Who Created The Bug?

The insidious bug we fought to fix for three weeks 
was finally found.  It was due to one line of code
by a friend of mine, J. Too bad he left the
company two weeks ago. A temporary "fix" was made
so that we could release the product. It was
interesting when I examined the code history and
found that the culprit was checked in on a
Saturday evening.

Over the past 10 months, J told me many times that 
his boss and the senior colleague whom he worked
with were pushing him very hard. He got calls from
them on weekends. His requests for vacations were
turned down several times and he had to take sick
days off now and then. I told him he was too damn
nice to give them his cell phone number. But I
knew that he perceived that he had no choice. In
other words, he worked under fear and pressure.

As they say, everyone is fighting something. J was 
extremely frugal.  He had five kids and the
youngest one was only one year old. His wife gave
up work and home-schooled the kids. An
Afro-American family, they must have felt it when
police brutality against black folks were
constantly in the news.

J's solution to the problems was to go back to his 
home country in Africa, taking his family, and 
become a farmer there. It sounded almost romantic
but I didn't know how that would work out in this
crazy age. I probably would hear back from him 
again. It was great fortune for him that his wife,
born in the US, was faithful and the two of them
could hold it together.

I digressed. But maybe factors more than J's now 
obvious blunder had a hand in creating that bug?
Did his boss knew about any of these? Or none of
these was the manager's business?

This reminded me of my professor Mike who, upon 
hearing I needed money, got me a summer intern job
and sent me to the Bay Area in 2000.  I remembered
when I told him that some prof at a faculty
meeting said the graduate students' personal
problems were not his business and Mike replied:
"that prof probably would himself soon go out of
business." That's the kind of leadership I'd love
to work under. It was rare as I was lucky.

[7grizzly]

Thank you 暖冬 for reading and the thoughtful comments. You made several great points. The normal workplace definitely is different from an academic setting and I did meet managers who were more observant and willing to listen to the rank and file. And, indeed, I felt relieved for my friend. The way I see it: they made him work too hard and he put himself in that position. With only one kid, I never have to be so nice to the boss.

[暖冬cool夏]

You were lucky to have such a warm-hearted professor who helped you in your life time. But you yourself must be an amicable and hardworking student, who deserved or is worth his referral. Not everyone is so fortunate, especially at the work place. A manager is not just to take the credit, but definitely some responsibilities too when the problems arise. What if the guy planted the bug on purpose as a revenge before he left? (I am not saying this he did) It must be a relief to you now. Have a relaxed weekend!