NationStates Jolt Archive

do you actually enjoy your job? do you go to work wanting to work or resenting every bit of it? what would you call a good job anyway - something you're interested in doing or something that pushes your boundaries, or something intrinsic to the job itself like security or self-determination or some shit like that?

just wondering if i'm naive in wanting a job that i can actually enjoy. the job i have is actually a good "job" but the work is simply not something i want to spend my days doing for much longer. tis creating a lot of tension in that people want me to keep doing this thing i'm not happy doing and have no motivation to do except not piss them off by not doing it, and even extend this thing to do more of it... and i know its a good job but i simply hate doing it. i'm confused because they need me to do it and they need the money i can generate from doing this, but ultimatley i do hate doing it day-by-day. i don't know what to do - i suppose i'll just give in and do what they tell me, keep resenting it and keep doing the same thing every day. woot.



so do you ultimatley work just to pay off the bills/mortgage, just to exist, or out of fear from being evicted etc? is there more to work and life than this (seeing how one spends more time at work than anything else over the course of your life, apparently - at least here in Britain with the longest hours and lowest pay per purchasing power parity than anywhere else in the EU, with the highest cost of living too)?

why do you fucking bother?

I usually enjoy my job, but I loathe working. I could easily apply my skills to something more deserving, if it wasn't for the money.

I work because I have expenses & like to travel. I work as little as I possibly can, because I'd rather spend my time working for free, seeing the world & doing shit my own way.

I work roughly 50% of every year, and can probably continue to do that until I retire (to the island I plan on buying).

You shouldn't get a job you don't enjoy. People get miserable when they spend every day doing something that numbs their minds. Trust me. Nothing's worth that torture, not even family. You'll just end up divorced with kids that hate your guts.

You shouldn't get a job you don't enjoy. People get miserable when they spend every day doing something that numbs their minds. Trust me. Nothing's worth that torture, not even family. You'll just end up divorced with kids that hate your guts.
what if you're working for your family? as in they're your bosses? and you can't escape the business? even if you quit and went to do something else you could never escape because thats all the rest of your family know - they're not even people any more, they have no friends and no hobbies and nothing to their lives but work and you try your best to distance yourself from becoming like them but you know that you can never escape? and even if you do its still gonna turn round and hit you in the face later - you can't have your own life because when the parents eventually die all their debts and things are gonna come crashing down onto you and fuck up your life too just as it did theirs?
working 50% of the year sounds great to me. i resist working and becoming like them so much that i probably only work 50% of the time i should heh, but it causes terrible tension between us. i'm confused and i hate it and i am naieve (just been told so; along with lazy and overly-self-indulgent for actually wanting a LIFE) so... fuck it... i'll just go back to not giving a fuck

[/rant]

why do you fucking bother?

well, right now my job is college. the only reason im doing it is because of my parents. if they said it was ok for me to drop out, i would. im majoring in history, wtf can i do with that??

what if you're working for your family?
[/rant]
bad bad deal....

do you actually enjoy your job? do you go to work wanting to work or resenting every bit of it? what would you call a good job anyway - something you're interested in doing or something that pushes your boundaries, or something intrinsic to the job itself like security or self-determination or some shit like that?
Hmmmm. Once upon a time, a few months back, I ended a string of jobs I really loved. First, I was a stylist and makeup artist who also got the chance for fashion photography (which I think my profile still lists as my career, even though I'm just freelance now. After that, I entered the hellish quagmire that is retail sales and realized that the place I was working was actually awesome (the stylist job required I move to another city and I can't relocate). However, I lost that job at the beginning of the new semester, because I personally just don't have the ability to work 40 hours a week and go to school six days a week. It ain't gonna fucking happen. Now I work at a goddamn movie theatre, and though I get free unlimited movies, free soda and popcorn while at work, movie posters when available, and I'm working with my boyfriend....it's kind of a crap job. Most days, I really dislike it, but the people make it worth staying.

so do you ultimatley work just to pay off the bills/mortgage, just to exist, or out of fear from being evicted etc?
Naw, actually I just do it because I'm saving money to buy the house my parents are currently living in, when they move down to the retirement property in a few years. Hopefully I'll be able to strike a deal with them that'll allow me to pay the house off to them over time, so that I don't have to worry about mortgage or excess bills.....but it just depends on how much the wedding costs a few years down the road. Also, I'm working to pay off medical bills and buy a new digital camera, but the latter is an entirely suprerfluous desire......

what if you're working for your family? as in they're your bosses? and you can't escape the business? [snip, etc][/rant]
Hmm. Sounds like you need to have an honest chat with your bosses. Which you probably have, 'cos it's obvious. Sorry.

If they don't care, simply save up, get a job elsewhere (it doesn't have to be anything exciting to start with. Maybe even temping whilst looking for something good) and move away. If you're worried about being landed with their debts then find out how to avoid them; if it means disowning your family, do it. It's more important that you're happy.

I work so I can move out and live by myself, or start my build-computers-for-money gig, or learn to fly an aeroplane, or whatever other madcap scheme I've got buzzing around in my head. Really I just buy computer bits ;)

Hmm. Sounds like you need to have an honest chat with your bosses. Which you probably have, 'cos it's obvious. Sorry.

If they don't care, simply save up, get a job elsewhere (it doesn't have to be anything exciting to start with. Maybe even temping whilst looking for something good) and move away. If you're worried about being landed with their debts then find out how to avoid them; if it means disowning your family, do it. It's more important that you're happy.

I work so I can move out and live by myself, or start my build-computers-for-money gig, or learn to fly an aeroplane, or whatever other madcap scheme I've got buzzing around in my head. Really I just buy computer bits ;)
have tried to have a chat, yes, but it just ends in bitterness and arguements and they simply don't understand, or won't allow themselves to, or (the usual one) "can't deal with that right now"
so that route is kinda out

and i can't just leave them - for one thing i do like them as people, and we get on as a family, and i care about them; and for another thing my skills are needed in the business - if i just sod off there'll be a resources and skills gap they'll have to outsource for (which would cost more) and they're overstretched as it is.

there is no easy solution here. i will not disown them.
the thing that makes it hard is that they just don't understand my wanting to not end up like them, and as such not wanting to fold completely into the business.

it also is made harder by the past: when i moved out to go to uni 2 years ago i ended up getting very depressed and trying to kill myself. i need their support as a family. as people. i just can't deal with it when they pile stress on and make me feel like crap because i'm still learning how to work and i'm not perfect and they have all this experience and expect me to be able to just hop to it like them, and i can't and i feel crap because of it. it just goes round in an endless circle of feeling more and more useless and not believeing them when they compliment my work and things like that. it also doesn't help when i don't see anybody but them and occasionally an employee for fucking weeks on end (bar glitziness, but thats a recent development... she keeps me sane).

and its also made harder by this lack of confidence: if i knew what it was i wanted to go do instead, i'd go do it. i'd work out a way to leave and go do that. but how do you work out what it is you want to do? or can do? i've worked out i want to study architecture but that involves going back to uni and getting another college qualification first - which puts me here for the next couple of years anyway. i could go get some shitty job stacking shelves but as i said up in my OP this is actually a half decent "job", and then there's that issue of them needing my services - it would be stupid for me to live under their roof and not provide those services.

and its made all the more difficult - especially right now (hence all the rants and the feelings and the tension) - in that my particular product i developed they want to continue and roll out further... which will generate some good money but a) what do i do with that money? b) i hate money (issues - complicated. don't ask), c) money is only a measure of success for some people, and d) its work i can't stand doing. therefore why expand the product when i know i hate doing it already? for them. living for them. working for them. in some ways i really haven't advanced a jot since my depressed days at uni.


apologies for the emo-style rant, but i really don't have anyone else to talk to right now. (kinda sad... i guess i could email amy but i've already ranted to her about this a thousand times...lucky girl, heh)


could do with going somewhere and getting away from them and it all for a while, but where? how? when? my diary is getting filled for me weeks in advance with new projects and meetings and all this bollocks i just don't care about. wouldn't be able to go away for at least 2 weeks, but by then no doubt there'd be something urgent or pressing to do that needs immediate attention and... once again i just have to say fuck it cos i'm talking out my ass. sorry. :(


bad bad deal....
no shit

Actually I do love my job even though it makes me crazy, I work for family, but I would not have it any other way, I am my mother's caregiver and I also take care of her BF's children from a former relationship while he is working... I love her and I love those kids... I dont make much at it, but it is worth it, I get to help the person that helped make me the person I am and I get to help mold young minds... cant beat that!

As of right now, I'm working a shit job to pay bills. I'm moving soon, and I'm sure I'll be jumping to another shit job (or several) as I have no skills. My perfect job, taking into account my ability, would be a test subject in a lab.

the corporate world will suck your soul dry if you stay in it long enough

I hate it, but I'm heading to grad school this fall in the hopes of getting a cushy job in academia.

I love my job! I would much rather my residency be over with already, but I'm not going to complain. I wouldn't have gone to medical school if I didn't like the work.

I don't work (in the employment sense) at the moment, but when I do it will be so that I can afford to have fun.

I don't work (in the employment sense) at the moment, but when I do it will be so that I can afford to have fun.
what constitutes "fun"? :confused:

Working for a multinational construction conglomerate gives me a daily opportunity to re-affirm my long-standing committment to evil, while earning big sexy cash.

why do you fucking bother?
Uh ... I don't.

If I had a car, I could probably get a security guard job somewhere, or work in a convenience store, but why should I bother? I get paid just enough from my military disability and social security to make ends meet, so why subject myself to those sorts of jobs? I'd much rather rant on NS and reminisce about the far more demanding and involving jobs I've held in the past, than drag myself to some minimum wage job just to say I'm "working."

I'd much rather rant on NS and reminisce about the far more demanding and involving jobs I've held in the past, than drag myself to some minimum wage job just to say I'm "working."
But...but...it's the American Way... :p

But...but...it's the American Way... :p
Oh? Do tell. [ pops open another Corona, lights up another cigar, kicks back to watch The X-Files. ] :D

and its also made harder by this lack of confidence: if i knew what it was i wanted to go do instead, i'd go do it. i'd work out a way to leave and go do that. but how do you work out what it is you want to do? or can do?

The only part of your message I can directly comment on is this; and all I can say is "I don't know". I've not figured it out for myself, yet! I suppose you just have to try things and see what happens; easier said than done, for you.
It does sound like an unpleasant situation. I'd reccomend talking to someone wiser than me... And patience. As much as you might dislike money, a stash of it squirelled away might give you the opportunity to go and try something else.
It really sounds like you need to stick to your guns and make your parents understand how you feel, and why you feel like it. Don't give in to them.
I hope someone gives you better advice than I can.

apologies for the emo-style rant, but i really don't have anyone else to talk to right now. (kinda sad... i guess i could email amy but i've already ranted to her about this a thousand times...lucky girl, heh)
I wouldn't worry about that; she'll doubtless rant at you from time to time! Just don't take her for granted, of course. My girlfriend's also very forgiving about my moaning ;)

Hehehe - reading further down the thread, it sounds like Eut's got it sorted. Emulate him!

Oh? Do tell. [ pops open another Corona, lights up another cigar, kicks back to watch The X-Files. ] :D
LOL, well you always hear about the American individualist work ethic, a distaste for reliance on the government, etc. But I don't seriously believe it. ;)

LOL, well you always hear about the American individualist work ethic, a distaste for reliance on the government, etc. But I don't seriously believe it. ;)
Well, considering that my right leg is held together with metal, my body is scarred up pretty good, and my prostate is gone, all courtesy of my years in the military, I don't feel too badly about kicking back at Uncle's expense for a few years. :)

Well, considering that my right leg is held together with metal, my body is scarred up pretty good, and my prostate is gone, all courtesy of my years in the military, I don't feel too badly about kicking back at Uncle's expense for a few years. :)
Hehehe, guess so. :)

what constitutes "fun"? :confused:

For me, playing video games, watching movies, buying CDS, and going to the pub with friends. Sometimes I do more creative things, but not enough recently.

I suppose I'm lucky in that I can think of several jobs I would really enjoy. As I'm still a student, I won't be able to start any of them for some time now, but when I graduate from college in a few years (actually, I first have to get in, heh—but I'm smart enough to get a scholarship), I'll probably have made a decision by then.

Working for a multinational construction conglomerate gives me a daily opportunity to re-affirm my long-standing committment to evil, while earning big sexy cash.


Sorry you're just an lame evil wanna be


I'm currently working for a company that supplies a multinational arms manufacturer with bits :sniper: after a stints making nuclear power parts and military equipment for other not so friendly foriegn countries.
:mp5:
Boris

PS we make sure the enviroment gets polluted too :eek:

Sorry you're just an lame evil wanna be

I'm currently working for a company that supplies a multinational arms manufacturer with bits :sniper: after a stints making nuclear power parts and military equipment for other not so friendly foriegn countries.
:mp5:
Boris

PS we make sure the enviroment gets polluted too :eek:
Granted, we don't make guns, but nuclear power yeah, not so friendly countries yeah. ;)

why do you fucking bother?

Because I love my work. It is challenging, it is stimulating, it is life-affirming, it allows me to be creative. It allows me to watch live bands, look at attractive young members of the opposite sex, I can even have a drink on the job without incuring displeasure (in fact I often find myself turning fown the offer of drinks from my employers). Live sound engineering: there are few better jobs in the world. Just take care of your ears and your spine and everything should be just dandy.

If I could actually answer your questions, I'd be a lot happier in life myself...

One random thing, though: wouldn't it be possible to strike some kind of compromise along the lines of you go back to university to study architecture and, instead of getting some random other job to make ends meet, keep working for your parents part-time? As much as I've gathered, it's computer based work, so maybe you can keep the part of the job that can be done without you physically being there (assuming university wouldn't be in your home town).

Then at least they couldn't blame you for flat out "deserting" them, and you'd have a job.

Ah, shit, I don't know.

Well, as of right now I'm a student, and even though that is not technically a job, I love being a student.

Although, after I have my degree I know I will love getting up in the morning, or night, and going to work everyday regardless of how long I have worked or how little sleep I have.

And I think a good job is something that you love but that also pays the bills and support yourself and your family.

Working for a multinational construction conglomerate gives me a daily opportunity to re-affirm my long-standing committment to evil, while earning big sexy cash.Sounds eerily familiar. I try to avoid that these days, and work for small privates instead. Hours are better, money's worse, but what really matters is I don't have that feeling of intense shame & regret when I leave for work.

Sounds eerily familiar. I try to avoid that these days, and work for small privates instead. Hours are better, money's worse, but what really matters is I don't have that feeling of intense shame & regret when I leave for work.
How old were you when it started? I'm still young, so I figure there's time to rake papers and cash out. :D

Because I need the money.

Why do I work where I do? Because it's more fun than anywhere else I've worked.

I work for a nonprofit helping at-risk first-time mothers in the county. I don't get paid much, but it's fulfilling and flexible enough to keep me going while I'm in grad school.

Work is for hosers.