Do you hate your career?

[TexasHusker]

It's the quote above that got me going...convinced that the job will shorten life expectancy even with the following parameters:

1. Working 1 hour a week
2. making 220k/ year
3. Most likely not doing something morally compromising like selling your body or assassinating people.

Life must be totally unlivable...

This quote gets the ultimate eyeroll from me.

God made man to WORK. To use his mind and body. To create, to build, to design, to work problems, to heal, to whatever. If a man isn't working (on something), he's miserable. It doesn't matter whether you're doing nothing for $10 an hour or $100 an hour. It's still nothing, and for anyone with initiative, it is incredibly difficult on a years-on-end basis. The dollar amount isn't the issue.

Lest you've walked a mile in a man's shoes...

[DaveInPgh]

I have about 2-3 hours of work a day..hence that's why I am always on this forum.

From my spare time, I have learned photography, history, politics, investing, and religion. Youtube is your friend.

Perhaps you should find something to occupy your life besides work..or lack of work. Just tune the world out.

Oh I know, since you hate your job so much.
Start thinking up a business plan or a plan to have a better job. That will occupy you for days on end.

If mocking me (or others in my situation) makes you feel good, by all means have at it.

Looking for alternative employment makes absolutely no sense for my personal situation.

[DaveInPgh]

Lest you've walked a mile in a man's shoes...

What about the people in India that don't have shoes?

[Singuy]

But even then, there are 3 of us sitting there together so it would be pretty awkward for me to plug in headphones and be watching YouTube videos when I'm supposed to be working.

Awkward yes..but get everyone to do it. This is what happens when management is piss poor. Perhaps this can turn around the place and management can finally assign the ideal amount of work for their workers. I mean if you are not assigned anything AFTER begging for more responsibilities..then there's only one logical route...bring in that xbox to work.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

If disneysteve washes the windows, runs the floor buffer, and hoses down the sidewalk (summer), shovels the snow and salts the sidewalk (winter), then he'll put someone else out of work.

[corn18]

All this talk has me thinking Texas has the right approach. Work 2 hours a week and then do other stuff.

I have the opposite problem. Not enough time to get everything done. I am looking into switching to 1099-R (contractor) work at some point vs. W-2. Would provide some much needed flexibility. Maybe a soft retirement at 55.

[TexasHusker]

What about the people in India that don't have shoes?

Like the toilet genie?

[Nutria]

God made man to WORK.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster most certainly did not make man to work!!

[disneysteve]

Awkward yes..but get everyone to do it. This is what happens when management is piss poor. Perhaps this can turn around the place and management can finally assign the ideal amount of work for their workers. I mean if you are not assigned anything AFTER begging for more responsibilities..then there's only one logical route...bring in that xbox to work.

You make numerous incorrect assumptions here.

There is nothing at all wrong with management at this job. There is no problem with the work assigned to the workers. Nobody has been begging for more responsibilities. In my case, it is purely a function of the nature of the work we do.

[Singuy]

You make numerous incorrect assumptions here.

There is nothing at all wrong with management at this job. There is no problem with the work assigned to the workers. Nobody has been begging for more responsibilities. In my case, it is purely a function of the nature of the work we do.

Steve, I was referring to Dave's post about how he went to his manager and wanted more work but received none. He said his boss would rather work than manage, and hire a bunch of people with nothing to do..people falling asleep and such. What I wrote has nothing to do with your job.

[Singuy]

If mocking me (or others in my situation) makes you feel good, by all means have at it.

Looking for alternative employment makes absolutely no sense for my personal situation.

Sorry if you took it the wrong way. I didn't mean to mock anyone. I was hoping you would look at your job in a different perspective. You can't control anyone's happiness except your own..so be creative about it and make some lemonade.

[DaveInPgh]

Nevermind

[DaveInPgh]

Sorry if you took it the wrong way. I didn't mean to mock anyone. I was hoping you would look at your job in a different perspective. You can't control anyone's happiness except your own..so be creative about it and make some lemonade.

We clearly have different views on this topic, and I am okay with people sharing their opposing view. But you certainly did come across as mocking my situation.

Nonetheless, there was a time when my job had an impact on my happiness. I would go home frustrated that a guy sleeping at his desk makes more money than me. A situation that I personally took to HR. Nothing became of it, despite the fact you can set your watch to his naps.

So that was the point where I stopped caring about having a career at the company and also stopped asking for more work. My boss knows I have little to do and I don't care enough to ask anymore. My lemonade is that I make a respectable salary while handling all aspects of my family's finances.

I still hate it but when I walk out the door each day it doesn't come home with. Except on Wednesdays when I work from home. That is a really good lemonade day because I also get to do dishes, laundry and all of the other chores I often struggle to find time for.

[Jbone]

It does seem like this thread kind of went on a different tangent. I probably should have clarified in the first post. I work in retail. To be straight forward, I hate everything retail and working with the public. Working 60+ hours a week, every weekend, every holiday for the last 9 years burns you out. And quiet honestly no one is paid enough to put up with some of these customers these days.

For example, I had a customer spit on one of my cashiers because something didn't ring up the "correct price" The customer was wrong. He was looking at the wrong size and the sign was ever so conveniently moved over in front of the wrong item. However before I could even diffuse the situation between him and the cashier, he spat right in her face. And walked out. I was going to give it to him for the sale price if he waited 30 more seconds for me to get to the register. However he decided to do the unthinkable. Needless to say the police were called yet they had nothing to go off of and he was never found. As far as the cashier? She quit and walked out right on the spot. Which I don't blame her.

How did I get here? I worked at a grocery store my jr. & sr. year in high school. After graduating high school I quit the part time job at the grocery store and I went to college for web design. After graduating from college I looked around for an entry level position related to my degree. Only coming up empty handed. Most firms and companies were looking for senior developers. Or someone that had more experience. (Not the recent grad) I even called local businesses offering to redesign their site at no charge (only stipulation was that they refer any inquiries on the design to me) Just to get a public portfolio going. Two of these businesses ended up using my design yet never gave me credit for my hard work. Unfortunately at the time I didn't draft up any contract or agreement. Instead of getting into it with them I just let it go.

Disgusted after playing the resume game for 9-12 months with no income, still living at home with mom and dad, I decided to get a full time job doing what I know best.. working at a grocery store. While I continued to look around.

But essentially I allowed myself to get stuck. They liked me so much I kept getting promoted relatively quickly. With each promotion equaled more hours and a salary increase. Paying me just enough to make me stay but not quite enough to make me say that ill be a lifer and willing to stay dealing with all the bs that goes along with it. With all the extra hours and more pay, I was complacent and ended up giving up on searching for a job related to my degree. And for the last 9 years I have only myself to blame for letting myself get "stuck".

I have been out of the loop for so long I'd have to go back to school if I decided to return to web design. Not exactly an easy feat working 6 days a week. 60+ hours. However I am considering teaching myself with what little free time I have (a lot has changed since I was in school) and maybe try some free lance work at some point.

[GoodSteward]

Thank you. Someone else that gets it.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of money being earned. When you are stuck at a desk with nothing to do, it drives you insane if you don't find something to occupy your mind.

I do follow what you are saying, and I have been on jobs similar to that. However, they were also lower paying jobs. I have a lot of downtime at work, and I find plenty to keep me busy. Reading news, reading up on new Tech, browsing this forum, studying for church stuff. Sometimes, when we are slow, I get a little stir crazy and hope for a call, but that is more because I'm starting to feel guilty for being here and not really working(I can't help if there are no tech problems for hours or days). If the job you guys are talking about required you to stay busy with work related material only (No internet browsing), but only offered you an hours worth of responsibility, then that could only last so long, I agree. However, if you are free to fill your own time with the internet....I'd make that work if it was a lot more than I could make elsewhere.

Go find someone making 10$/hr, and ask if they would like a job making 220k$ a year and only needed to work an hour or so a day. The rest of the time they could read a book, read news, or work on something of their own. I'm pretty sure they would jump at it, and be happy with it. Unless they were not self-motivated, and couldn't find other things to do. I also doubt you would see them complaining about being bored and want to go find another 10$/hr job instead.

On the other hand, if they were making 150k$ a year and were offered the same thing, I can see you getting bored with it and go find a different 150k$ /yr job.

Money may not always have a lot to do with it, but I think it can. If you were offered 1 million a year for the same thing would you pass it up or leave after being there because you were bored? I believe it's more relative to the income variation as to what people are willing to suffer through. I think if there is a big enough jump in pay, you'd try to figure it out and make yourself stay busy.

To the avg person making under 50k$ a year, this is a 1%er problem only as they wouldn't see this as suffering for that kind of money. This is just my opinion anyway.