Poor take. There are plenty of good engineering organisations in Europe, just as there are more than enough terrible ones in the US.
That being said I agree I wouldn't want to work somewhere like what was described above. It's certainly not a style of interview I would approve of or conduct myself.
Not sure what the jab is about. OP works for a body shop in a governmental org, where does that let you imply that startup and eng are backwards as neither are OP's experiences?
If the anecdote is related to your experiences working on FB then, please, specify it, blanket statements aren't what I expect from HN comments.
I bought aquarium chloroquine to use as a last-ditch resort if I basically have to choose between taking it or dying due to hospital overcapacity. No harm to patients there IMO. I spent $60 for the 10 grams recommended for a course (.5 g a day). That was last week, and it's so much more expensive now.
JMBullion, ampex, sdbullion are the obvious answers. I tend to like pawing through inventory in person. I live next to Meierotto Jeweler's, I like going there because it reminds me how poor I am, and they generally let me paw through things without getting weird about it.
My ideal mix is either 80/20 or 60/40 remote/in-office. I have been 20/80 my entire career up to the CV outbreak (1 day WFH minimum every week).
I prefer 100% WFH to that, but I dislike not going to the office at all. This is my first time being 100% WFH for this long -- my previous max was a full week.
Don't forget the service industry. There's a correlation between how attractive you are and your earning ceiling for bartending and waitering/waitressing.
I can offer real world evidence in support of this correlation. I worked at 2 different restaurants in my life. I didn't get many tips; only pocket change if it was a good night. The hot waitresses could make as much as 1/3 of their monthly salary from tips.