I guess that I’m going a bit against the anti work consensus around here, but does everyone hate their job on Lemmy? I wouldn’t want to work for free, but I enjoy my audio engineering job
Unless your job is doing something like political organizing, it makes no sense to draw a distinction between loving your job and doing it for free. I don’t understand why we even need to discuss this.
To add, I think theres a difference between ‘im here to work in exchange for money’ and ‘im just here for 8 hrs to collect a check’
I used to manage restaurants, usually with a pooled house (all tips get tallied together, and divided by percentage based on position, which always reminded me of the way it was done on old pirate ships)
In these pooled houses it was always extremely obvious- youd have some servers touching other server’s tables, helping bus / run food when appropriate, etc. (Which is what the system is meant to incentivize- if your help gets the other waiter a better tip, thats more money in your pocket as well)
And you’d have servers who did the bare minimum even for their own section, and saw it as ‘if i spend 8 hrs On the floor dokng the bare minimum to not sent home, I get my percentage of the pot, I dont even have to do a good job on my tables’
Right now im running a residential solar crew, and weve got a couple guys who have a similar attitude; the moment they aren’t under a direct task, they just stop working. (Its not a matter of not knowing whats next, and prepping for that, they’ve been here almost a year now, and theres almost always something obvious to be doing next, even if its just grabbing the next box of materials.)
So, I’m a teacher, and I love my career. The fact that I get paid good money to hang out with teenagers and make a difference in so many lives is almost mind-boggling to me. But it’s still work. The job is exhausting, prep work and grading both suck, and I’m never happy to wake up at 7am. I’d never do it for free, and I’m always excited to have a day off.
The days off make me appreciate my job, and the shitty, boring parts of the job make me appreciate my time off. There’s a gap between “I love my job” and “my job isn’t even work,” and many people struggle to grasp that.
As an aside, the anti-work sentiment around here is less a rejection of engaging with a task that betters society, and more about the current system of work and pay, where our labour disproportionately benefits others. Most “anti-work” people want to have a task that adds value to the world, and despise aimless, soulless corporate tasks that benefit CEOs and share holders.
Honestly, it’s because I’m well into my 30s that I appreciate them. They give me perspective that I won’t find elsewhere in my life, and make me feel like my job is having a real impact. There are lives out there that are a little better for having me in them, and that feeds back into me, too. And being around them helps me from becoming some jaded old dude. These aren’t things people worry about in their 20s.
Obviously some of them annoy the shit out of me, and even the best of them has more energy than I can find over the course of the day. But I only have them until ~3 and then they go back to their parents and I get to relax. I think it’s easy find the good in every type of kid when you know that your time with them is fleeting.
And when I think about getting paid a salary to do this as opposed to anything else in the world? I mean, yeah, it feels like a genuine treat. I don’t have to come home tired and covered in sterilized grease the way I did in college, when I cooked my way through my degree, and I don’t need to come home physically worn and covered in motor oil the way my father did. Saying “I get to hang out with kids all day” is definitely downplaying the real work a bit, of which there is a ton, but at the end of the day, I really do genuinely feel lucky to have this way of living available to me.
Thats very cool. I have always only worked office jobs, and they are quite boring. It seems to be like that in society, the people who really makes a difference for others get paid the least amount of money.
I think you are special souls who do jobs like that, not thinking of status or money whatsoever. And you do make a difference for the kids, obviously. I couldnt do it, because it takes a whole different level of patience and willingness to work in a quite chaotic environment… Its impressive. You are a good person. :)
Hate my job? No. I actually love my job. It’s an amazing first step in my career and I plan on being here for many years. It’s engaging, it’s creative, it’s building my skills, it’s a casual environment, and I’m friends with my co-workers and my boss.
But I’m only at my job because I need to make money. I have lots and lots and lots of stuff to do with my free time. I want to travel, and play video games at the most base level, but I also have my own creative hobbies which, while I love my job, I would rather dedicate my days to. I only have so much free time in my life.
So the only reason I have this job that I love is because I need money to live. Sorry job, I’m just not that into you.
I’m an artist with a day job in logistics. As I’m working on a collaborative project I took on an extra ~35 hours a week on top of my ~45 hours a week day job for the last month, for essentially pittance extra.
I dont hate my job but if I didn’t need to do it I wouldn’t and I would focus on making artistic works.
I was able to pursue a career from my favorite hobby. It took a lot of hard work to get there without the usual academic qualifications (university/college degree), but once I finally got hired for a full-time position, it was a dream job for me. I would have done a lot of it for free if it didn’t cost money to live. I’m also very lucky that my hobby happens to pay well.
Since then, a bigger company acquired my employer. I still like my job (mostly), but I don’t love it yet. I’m required to delegate a lot of the work, which I used to love and take pride in, to AI. I’m gradually getting better at using AI effectively and efficiently, so maybe I can find joy in that, eventually.
I don’t hate the work, I tend to find it pretty interesting. I do hate being overworked though and handling way more responsibility than I should, which is typically the case. But even then I’m lucky that I at least enjoy the work at face value, I don’t think people like accountants and many other roles do. Honestly it sounds mean but there are so many fields that just feel like people just got into because they don’t have any interests
There’s a lot of young people on lemmy and I imagine lots of people with unfulfilling jobs.
Im self employed. My job is tough, and stressful. I wouldn’t do it for free, but I choose to do this job because i have the right skills and experience, and I genuinely enjoy “helping” people with my services.
I guess that I’m going a bit against the anti work consensus around here, but does everyone hate their job on Lemmy? I wouldn’t want to work for free, but I enjoy my audio engineering job
Love my job. Still wouldn’t spend a second doing it for zero pay.
Unless your job is doing something like political organizing, it makes no sense to draw a distinction between loving your job and doing it for free. I don’t understand why we even need to discuss this.
To add, I think theres a difference between ‘im here to work in exchange for money’ and ‘im just here for 8 hrs to collect a check’
I used to manage restaurants, usually with a pooled house (all tips get tallied together, and divided by percentage based on position, which always reminded me of the way it was done on old pirate ships)
In these pooled houses it was always extremely obvious- youd have some servers touching other server’s tables, helping bus / run food when appropriate, etc. (Which is what the system is meant to incentivize- if your help gets the other waiter a better tip, thats more money in your pocket as well)
And you’d have servers who did the bare minimum even for their own section, and saw it as ‘if i spend 8 hrs On the floor dokng the bare minimum to not sent home, I get my percentage of the pot, I dont even have to do a good job on my tables’
Right now im running a residential solar crew, and weve got a couple guys who have a similar attitude; the moment they aren’t under a direct task, they just stop working. (Its not a matter of not knowing whats next, and prepping for that, they’ve been here almost a year now, and theres almost always something obvious to be doing next, even if its just grabbing the next box of materials.)
Hey - that’s a neat way of thinking about it!
So, I’m a teacher, and I love my career. The fact that I get paid good money to hang out with teenagers and make a difference in so many lives is almost mind-boggling to me. But it’s still work. The job is exhausting, prep work and grading both suck, and I’m never happy to wake up at 7am. I’d never do it for free, and I’m always excited to have a day off.
The days off make me appreciate my job, and the shitty, boring parts of the job make me appreciate my time off. There’s a gap between “I love my job” and “my job isn’t even work,” and many people struggle to grasp that.
As an aside, the anti-work sentiment around here is less a rejection of engaging with a task that betters society, and more about the current system of work and pay, where our labour disproportionately benefits others. Most “anti-work” people want to have a task that adds value to the world, and despise aimless, soulless corporate tasks that benefit CEOs and share holders.
Im so surprised you like to hang out with teenagers when you are an adult…maybe you are in your 20s still.
But all my own memories from school was horrible so once i left that place, it was a huge relief to never be there again.
You are right about the anti work thing. Its the meaningless jobs people despise.
Honestly, it’s because I’m well into my 30s that I appreciate them. They give me perspective that I won’t find elsewhere in my life, and make me feel like my job is having a real impact. There are lives out there that are a little better for having me in them, and that feeds back into me, too. And being around them helps me from becoming some jaded old dude. These aren’t things people worry about in their 20s.
Obviously some of them annoy the shit out of me, and even the best of them has more energy than I can find over the course of the day. But I only have them until ~3 and then they go back to their parents and I get to relax. I think it’s easy find the good in every type of kid when you know that your time with them is fleeting.
And when I think about getting paid a salary to do this as opposed to anything else in the world? I mean, yeah, it feels like a genuine treat. I don’t have to come home tired and covered in sterilized grease the way I did in college, when I cooked my way through my degree, and I don’t need to come home physically worn and covered in motor oil the way my father did. Saying “I get to hang out with kids all day” is definitely downplaying the real work a bit, of which there is a ton, but at the end of the day, I really do genuinely feel lucky to have this way of living available to me.
Thats very cool. I have always only worked office jobs, and they are quite boring. It seems to be like that in society, the people who really makes a difference for others get paid the least amount of money.
I think you are special souls who do jobs like that, not thinking of status or money whatsoever. And you do make a difference for the kids, obviously. I couldnt do it, because it takes a whole different level of patience and willingness to work in a quite chaotic environment… Its impressive. You are a good person. :)
I’m in my mid-forties and most of my co-workers are in their early 20s. It can be weird but I don’t dislike it.
Good. :)
Im sure you are making a difference. Mid-fourties means you have some life wisdom to share also.
Hate my job? No. I actually love my job. It’s an amazing first step in my career and I plan on being here for many years. It’s engaging, it’s creative, it’s building my skills, it’s a casual environment, and I’m friends with my co-workers and my boss.
But I’m only at my job because I need to make money. I have lots and lots and lots of stuff to do with my free time. I want to travel, and play video games at the most base level, but I also have my own creative hobbies which, while I love my job, I would rather dedicate my days to. I only have so much free time in my life.
So the only reason I have this job that I love is because I need money to live. Sorry job, I’m just not that into you.
I’m an artist with a day job in logistics. As I’m working on a collaborative project I took on an extra ~35 hours a week on top of my ~45 hours a week day job for the last month, for essentially pittance extra.
I dont hate my job but if I didn’t need to do it I wouldn’t and I would focus on making artistic works.
I was able to pursue a career from my favorite hobby. It took a lot of hard work to get there without the usual academic qualifications (university/college degree), but once I finally got hired for a full-time position, it was a dream job for me. I would have done a lot of it for free if it didn’t cost money to live. I’m also very lucky that my hobby happens to pay well.
Since then, a bigger company acquired my employer. I still like my job (mostly), but I don’t love it yet. I’m required to delegate a lot of the work, which I used to love and take pride in, to AI. I’m gradually getting better at using AI effectively and efficiently, so maybe I can find joy in that, eventually.
I like my job.
But making a place an enjoyable place to work is up to management.
But they seem to think it’s something they can just mandate.
I don’t hate my job but it is something I do exclusively to make money. It has no role in self actualisation for me.
I don’t hate the work, I tend to find it pretty interesting. I do hate being overworked though and handling way more responsibility than I should, which is typically the case. But even then I’m lucky that I at least enjoy the work at face value, I don’t think people like accountants and many other roles do. Honestly it sounds mean but there are so many fields that just feel like people just got into because they don’t have any interests
audio engineering sounds sick af
There’s a lot of young people on lemmy and I imagine lots of people with unfulfilling jobs.
Im self employed. My job is tough, and stressful. I wouldn’t do it for free, but I choose to do this job because i have the right skills and experience, and I genuinely enjoy “helping” people with my services.
I don’t hate my job, but I sure sympathize with those who do