I think that mankind was created with the intent of being social creatures. After all, the most brutal form of punishment is to place a prisoner in solitary confinement. Human beings are designed to interact with one another. When I was working as a full time father, it was rare occasions that I would get to spend considerable amount of time with adults. And as such, during those rare times when I got to spend time with people who could carry on conversations, I was extremely happy.
I have gone to back to work at a job that I had through high school and college while Amy goes through her nursing program. It’s not like I have this massive amount of friends so you will see that about 50% of the people in my MySpace friends list are co-workers. Many of the kids that I work help keep me connected with the youth. There are times when I feel pretty old (I’ve ranted about this before) even though I’m only 32. But we were talking in the break room today and many didn’t know the song “The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground. Am I really getting that old?
So, there are times where I just DO NOT want to go into work. The money is crap. I’m doing work that they could hire a high school kid to replace me to do. And it is pretty much the same thing day after day. I can stomach the job because I know that as soon as Amy finishes the nursing program, I am out. Still, it can be a frickin’ grind. But then some days come along and things do not seem so bad.
And when it happens, it is because of the coworkers. The great sage Jack Handy once said, “My dad felt laughter was the best medicine… which is why so many of us died from tuberculosis.” But when a select group of us can get together, tell stupid stories, and laugh at infantile jokes, things don’t seem that bad.
Today was one of those days.
It was a day where we busted rear early, got everything done, and then spent the rest of the day cruising along and filling holes as needed. This allowed for time to laugh at jokes and do just a little bit of clowning around in between filling cartloads of product.
I think there are times when you have to have that laughter to break the monotony and keep spirits up. In the end, I actually think that improves productivity. If you can leave at the end of the day smiling and laughing, that’s a good day. And then the strange thing is when I get home and tell my wife about my day, the stories are never as funny as the events themselves. Or at least, she doesn’t laugh nearly as hard as she should.
I’d like to think that is because is not in the mud and blood. She is not in the trenches with us, so maybe she can’t understand how the humor helps us cope.
Now, granted, I’m working in a grocery store. It is certainly not war (although it feels like it sometimes). But it is a thankless job. It’s a grunt job.
I think that if I were president, I would implement a policy where after you complete college, you have to serve one year in a grunt position (i.e. grocery store, Wal-Mart, fast food restaurant, convenience store) at minimum wage pay. I think that if everyone did that—from the snooty super rich all the way down to the lowest income worker—then people would walk away with respect for that job position. They would realize that those grunt positions are a tough job that doesn’t pay a lot of money and that even though they don’t earn a lot of money, the position still should earn you respect.
I think that if people did that, the world would be a better place…
I have gone to back to work at a job that I had through high school and college while Amy goes through her nursing program. It’s not like I have this massive amount of friends so you will see that about 50% of the people in my MySpace friends list are co-workers. Many of the kids that I work help keep me connected with the youth. There are times when I feel pretty old (I’ve ranted about this before) even though I’m only 32. But we were talking in the break room today and many didn’t know the song “The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground. Am I really getting that old?
So, there are times where I just DO NOT want to go into work. The money is crap. I’m doing work that they could hire a high school kid to replace me to do. And it is pretty much the same thing day after day. I can stomach the job because I know that as soon as Amy finishes the nursing program, I am out. Still, it can be a frickin’ grind. But then some days come along and things do not seem so bad.
And when it happens, it is because of the coworkers. The great sage Jack Handy once said, “My dad felt laughter was the best medicine… which is why so many of us died from tuberculosis.” But when a select group of us can get together, tell stupid stories, and laugh at infantile jokes, things don’t seem that bad.
Today was one of those days.
It was a day where we busted rear early, got everything done, and then spent the rest of the day cruising along and filling holes as needed. This allowed for time to laugh at jokes and do just a little bit of clowning around in between filling cartloads of product.
I think there are times when you have to have that laughter to break the monotony and keep spirits up. In the end, I actually think that improves productivity. If you can leave at the end of the day smiling and laughing, that’s a good day. And then the strange thing is when I get home and tell my wife about my day, the stories are never as funny as the events themselves. Or at least, she doesn’t laugh nearly as hard as she should.
I’d like to think that is because is not in the mud and blood. She is not in the trenches with us, so maybe she can’t understand how the humor helps us cope.
Now, granted, I’m working in a grocery store. It is certainly not war (although it feels like it sometimes). But it is a thankless job. It’s a grunt job.
I think that if I were president, I would implement a policy where after you complete college, you have to serve one year in a grunt position (i.e. grocery store, Wal-Mart, fast food restaurant, convenience store) at minimum wage pay. I think that if everyone did that—from the snooty super rich all the way down to the lowest income worker—then people would walk away with respect for that job position. They would realize that those grunt positions are a tough job that doesn’t pay a lot of money and that even though they don’t earn a lot of money, the position still should earn you respect.
I think that if people did that, the world would be a better place…
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