When Work Is Too Much...

just call in sick.

That's what I'm seeing in "younger" folks when it comes to work ethics.  I've only been working at this new job for about 4 months now.  However, in that time, I have seen most of my co-workers taking days off pretty regularly.  They've gone beyond both the alotted days for sickness and vacation.  Vacation days are not only "me" days but days for "me and my friends" road trip to Montana or beachside wedding or so and so just had a baby or any other excuse that is simply "good enough" to miss work.  In a lot of instances, not coming in to work is simply because "I didn't feel like it".

When missed work days happen, young people don't necessarily lose their jobs as a result.  It's as though this is the norm nowadays.  Employers are now conditioned to this behaviour in their employees and in some cases, the employers themselves exibit the same behavior.  However, for many of us when you miss a day, you miss your pay.  And that's tuff.  Other folks looking for work find themselves competing for jobs with these youngsters who need a job, but don't work as though they want the job or are even grateful they have it.   Nonetheless, these kids will most often first be considered for the job.

What I find is that for many of these younger employees, missing days isn't an issue.  Why?  Because most of them have their parents to pull them up out of their hole when they are running short of cash.  I've heard them say things like, "My dad had to buy my medicine or pay my rent because I just don't have enough money this month."  Some admit they have a spending problem that leads them up to this mess. 

I notice that many of the younger folks really like their things and are regularly sporting new gadgets, wearing new shoes, clothing, and accessories.  On top of that, many of them eat out every day and apparently can't be bothered with putting together a sandwich for lunch.  They never get enough to eat.  It appears to me that I'm looking at a very materialistic, incompetent lazy group of young people.  It is a group of folks who fail to see that hard work is a priority.  Spending habits in relation to that hard work are an even harder priority.  You don't get to reward yourself everyday with what you're earned from your paycheck.

Who's fault is this anyway?  Obviously, the parents who always dig their kids out of the hole they are in.  But mostly, I don't think the parents even see their children as being in a hole.  I think the newest generation of kids emerge from home where work was a priority with no personal or family balance.  Parents were never around much when their kids were growing up.  Their paycheck came in handy for giving the kids all they material things they wanted and needed but none of the quality time that was severely lacking.  And so parents of the now college graduates have gotten into this habit of "making up" for lost time, a long time ago.

It makes me sad.  I've heard some of these young folks say things like, "When I'm depressed, I go to my closet and look at all of my things."

Now, I realize that the economy has, as of late, played into some of the difficulty that many people are experiencing financially.  Some college graduates, and folks in general, over the last 2 years have been faced with having to work 2 jobs or working a job that barely covers all of their expenses.  In some cases, jobs just aren't available.  But on the flip side, I don't see young people living as though we are in hard times.  They still buy the stuff they want, they still eat all of their meals out, and many of them drive cars here in the city when it is not even necessary.  Most of what they earn they "play around" with and their folks, by default, take care of the rest.

The job that I currently work is hard physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I sometimes find I'm at my wits end from the demands of it.  Oftentimes, your health isn't the greatest when kids are sick more than half of the school year and you're sick right along with them because you pick up every virus they get too.  Sometimes with all of your hard work and trying not to miss workdays and scrimping your still come up short.  But, in the end, you find your own answers.

In a job such as mine when you're working with children, you may find that you're calling in sick more often than you'd like to be.  But you're not going passed your alotted sick days unless there is a death or you have to stay home or be hospitalized by doctor's orders.  It used to be that sick days were for more serious illnesses like flu or pneumonia.  Now you can stay home with a sore throat or headache.  It used to be that you never even considered taking entire days off to go to an appointment or attend an activity that has nothing to do with anything that you should be doing right now that's more important than paying your rent or your utilities. It would have been laughable or unheard of that someone left work early because she was thinking of adopting a puppy.  That person would have been fired.

The fact is, you work.  You work because you are responsible for you. One person's lack of responsibility affects others even when it seems like others are more than happy to pitch in and help out whenever you need it.  At some point reality needs to set in.  Others, besides you, have to be considered.  You do the best you can and your actions exemplify that and you are content with the results.  Buying yourself something every time payday rolls around is not the end result to hard work.  Then, when you're in trouble, some of us will be more sympathetic.