[TUHS] Coastal cultures, collaboration, creativity and Sun vs DEC.

[Jon Steinhart]

Rob Pike writes:
> Similar. Everyone at Bell Labs was so *proper*.  (Except Ken, of course.
> Ken is *sui generis*, and a Californian).
>
> I'm sure it wasn't really me, but it felt like I was the first person to
> utter a curse word in the Unix room.

That might be a technicality.  I discovered the Unix room late one night
when blood sugar was running low so I hit the candy machines on the sixth
floor of building 2.  While I was getting my snack, I heard a robotic
voice coming from down the hall saying "fuck fuck fuck fuck".  I had to
investigate.  Found a small door with a frosted glass window that had an
8.5x11 piece of paper taped to in on which was spelled out the word UNIX
in block letters in I believe black electrical tape.  Opened the door to
discover that a Votrax had been acquired and that Ken and Dennis were
teaching it to swear.  So they must have at least known those words.

On another technicality, I bicycled to the labs every day, naturally uphill
in both directions.  Not possible to avoid sweating when pushing up Glenside
Road.  And no showers available; those were for the security guards only.
Turned out that dress code was up to supervisors, and Joe Condon was fine
with me wearing shorts to work.  I often got glared at when walking down the
hall and had to explain myself to the "proper" folks.