Not a thing to say

The title pretty much sums it up. I mean, there’s a lot I COULD say, but there’s nothing I WANT to say.

I could comment on the two men in Connecticut who raped and murdered three out of four members of a family, while leaving the fourth on life support. But I won’t.

I could comment on the London man who was shot twice for asking some other men to stub out a cigarette at a nightclub, where smoking is banned. But I won’t.

I could comment on the phenomenon that is “Potter-mania”. But I won’t.

I could comment on the British Columbia government’s continuing gutting of our health care system. But I won’t.

I could comment on the seemingly never-ending reports of suicide bombings in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. But I won’t.

You see, there’s just so much that’s completely f*cked up in the world, that I’m at a bit of a loss. Has society grown too big for itself? It seems that even with all the communications technology available, we are in many ways worse off than before. It’s easier than ever for messages of ignorance and hate to spread rapidly. It’s not often that we see hopeful and positive messages on the Internet.

I suppose this is partly the function of the media, which interprets the best “news” as reports of death, calamity, or crime.

This is partly why I stopped subscribing to newspapers. It’s not a desire to bury my head in the sand, but more a general sense of disgust with the stories that the media consider newsworthy.

In this day of blogs, podcasts, and YouTube, everyone has the power to be a journalist. Unfortunately, 99.99% of people are repeating the mistakes of the mainstream media with inane, mundane, and pointless repetitions of things that are only relevant because some other person says it is.

I guess my point is this: we have the tools available to us for positive change, but we continue to use them without thought or care. Rather than embracing the possibilities, we limit ourselves to seeing these tools as various ways to obtain entertainment and diversion.

I guess I did have something to say after all.

Work #2

A bad job is one where you see no further hope of learning anything new, and where you feel that you’re no longer making a positive contribution. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t think a bad job is one where your boss is an ass, or your co-workers are incompetent, or the work itself is horrible. All of these are symptoms of a bad job, but they’re not the reasons the job is bad.

One of the reasons I work is to improve myself. I want to learn new things so that I can better prepare myself for whatever may happen in the future. I also want to do work that’s helping other people in some way, whether it be through selling them a product or providing a service. This not only boosts my self-esteem, but it also gives me a reason to go to work every day.

Without these elements, the bad boss, co-workers, and/or work are highlighted. Not only are you not getting anything out of the job for yourself, but other factors are driving your job satisfaction down. That’s when it’s time to find a new job – when you’re no longer able to identify benefits to staying on.

So a bad job can be found anywhere. That guy driving a Porsche and making $150,000 a year could be stuck in a job that he sees no future in and derives no enjoyment from. It’s not obvious to the casual observer that his job sucks since he has all the trappings of success.

At the same time, the cashier working at a McJob may consider that she’s in a good job because she’s learning about customer service, inter-personal communications, and being part of a team. Sure, the pay’s low, the customers surly, and the food crap, but she knows that she’s improving herself for the job market later on.

I think a bad job is what you make of it. If you’re able to find positives in the work, then you’re obviously learning something of use. Take as much as you can if you’re in this position to ready yourself for a new job. Only when you’re no longer anything new is it time to quit.

But you know, having said all this, I recognize that sometimes it’s not humanly possible to tolerate the rantings of an insane manager or the ramblings of inane co-workers for any length of time. The delineations of a bad job are fluid, and the all depend on your personal tolerances. Ultimately, if you can’t take it any more, that’s probably the time to look for a new job.

Work

Why do people work? What is it that makes someone go to a place everyday to do a job that they don’t really like doing? It has to be more than just money, right?

I don’t know about other people, but one reason to stick with a job is the people you work with. As corny as it sounds, your co-workers go a long way to helping you get through each workday. One of my previous jobs involved selling things that I wasn’t too enthused about selling. Correction. I hated selling those things.

Luckily, the people I worked with were all cool. Everyone did what they could to make work a little more inviting, whether it was bringing in baking one morning, or finishing up quickly so that we could all leave a few minutes early.

Another reason to work is the experience you gain. Unless you’re stuck in a menial job where every day is the same as the one before, there’s always something to be learned, even by doing a job you dislike. I sometimes wonder if I should have stuck it out a little longer at one of my other jobs in order to learn as much as I could. I disliked the work, but I was learning something new almost every day.

But these are just a couple things I’ve experienced. What makes you go to work everyday? And the people who have jobs they love, please chime in as well. I’d love to hear any and all reasons for working.