How I Became a Web Developer (Part 1/2)

I just turned thirty-seven two weeks ago. It's been almost fifteen years since I embarked on this journey. Warning: long story ahead, make yourself comfortable!

Some Background

It was 2001 and I had just graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology. The possibilities were endless. The problem was, in the face of a slumbering economy and lack of job opportunities, I soon wound up taking odd jobs. Basic computer literacy training. Small websites.

And in the course of building one of those small projects that had been outsourced to me from a vendor, I visited his shophouse office in Little India. He took me around and introduced me to his team. It was a tiny dingy room with precious little furniture. Four PCs in the room, and a big smoldering ash-tray in the middle. The air reeked of sweat and old cigarette smoke.

It was heaven to my young eyes. These Indians, were, to me, the epitome of cool. This was what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I was hooked.

I didn't become a full-fledged web developer right away. It took years of screwing up to get to this point. In retrospect, perhaps my dreams could have been a little bit bigger.

But, for better or worse, this is what I am. This is what I do.

And after that day...

The path towards becoming a web developer turned out to be slightly more complicated.

Somehow I landed a job as desktop support in a legal firm. My first full-time job ever. It wasn't where I envisioned myself being, but it would do for a start. I would leech whatever experience I could from this, and move on in maybe three years.

At least, that was the plan.

It started out interesting. I was brimming with youthful enthusiasm after going from temp job to temp job. Because some in-house development was needed, I picked up a book on my desk, and learned ASP from there. It wasn't too difficult for someone with a Visual Basic background.

I learned all my ASP from this!

The first year was filled with wonder. Friendships were forged, some of which are still ongoing today. I honed my web scripting skills, which, as it turned out, would prove invaluable down the road. In fact, as much as I eventually grew to hate the job, there's no denying that the experience hardened me. Whenever someone complains to me about user stupidity, I tend to go "You think that's stupid? I've seen worse. I spent six years in desktop support".

By the third year, my enthusiasm waned. There was only so much development I could do, and the other aspects of my job were less than thrilling. Networking was one of my least favorite subjects in school, and having hands-on experience with it didn't remove my distaste for it. And as for desktop support...

What can I say about desktop support that won't sound overly uncharitable? It involved moving PCs from location to location, setting up email accounts, tending to all the little problems that users seemed to encounter all the time. It wasn't exciting to begin with, but by the third year it had become positively tedious. There's only so much stupidity a man can take before he goes nuts.

Someone once described desktop support to me as "the IT equivalent of leading a man to the urinal and holding his dick while he takes a piss". He was being kind. It's way worse. Lack of computer savvy I could forgive. One gets those users all the time - without them, desktop support would not exist. And then there was the other kind of user - entitled, obnoxious and utterly inept. Special breeds of stupid who thought desktop support automatically extended to all things electronic such as microwave ovens, paper shredders and phones. Special strains of asshole who thought nothing of interrupting a man at his toilet break just because there was a printing problem. I was being ordered around by people who, in soccer parlance, weren't good enough to carry my boots.

I was a university graduate, dammit. I deserved better. Or so I thought.

The truth is, a man deserves exactly what he will accept. Each time my pay got raised or I received my annual bonus, I looked the other way and delayed moving on. And here's the thing about the annual bonus in that company - it was divided in two and each half was doled out at intervals of six months.  People who felt that the bonus was their own money and were entitled to it, would delay their departure by another half-year to avoid forfeiting it. It was genius. A brilliant maneuver to keep unambitious, unmotivated 9-to-5ers slaving away. Do I blame the company? In retrospect, no. They dangled that carrot; I was the fool who took it.

Next...

How I got out.