This is the best summary I could come up with:

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alexander Nguyen, a software engineer who moved from New York City to Seattle for a job at Amazon.

I was surprised by how much people in Seattle liked making small talk; they asked me how my days were going, which wasn’t something I normally experienced in New York City.

I then spent four or five hours either working on coding tasks or having more sit-in meetings, just to hear what other people’s designs or software thoughts were about.

I think that’s what really made me lonely: The only people I knew in Seattle were my coworkers, and I couldn’t relate with them — I had a hard time getting to know them on a personal level.

And on Blind, an anonymous forum where verified employees discuss issues mainly related to tech, I often come across stories from people sharing about how lonely they are.

I think one big reason for that is software engineering doesn’t require socially demanding skills like in product management or UX design.

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