Work ethic - what happened?
We all have that relative or friend...you know the kind; the one who gets a new job and in a few months they think they can run the place, be the manager and take over. They know more than anyone else and when it doesn't happen as laid out in their head, they quit and lash out, playing the victim....everybody else sucks except them.
I am not sure what happened over the last few decades but that type of mentality has magnified.
On top of it, jobs are now supposed to be "fun" ....all the time.
We've also have lost respect for honest work. People who do those tedious service jobs. Society treats them like stepping stones, lower life forms who do not deserve a wage that can keep them off of welfare - they don't deserve anything, they must grovel as they are laughed at..humanity is taking a nose dive.
I don't understand how and when this all happened but it appears to be out of control.
We're allowing our society to divide off into classes with a greater divide than ever before.
So many mixed messages - people are searching for a personal fulfillment in their employment. Fine and dandy, but I can tell you it will never happen if all you do is search without knowing who you are in the first place. Your job is not there to provide you self-esteem, that comes when you get paid for the job you did...even if it was not always "fun" and you didn't always get your way, that paycheck means you held on and worked through some bullshit, and you came out strong in the end. That is where and when you should have pride and feel good about yourself.
So, stop expecting pats on the heads all the time. There will not be a parade every time you perform your job. When you purchase that burger from the local fast food joint, do you give that worker who made it a standing ovation? Are you walking back into that kitchen to shake their hand? Is their manager dropping everything and high fiving them when they place the pickle in the right place? I didn't think so. They did their job, that menial task they get paid to do and sadly, they probably cannot afford the combo meal (like the one you just bought) for their family.
I recently had a conversation on this very topic with the director of our county's economic development organization. It is these types of attitudes hurting our economy more than anything else. He called them snowflakes...now, I don't agree with that term, especially since it has turned political, but I get what he was trying to convey - we've gotten soft.
My Republican friends are probably thinking I am coming over to the dark side, their side, with these comments, trust me...I am not. But, I do think we've missed out on not focusing on work ethic due to too much emphasis on personal fulfillment. The two can co-exist, there can be a balance, but in the end, it is that work ethic that will take you further in life than some contrived feel good moments.
30 years ago a minimum wage job took a person further in meeting their life needs. Entry level position jobs in small companies had benefits to work towards. The cost of living has increased, as have the cost to attain a degree and now benefits are a thing of the past at many companies.
We are all tired. We're exhausted, especially since the Great Recession of 2008 - hamsters on a tread mill for almost a decade will wear anyone out. We're so tired that watching our leaders in this country has turned into entertainment and all we do is pass the popcorn. Then we hop on to our social media accounts looking for personal fulfillment or pretending that life is better than it really is as we scan our feeds of selfies and memes. Keeping up with the Joneses has taken on a new meaning in the age of instant digital communication.
Yeah, we've gotten soft
I am not sure what happened over the last few decades but that type of mentality has magnified.
On top of it, jobs are now supposed to be "fun" ....all the time.
We've also have lost respect for honest work. People who do those tedious service jobs. Society treats them like stepping stones, lower life forms who do not deserve a wage that can keep them off of welfare - they don't deserve anything, they must grovel as they are laughed at..humanity is taking a nose dive.I don't understand how and when this all happened but it appears to be out of control.
We're allowing our society to divide off into classes with a greater divide than ever before.
So many mixed messages - people are searching for a personal fulfillment in their employment. Fine and dandy, but I can tell you it will never happen if all you do is search without knowing who you are in the first place. Your job is not there to provide you self-esteem, that comes when you get paid for the job you did...even if it was not always "fun" and you didn't always get your way, that paycheck means you held on and worked through some bullshit, and you came out strong in the end. That is where and when you should have pride and feel good about yourself.
So, stop expecting pats on the heads all the time. There will not be a parade every time you perform your job. When you purchase that burger from the local fast food joint, do you give that worker who made it a standing ovation? Are you walking back into that kitchen to shake their hand? Is their manager dropping everything and high fiving them when they place the pickle in the right place? I didn't think so. They did their job, that menial task they get paid to do and sadly, they probably cannot afford the combo meal (like the one you just bought) for their family.
I recently had a conversation on this very topic with the director of our county's economic development organization. It is these types of attitudes hurting our economy more than anything else. He called them snowflakes...now, I don't agree with that term, especially since it has turned political, but I get what he was trying to convey - we've gotten soft.
My Republican friends are probably thinking I am coming over to the dark side, their side, with these comments, trust me...I am not. But, I do think we've missed out on not focusing on work ethic due to too much emphasis on personal fulfillment. The two can co-exist, there can be a balance, but in the end, it is that work ethic that will take you further in life than some contrived feel good moments.
30 years ago a minimum wage job took a person further in meeting their life needs. Entry level position jobs in small companies had benefits to work towards. The cost of living has increased, as have the cost to attain a degree and now benefits are a thing of the past at many companies.
We are all tired. We're exhausted, especially since the Great Recession of 2008 - hamsters on a tread mill for almost a decade will wear anyone out. We're so tired that watching our leaders in this country has turned into entertainment and all we do is pass the popcorn. Then we hop on to our social media accounts looking for personal fulfillment or pretending that life is better than it really is as we scan our feeds of selfies and memes. Keeping up with the Joneses has taken on a new meaning in the age of instant digital communication.
Yeah, we've gotten soft
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