High Society, Folks...

Off Topic
1

…so many jobs you look at and say to yourself, “god, who ever thought to themselves, ‘you know, i could really see a great career in this gas station?’”

…but it never seems like a career when you sign on. it’s always, “well, i’ll work this until something better comes along.” but it never comes. you work, you get older, you’re not looking for that better job, and the next thing you know, you’re forty years old and still carrying lumber out to someone’s car for them at the Home Depot…

…there’s nothing more upsetting to me than seeing someone who accidentally made a career out of checking groceries. they get so ahead of themselves: get a job, get a spouse, get a home, get a car, get some kids. they forget to look for quality in all those things…

…is it a good job? will it support three kids, a wife, and a mortgage? is your spouse really someone you want in charge of half your life? or is he/she just conveniently there? can you afford that car payment? or will that car payment bind you helplessly to that shitty job?

…i’ve had a lot of time to think about this sort of thing lately. i picked up a graveyard cooking shift at a local restaurant to make some extra money before the band leaves again in two weeks. but this restaurant is one of those places that sucks someone in and puts a barbed hook through your life if you’re not careful…

…the main cook, Ed, is possibly the saddest man i’ve ever met. he has, since i started a week ago, probably worked fourteen eight hour shifts. when i met him he’d been working for 36 hours straight. this poor guy allowed himself to put his crappy job before all else and it swallowed him whole. now he works more than the owner, the kitchen manager, and the other cooks combined, because he’s there helping them on ALL their shifts. i haven’t worked a shift where he wasn’t there when i showed up and ‘just finishing this one thing real quick’ when i left…

…he hates his job. don’t let me lead you to believe that i’m sad for this incredibly ambitious guy that loves his work. i’m sad for a poor old man who has shifted the entire weight of a low-class all-night diner onto his shoulders and now can’t leave without seeing everything collapse; he’s not morally capable of abandoning the owners, whom he sees as friends and who see him as a way to cut labor costs (he works for no overtime and often for free)…

…he’ll die in that diner. probably because of that diner. exhaustion, stress, poor diet, it’ll kill him. meanwhile, i’ll just add to his problems because i’m dodging the bullet and quitting as soon as i’ve made enough to pay my phone bill for three months and get a few meals…

…and this poor guy, he’s everywhere. almost every shitty job has this guy, hating his life, working for someone else, feeling like he can never leave because of his loyalty to someone that doesn’t care about him…

…this is my plea to all my friends: don’t become that guy.

love,
jason

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okay…

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[quote]Yeah, NEIL wrote:
…and this poor guy, he’s everywhere. almost every shitty job has this guy, hating his life, working for someone else, feeling like he can never leave because of his loyalty to someone that doesn’t care about him…
[/quote]

I think that you are kidding yourself if you think this only happens in ‘shitty’ jobs. Some of the highest paid people that I know, in what others would think is a great job feel exactly the same way. I know that a lot of the time I feel that way and plenty of people would love the job that I do.

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i guess i shouldn’t limit it just to “crappy” jobs…

…and i know this post was a little odd and preachy. so sorry about that…

…it’s just been bugging me. and when you work from 10pm until 6am with a few people like the ones i described, you just think about it until you need to either say something to someone or explode…

…so, to rephrase, getting yourself backed into a corner in ANY job you don’t love sucks for you and anyone you’re close to. and i’ve just been thinking a lot about how i never want to see any of my friends building up that loathing i see in all the people i work with…

love,
jason

5

Since I’m not in your shoes I can view the situation through the eyes of society as a whole.

We have plenty of people like you (no direspect at all, as I’m one of them)who feel entitled to live a better life and have a better job, ect… Because of this, they perform at an extremely low level and just do the bare-ass minimum.

What our society lacks is people like your cook: dedicated to the job that they’re doing and not to some abstract future job. These people do the best fucking job that they can do despite having a shitty one to do.

Not everyone can run a successful personal business or head a top-notch corporation. Society needs the underlings. And if these underlings felt secure enough in their position to want to stive and perform, we’d allbe better off for it.

But, we all have dreams, and thus avoid wasting our energy going above-and-beyond what is expected of us because we’re focused not on the now, but on the future.

6

[quote]Soldierslim wrote:
Since I’m not in your shoes I can view the situation through the eyes of society as a whole.

We have plenty of people like you (no direspect at all, as I’m one of them)who feel entitled to live a better life and have a better job, ect… Because of this, they perform at an extremely low level and just do the bare-ass minimum.

What our society lacks is people like your cook: dedicated to the job that they’re doing and not to some abstract future job. These people do the best fucking job that they can do despite having a shitty one to do.

Not everyone can run a successful personal business or head a top-notch corporation. Society needs the underlings. And if these underlings felt secure enough in their position to want to stive and perform, we’d allbe better off for it.

But, we all have dreams, and thus avoid wasting our energy going above-and-beyond what is expected of us because we’re focused not on the now, but on the future.[/quote]

Good post!

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I understand exactly what you’re saying and the message you’re trying to get across. The only thing I can add is FOF(fear of failure) is a motherfucker. Thats why most people in bad situations are in those situations with no light at the end of the tunnel. Either they didn’t recognize opportunity when it presented itself or were to scared of going out and taking it.

On a side note. Who doesn’t want to be rich? Endless amounts of money are sitting right inside banks on every corner of town. What prevents us from taking it? FEAR. Deep down we all have doubt and fear inside. Some are just able to overcome it while others are overtaken and forgotten.

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[quote]E-man wrote:
On a side note. Who doesn’t want to be rich? Endless amounts of money are sitting right inside banks on every corner of town. What prevents us from taking it? FEAR. Deep down we all have doubt and fear inside. Some are just able to overcome it while others are overtaken and forgotten.[/quote]

I see what you mean, and capital is abundant indeed, but it`s probably not just fear that stops people from getting a loan. Preparation, talent, drive, discipline, and many other qualities are required to be successful with money. Not everyone is cut for business either. I’m not trying to be negative. I say one must take a good look at himself before even considering going to the bank.

Oh, one can sure try too. But why not try with a salary from someone else in the meantime? Getting paid to find out if you want to spend your life doing job X is not so bad an option … until you grow out of it, or take steps to.

And Im sorry for the old man. Bosses are bosses, and if the old man's boss isnt thanking him appropriately now, he probably won’t be there for him in his time of need later either.

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Don’t feel sorry for the man. He made his choices. He may be a prisoner of his own mind and choices but he can change thigs at will. The problem is, he does not have the will. So what? Who cares. It’s his life, his path. You can’t look at him and feel bad because your definition of happiness when applied to his life will seem like he’s miserable, when in reality he may not be.

He may complain about his job and all, but that’s true for ALL people that work. You can ask any sucessfull business owner about how’s business and they’ll all tell you it sucks, lol! Noone will actually dare say, business is great, i love it, the money, the freedom, i would not trade it for the world. Instead you always get, “ohh you know it’s hard, I’m a dog on a leash” etc…

I’m a firm believer in destiny based on thoughts. Life has a funny way of making things workout just the way you dream for them to. Some poeple have goals up here, others don’t. The ones that don’t, end up working for the ones that do. That’s life. Everyone’s just a prisoner of their own mind.