to work in the buildings downtown five days a week and not so secretly want to go back to business formal. And all it takes to cause trouble is a vocal minority. You really think the same attorney who won't let you wear rubber soled shoes is also going to be super chill about your Llama sticker?

AND y'all forgetting judges be crazy sensitive about decorum. No matter how cool your firm is, you are telegraphing that you never actually expect to be important enough to go to court. I don't care if you are set on in house, that's not a good look.

[Anonymous User]

Y'all claiming no one will care are clearly forgetting the hiring/firing power lies with a cabal of older attorneys, a very vocal minority of which desperately want everyone to work in the buildings downtown five days a week and not so secretly want to go back to business formal. And all it takes to cause trouble is a vocal minority. You really think the same attorney who won't let you wear rubber soled shoes is also going to be super chill about your Llama sticker?

AND y'all forgetting judges be crazy sensitive about decorum. No matter how cool your firm is, you are telegraphing that you never actually expect to be important enough to go to court. I don't care if you are set on in house, that's not a good look.

Yeah if this is your world, then you should probably make sure you ask the partners for permission every time you go to the bathroom. The partners at my firm wear casual shoes.

[Anonymous User]

Y'all claiming no one will care are clearly forgetting the hiring/firing power lies with a cabal of older attorneys, a very vocal minority of which desperately want everyone to work in the buildings downtown five days a week and not so secretly want to go back to business formal. And all it takes to cause trouble is a vocal minority. You really think the same attorney who won't let you wear rubber soled shoes is also going to be super chill about your Llama sticker?

AND y'all forgetting judges be crazy sensitive about decorum. No matter how cool your firm is, you are telegraphing that you never actually expect to be important enough to go to court. I don't care if you are set on in house, that's not a good look.

I've been squarely in the "don't do it" camp, but this is ridiculous. Nobody is going to get fired for having a sticker (unless it's objectively offensive), no matter which partner you piss off. It's more about impressions and how that impacts the work/trust the select few who care will send your way. Your point about whether a partner will think you're court-room-ready is a good one, though - that's precisely the type of thing donning a sticker could lead to.

But the analogy with rubber soled shoes is a poor one. That's more a generational/classist thing, whereas not putting stickers on a laptop is not.

Vibes.

There are plenty of chill people who wouldn't want sticker-laptop-bro to sit in front of a client. I'm obviously not going to convince you, but it's naive to say that a general vibe is enough to confirm nobody will care about a sticker on a laptop. Unless you're in a firm that's so infected with the tech startup culture (maybe Gunderson?) such that no client (and thus no partner) would care, I think you're just blowing smoke. And if you're at a firm like that, you're proving the exception, not the rule, which is unhelpful to OP.

[dustywabbit]

Put a sticker on and cover it with a sticky note if needed. Best of both worlds.

[ksm6969]

People might care and judge you. People might also care and judge you about everything from your haircut to your facial hair to your pastel shirt to your nonpleated slacks to your slim tailored pants to your bright socks to your rubber soled shoes. Unless you just wear a white shirt and red tie every day and never show any personality, someone somewhere could judge you. And if you do that, you will still get judged for having no personality or charisma. I’m not in favor of a cost benefit balance for every little thing— “what’s the risk in having a beard vs what’s the reward?” Seems crazy to me.just put it on. On the off chance that you work with an extremely sensitive client, a partner or senior will tell you “this client is crazy, cover your sticker.”

I worked in house in a conservative area and a conservative field.We knew that our outhouse counsels all had personalities, just like everyone did. It would never have been an issue . (It could be with another client— like how people make fun of trump for hiring based on looks— but then it would be on your advisor to warn you about those types of crazy sensitivities; just like if a client wanted no striped ties or something).

[Anonymous User]

People might care and judge you. People might also care and judge you about everything from your haircut to your facial hair to your pastel shirt to your nonpleated slacks to your slim tailored pants to your bright socks to your rubber soled shoes. Unless you just wear a white shirt and red tie every day and never show any personality, someone somewhere could judge you. And if you do that, you will still get judged for having no personality or charisma. I’m not in favor of a cost benefit balance for every little thing— “what’s the risk in having a beard vs what’s the reward?” Seems crazy to me.just put it on. On the off chance that you work with an extremely sensitive client, a partner or senior will tell you “this client is crazy, cover your sticker.”

I worked in house in a conservative area and a conservative field.We knew that our outhouse counsels all had personalities, just like everyone did. It would never have been an issue . (It could be with another client— like how people make fun of trump for hiring based on looks— but then it would be on your advisor to warn you about those types of crazy sensitivities; just like if a client wanted no striped ties or something).

I worked for a client who called our firm out for having dated laptops and for a partner who says that anything other than a white shirt is for casualwear.

People ITT could really benefit from understanding (1) two things can be true at once, (2) anecdotes don't prove much at all, (3) gray lines don't mean lines shouldn't be drawn, and (4) one person's preferences about what's worthwhile isn't reflective of everyone's. We're all lawyers so these should come pretty naturally.

Anyway, I'm checking out of this one. Pretty much everything interesting has been said at least five times. OP, if you want to put a sticker on your laptops and understand the risks then go ahead. That's your choice. Everyone else trying to say that there can only be one choice can pull the sticks out of their butts and stand down.

[blair.waldorf]

Truly cannot believe there are 40 posts in this thread.

[Anonymous User]

Truly cannot believe there are 40 posts in this thread.

Are you really surprised? Pretty tame thread by this place's standards. I'm surprised it's still sort of on topic and hasn't veered into race or KE.

[NoLongerALurker]

If you care enough to ask, then don’t, because you’ll care about it and feel weird all the time. But I’m squarely in the “y’all are fucking crazy for thinking this is a big deal” camp. I wear jeans to the office and I’m sure sometimes some tool partners dislike it, but also, kinda like, fuck ‘em if so. Ya know?

[Anonymous User]

Truly cannot believe there are 40 posts in this thread.

Are you really surprised? Pretty tame thread by this place's standards. I'm surprised it's still sort of on topic and hasn't veered into race or KE.

Any thoughts on the demographic makeup of incoming KE associates and how their prestige is impacted as a result?

/s

[Anonymous User]

Truly cannot believe there are 40 posts in this thread.

Are you really surprised? Pretty tame thread by this place's standards. I'm surprised it's still sort of on topic and hasn't veered into race or KE.

Any thoughts on the demographic makeup of incoming KE associates and how their prestige is impacted as a result?

/s

Areasian jews at KE who put stickers on their laptops discriminated against when it comes to making partner?