CEO tries to take employee's personal office chair because it's nicer than his, employee keeps it in the back of his car where everyone coming to the office can see it: 'I'm 100% certain they thought I was just going to give in and let him have my chair'

I do genuinely believe that there is a psychological power to having a good tool, even if the tool's ability to complete the job is more than adequate. The very quality of whatever you're using to complete whatever you're doing makes your brain take to the task that much more earnestly.

As someone with more-than-an obsession with music production, there are many instances where having a high-end instrument or equipment for making music really just becomes unnecessary, especially with how good "in the box" digital computer programs, known as Virtual Studio Technologies (VSTs), are now. Now, I love the tactical feel of analog outboard gear as much as the next producer, and it's really hard to admit, but it is just easier to get a clean recording with a VST that sounds almost imperceptibly the same as the real deal. Certainly, by the time the audio has been recorded, mixed, and mastered, 99.5% of listeners are never going to be able to tell the difference.

This is an endless debate for producers and musicians, with staunch supporters on either side. And despite being the source of endless debate for guitarists who like to endlessly debate about what about an electric guitar determines a guitar's sound or "tone," it's pretty well accepted that a decent enough electric guitar can make the same sounds as a top-of-the-line expensive one.

What can't be recreated, though, is the feel and effortlessness of playing a top-end instrument. That spine-chilling knowledge that you hold in your hands something that is itself a work of art. The same goes for synthesizers, whose unique quirks (read: limitations) bear the fruit if streamlined decision making and creativity. With this tactile feel is born inspiration that most won't find with a mouse and keyboard.

I'd argue that the same thing applies to any tool for any job, right down to the pen and paper you have on your desk, and to the chair that you're sitting in while you're working. If you're doing serious work, there's something about a space that feels and looks serious, and tools for a job that match the part that really sets the mood. Being comfortably and ergonomically positioned will further encourage the focus and productivity of the 40+ hours a week you spend sitting there.

I mean, can you imagine walking into your attorney's office and they're all decked out with RGB LED gaming hardware and a see-through LED computer case that screams, "I watch Linus Tech Tips on my breaks." On the one hand, you might be impressed that your attorney is doing their work with some impressive computing power, but you might also be wondering how much work they're actually getting done when they're spending all of their time in the office pubstomping on CS:GO.

The same thing goes for creative contractors you might hire. Run of the mill IT-issued refurbished PC? Boring. $4000 MacBook Pro that is mainly just used for word processors? Now you're talking. Besides, it's the same logical reasoning I used when, as a "serious" writer in university, I bought myself a fountain pen and leather-bound notebook. The effect worked, and in that period of my life, I got a lot of writing done, and successfully convinced a girl that I was thoughtful and "deep." I'm not sure if she's figured it out yet, but the novel I was working on remains, to this day, unfinished.

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Anyways, this is a long-winded intro to the fact that that's why, when this worker decided to buy his own nice office chair to work in, comfort aside, you can really see the point. And companies are notoriously cheap about the equipment they provide, especially to low-level workers. The problem is that the presence of this magnificent chair offended the ego of the CEO of his company, who, like a dragon seeking to grow his horde, simply had to have it for himself. He would almost cartoonishly stake claim over this obelisk of his own desires, leading to an embarrassing confrontation with the worker.

I mean, can you imagine walking into your attorney's office and they're all decked out with RGB LED gaming hardware and a see-through LED computer case that screams, "I watch Linus Tech Tips on my breaks." On the one hand, you might be impressed that your attorney is doing their work with some impressive computing power, but you might also be wondering how much work they're actually getting done when they're spending all of their time in the office pubstomping on CS:GO.
The same thing goes for creative contractors you might hire. Run of the mill IT-issued refurbished PC? Boring. $4000 MacBook Pro that is mainly just used for word processors? Now you're talking. Besides, it's the same logical reasoning I used when, as a “serious” writer in university, I bought myself a fountain pen and leather-bound notebook. The effect worked, and in that period of my life, I got a lot of writing done, and successfully convinced a girl that I was thoughtful and “deep.” I'm not sure if she's figured it out yet, but the novel I was working on remains, to this day, unfinished.

Anyways, this is a long-winded intro to the fact that that's why, when this worker decided to buy his own nice office chair to work in, comfort aside, you can really see the point. And companies are notoriously cheap about the equipment they provide, especially to low-level workers. The problem is that the presence of this magnificent chair offended the ego of the CEO of his company, who, like a dragon seeking to grow his horde, simply had to have it for himself. He would almost cartoonishly stake claim over this obelisk of his own desires, leading to an embarrassing confrontation with the worker.
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"The CEO didn't think it was appropriate that I had a nicer chair than him"

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