Jobs not Wanted
November 23rd 2006 05:06
We spend a lot of time absorbing information from TV, magazines, movies, etc. Ok, maybe WE is a generalization, but I know I do, so I'm gonna imagine more than a few of you peruse magazines on a fairly frequent basis and probably chuck in some prime TV watching and movie-going hours. The question is what are we learning, what are we being inculturated with?
For me, the answer is love of leisure. Its been said about my generation that we are not going to make as much money as our parents. This is startling but not altogether surprising. No matter how you cut it, as a whole, i don't see the motivation, the work-ethic, the sacrifice from my peers that i imagine was necessary for our parents to get to where they are.
I'll admit, I'll be the first to admit it, I hate having a job. I hate having to sell my precious time of leisure to ensure i have an apartment to live in, food to eat, enjoyment on tap. And i've absorbed from my pop culture obsession that this is uber-trendy. Girls like Paris, and Lindsay, Nicole, Jessica, and Ashlee are all in my age bracket and i have never seen a photograph of any of them doing anything that looks like work.
Now i know celebreties say that what they do is hard work and its harder than it looks. That is true, it probably is harder than it looks, but would the rest of us call the massively bloated salaries they receive for doing this "harder than it looks" work a perk worth working for? I would. So i've been told, again and again, that trendy is having your time. Trendy is the ability to have a mani pedi at 1pm on a tuesday. Trendy is having cocktails with lunches that stretch from 11am-3pm on a thursday with friends, not business partners. Trendy is being able to do what you want when you want to do it--leisure time.
Nice as it might be, trendy it most certainly is not. Trendy is having put in a hard days work in an office, on site, with your hands, with your mind...
Trendy is having the strength to determine and prioritize the things you'll spend your hard earned money on.
Trendy is purchasing the number one priority with your money (NOT mom and dad's, not the trust fund, not interest off your stocks).
Trendy is about sacrificing the life of your childhood for both the life of your future and /or the life of your children.
Not to get carried away, I am only partially trendy in this sense. I have a long way to go before the sacrifice seems like anything but a mundane, abomindable, chore. But i'm working on it, i'm striving to get there, and that's pretty damn trendy too!
For me, the answer is love of leisure. Its been said about my generation that we are not going to make as much money as our parents. This is startling but not altogether surprising. No matter how you cut it, as a whole, i don't see the motivation, the work-ethic, the sacrifice from my peers that i imagine was necessary for our parents to get to where they are.
I'll admit, I'll be the first to admit it, I hate having a job. I hate having to sell my precious time of leisure to ensure i have an apartment to live in, food to eat, enjoyment on tap. And i've absorbed from my pop culture obsession that this is uber-trendy. Girls like Paris, and Lindsay, Nicole, Jessica, and Ashlee are all in my age bracket and i have never seen a photograph of any of them doing anything that looks like work.
Now i know celebreties say that what they do is hard work and its harder than it looks. That is true, it probably is harder than it looks, but would the rest of us call the massively bloated salaries they receive for doing this "harder than it looks" work a perk worth working for? I would. So i've been told, again and again, that trendy is having your time. Trendy is the ability to have a mani pedi at 1pm on a tuesday. Trendy is having cocktails with lunches that stretch from 11am-3pm on a thursday with friends, not business partners. Trendy is being able to do what you want when you want to do it--leisure time.
Nice as it might be, trendy it most certainly is not. Trendy is having put in a hard days work in an office, on site, with your hands, with your mind...
Trendy is having the strength to determine and prioritize the things you'll spend your hard earned money on.
Trendy is purchasing the number one priority with your money (NOT mom and dad's, not the trust fund, not interest off your stocks).
Trendy is about sacrificing the life of your childhood for both the life of your future and /or the life of your children.
Not to get carried away, I am only partially trendy in this sense. I have a long way to go before the sacrifice seems like anything but a mundane, abomindable, chore. But i'm working on it, i'm striving to get there, and that's pretty damn trendy too!
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Comment by pegasus
Poker Addict
My parents often worked 6 days a week and loads of overtime. While I, on the other hand, find myself trying to find ways to work less and enjoy life more. hey you only live once.
I guess you gotta try to find a balance. Though if you can't, then working wins out every time. We must pay those bills after all.
Pegasus
Comment by Joanna
since we have to work i reckon that's the best job out there!
Comment by Hope
Gifted Parenting
Freelance For Life
Comment by Joanna
always great to have ideas stored away for potential careers that optimize ability to have "my time."
Cheers
Comment by Sarah White
coolgirlsar to the rescue
One Too Many Chocolate Bars
The media and celebrities do paint a picture to make it look trendy not to have a job etc and it worries me the effect this has on the youth of today. I see so many young teenagers, some not even that old yet, sitting outside my home while they should be at school getting and education to get a job but all you hear them talk about is a life of leisure and how they'll find lots of money somehow for this lifestyle. I find it sad.
As for me I'm dreading the day I may have to go back to work and I'm desperately trying to think of ways to avoid this, maybe an online business where I can work from home and still enjoy that precious time with my son and my husband.
Comment by Joanna
you might be a bit more advanced in life then i am with the kids to spur along your desire for flexible work, but the point remains, at some point, for whatever reason we all feel like the 9-5 or worse the 7-9 is not gonna cut it.
i still think teaching is a great option b/c if you think about it, for the first 18 or so years of your kids life you live on the same daily, weekly, and holiday schedule making it easier to spend time together.
good luck figuring out how to make it all work, internet business, freelancing, casual work, whatever it is. let us know how it goes too so we can add choices to our own "potential avenues" list