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The W - Current Events & Politics - Unions (Page 3)
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Jaguar
Knackwurst








Since: 23.1.02
From: In a Blue State finally

Since last post: 1894 days
Last activity: 1894 days
#41 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.61
    Originally posted by BigSteve
      Originally posted by ges7184
      While it's nice that some people are willing to work for "pride", pride doesn't put any food on the table,


    But the job that they are employed to do does put food on the table. They aren't just working for pride, they're also working to make a living. We can argue over whether or not the wages are good or not, but that's a separate issue. If you willingly enter into an agreement (in this case providing your services for a certain amount of money), and the other party does what they promised to do, how is it right to not hold up your end of the agreement? (Of course it's a different scenario if the employer abuses the agreement on his end in other ways).



I just had a conversation that dealt with this somewhat. Basically I'm low on money and need a new job, so I've been applying for some run of the mill retail jobs like Best Buy and EBGames, etc. None of these jobs hold any real value to me beyond a paycheck - they currently have nothing to do with 'what I want to do with the rest of my life', and the job market in Birmingham is good enough that finding a new job isn't an issue.

So what does this mean for me? I thought about it a bit, and decided that while I would do my best to help our customers (it's what I'd want employees to do for me), and I wouldn't want to piss off my managers/coworkers (why make enemies when you don't have to?) I wouldn't give two shits about the job. Best Buy is some giant faceless corporation to me. I couldn't care less if no one ever came into the store as long as they paid me. So I'll do my job, and I'll bust my ass if there's something extra in it for me, but beyond that - why should I care?

And that seems to be the prevailing attitude among the people I've worked with. It's a big faceless corporation. It doesn't inspire any loyalty. Plus what I've run across in the past is that once you get inside the inner workings of these companies you start to see all the little ways they try to screw customers over - so you care about their well being even less.

That's how it seems to me, and I have no idea what you could do to change it.



AWArulz
Scrapple








Since: 28.1.02
From: Louisville, KY

Since last post: 90 days
Last activity: 90 days
#42 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.28
    Originally posted by Jaguar
    Best Buy is some giant faceless corporation to me. I couldn't care less if no one ever came into the store as long as they paid me. So I'll do my job, and I'll bust my ass if there's something extra in it for me, but beyond that - why should I care?

    And that seems to be the prevailing attitude among the people I've worked with. It's a big faceless corporation. It doesn't inspire any loyalty. Plus what I've run across in the past is that once you get inside the inner workings of these companies you start to see all the little ways they try to screw customers over - so you care about their well being even less.

    That's how it seems to me, and I have no idea what you could do to change it.


What I find difficult to understand about younger workers (and trust me- It is a huge part of my job TO understand younger workers and figure out a way to motivate them) is why the firm that employs them has a thing to do with theirwork ethic. Or how the actions of coworkers affect your work ethic.

When I was a kid and I did something bad, my Mom would sit me down in the kitchen and ask me why I did it. She really wanted to know. She wasn't punishing me for it - we all knew that was going to come from Dad when he got home from the mill. So she would ask me why, say, I went up to Tip Top (a grocery store about a mile from our house on the big road I wasn't allowed to go to). I say something like "Timmy went, so I did." And My Mom, God rest her, would say something like, "If Timmy jumped off a bridge, would you do that too?"

Its the same at work my friends: We are the ones working, not skating by, making it happen, putting the first things first, and getting it done. And if faceless Best Buy or WalMart or whoever else doesn't appreciate it, so be it. I appreciate it. And you can be sure that someone is watching and they appreciate it too. It might be that old bag who comes into Wallworld to get a tube of toothpaste and asks you a question and you answer her politely. It might be some slacker coming in to buy Madden 2006 for his Xbox at Best buy and you steer him to a similar game with cooler features. They see you, they dig you, they appreciate you.

Ok, money's important, I agree. I like my pay scale. But it's really the work that matters, because that is what we are born to be: useful.



We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
Tribal Prophet
Andouille








Since: 9.1.02
From: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Since last post: 2926 days
Last activity: 2186 days
#43 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.44
    Originally posted by ges7184
    While it's nice that some people are willing to work for "pride", pride doesn't put any food on the table, nor does it buy you any time to be with your family. For many people, I don't think "pride" alone is enough incentive to bust your hump. And I'm not sure it is reasonable to expect it to be.


The thing with this is that you have to go back to high school. While it's good for giving you backgrounds in basic sciences/math/English, the main plus of high school isn't to actually learn anything that they teach you, it's to teach you how to learn for when you move on to whatever you learn after whether that's college, trade school, or Jim showing you how to put "Screw A into slot B" (keep it clean, guys).

Unfortunately, that's also the main thing that very few teachers will ever actually teach you. That leaves you with a majority of students bored out of their minds thinking "why the hell am I learning this? I'll never need algebra." and for the most part they're right. Then the problem hits when they fuck around through high school thinking "When I get to University, THEN I'll start studying". Well after 3 years of screwing around and getting by only because you're pushed through grade by grade, you get to University and guess what? You're unable to study properly. You can't focus, you can organize your time, and all you can think about when there's an assignment due the next week is "I'll do it in a few days, what's on TV..." You've conditioned yourself to screw around in academics, and no matter what you try, it's going to be almost impossible for you to change.

The same thing applies with jobs. You wouldn't believe the baggage that most people bring with them from their past jobs. NO ONE starts fresh. They all walk in with the expectation that whatever passed as "working" before will pass again, and expect me to live up to their level. Now, that goes both ways too, with some actually being hard working people, but mostly, it's the other way around. If you spend any deal of time thinking "This job sucks, so why should I bother for the pay that I'm getting?" you're only going to condition yourself to be one of those people that will always ask "What's in it for me" and slack off if you don't get the level of ass-kissing that you want to hear. First jobs aren't supposed to be careers, they're supposed to teach you how to work so that when you do get the kind of job that gives you the money/enjoyment that you want, you don't screw it up with pure incompetence. People think they've got the greatest job in the world because their boss doesn't give two shits about them and lets them sit on the stool all day ringing in CDs and DVDs while staring blankly at the wall, and they don't realize that every day they get more comfortable living down to that expectation, it's only going to limit what kind of bosses will put up with them in the future because that's the level of work that they will subconsciously limit THEMSELVES to.

The most common argument I hear from people that take no pride in themselves is "If they paid me more, I'd work harder". That's bullshit. There's a reason why when you go to a restaurant, you don't tip the waiter BEFORE the meal thinking "I'll give him a tip NOW so that he does a good job". The work part comes first. As long as the boss isn't screwing everyone over, you get paid based on the quality of work you bring to the job. It's become the excuse that more and more people like to give to explain why they shouldn't be ashamed of themselves.


Tribal Prophet
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