How do people deal with going to work everyday?

["Trickster Dogg" James Jesse]

I see it as work is what you do to meet the requirements to live--to have food, clothes, a roof over your head, etc. Labour is what you do to live beyond those basic life requirements--to have money for luxuries, leisure activities, etc.

Both work and labour rely on exploitation, but that exploitation is often rationalized, negotiated, and agreed to as a social necessity. The very fact that people in this thread have said that 'I'm an adult, this is what I'm supposed to do' shows how people agree to this condition, even when the reality of the situation is unhappy, repetitive, or unfulfilling, which are things people in this thread have also stated as facts of life in the working world.

At the very least, you are being remunerated for your time and effort, although certainly you aren't making as much money as you could (and should) given your job. But there are other aspects of exploitation in work and labour that aren't remunerated at all. For example, if you have a mother, chances are she has done a lot of work that was unpaid, but also unappreciated, because of the ways in which women have been socialized as labourers in domestic spaces, which they are supposed to do dutifully because 'that's what mothers do'. This socialization is fraught with even more problems when women are expected to be workers at home, but also workers who venture forth in either the private or public sectors to be able to maintain the home as such.

At some point, however, society is going to have to have a serious conversation about universal basic income, given something like automation, for example. We don't need people to manufacture things for us anymore when machines can do the job. And even the service industries that emerged to replace manufacturing as the economic engine of society ('would you like fries with that?') are slowly moving towards the phasing out of people altogether. Soon there won't be enough jobs for people, and even those jobs that people do have won't be enough to make ends meet giving the rising costs of living (rent, food, expenses, and so on).

[Milkman Norm]

I wake up. Fall out of bed. Drag a comb across my head. I find my way downstairs and I grab a cup. Then I generally notice I'm late.So I rush off grabbing my coat and hat and generally make the bus with only seconds to spare.

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

I look at it in the bigger picture....I need to work in order to keep a roof over me and my family and to put food on the table for us.

The benefits are awesome...my boss hooks me up with Red Bull on a regular basis to keep me going, and my sales reps hook me up with free alcohol and the occasional lunch. Also, whenever my wife or kids are sick, his first reaction is to tell me to drop all my shit and go take care of them...

For those reasons, I enjoy going to work because they take care of me and allow me to take care of my family.

[willywonka666]

Actually, I love what I do and sometimes there are spells where I'm not really feeling it, I enjoy what I do-The money is not good at all, but I'm looking for a new part time job to go with it-I'm a DJ by the way and have been for 13 years

[mizerable]

Mar 16, 2017 9:47:47 GMT -5 Eunös ✈ said:

It's better than being homeless.

Well, there's a few beggars who live not too far from me who make a LOT of money by what they do. One "homeless" guy was interviewed by the news and when they revealed they knew he was living in a pretty nice house with a wife and kids, he walked off the interview. He estimated a bad hour is when he only makes about $50.

[Deleted]

Mar 16, 2017 12:13:05 GMT -5 jagilki said:

Mar 16, 2017 9:56:03 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

I was unemployed for a few years... I found it worse than working honestly.

I've been disabled / unemployed for a while now, and yeah it drives me more nuts than working did. When I'm working I tend to throw myself into it and it eases my mind.

At least it's much better now ever since I got the prosthesis. Before that, being stuck in a wheelchair made it just horrible.

I'm disabled and unemployed and I absolutely love it. Work sucked.

[tartsonawire]

Yeah, definitely get tired of the grind. It's important to go take a weekend trip or at least just get out of the house sometimes on your days off, I find that helps. I've only been at this job about 6 months, but I do like it, and it's a far cry from the hellhole I left. I don't make a lot, but it's still decent money, plus full benefits, and Monday-Friday schedule, and it's the first job that actually pertains to my college degree. I really like it here. The higher ups seem to get the whole take care of your employees and they'll take care of you thing.

[edgestar]

I like my job. I like the people I work with, and while some customers can be nasty (there are 2 guys that come in, that I don't like to be alone with), some customers can be very sweet. When I passed out while ringing a lady out, almost 2 years ago, she stayed with me, until the EMT's and my mom got there, and she came in a few times that week, to ask if my managers heard any updates on me.

[Milkman Norm]

Serious answer is I generally like what I do. And as others have said it part of being an adult. I find a lot of coffee in the mornings helps as does being awake and sober(ish) now that i'm older and can't stand being hungover and having to do things.

[Red Impact]

Generally the same way I deal with having to put on pants everyday.

[Gus Richlen: Ruffian]

I motivate myself by knowing that I am one of the very few competent people in my department and that I'm looking for something else soon.

[lucas_lee]

Mar 16, 2017 15:03:12 GMT -5 @rrnew said:

That's why I love my job. I do hospital security. It pays garbage, but a lot of the day I get to sit around and do what I want. But when I have to work - when my job is frankly stupidly dangerous - it's exciting enough that I get a lot of good stories out of it. It's the perfect job for me. A guy who's not particularly smart, but is a decent talker and likes to be a physical dude.

I do the same thing, except my post is in the hospital psych ward. everyday is a drag to me and I got my first scar from work recently, increasing the workday dragging for me. I try all the time to talk down patients from acting up or coming back, but usually people will do things that I cannot comprehend and I gotta get physical. Anytime I feel demotivated I look at my patients (most are homeless who try to find a place to stay) and I know I don't want that for myself

[Deleted]

Mar 17, 2017 3:37:49 GMT -5 lucas_lee said:

Mar 16, 2017 15:03:12 GMT -5 @rrnew said:

That's why I love my job. I do hospital security. It pays garbage, but a lot of the day I get to sit around and do what I want. But when I have to work - when my job is frankly stupidly dangerous - it's exciting enough that I get a lot of good stories out of it. It's the perfect job for me. A guy who's not particularly smart, but is a decent talker and likes to be a physical dude.

I do the same thing, except my post is in the hospital psych ward. everyday is a drag to me and I got my first scar from work recently, increasing the workday dragging for me. I try all the time to talk down patients from acting up or coming back, but usually people will do things that I cannot comprehend and I gotta get physical. Anytime I feel demotivated I look at my patients (most are homeless who try to find a place to stay) and I know I don't want that for myself

Mhm. We've got a psych ward myself. I'm supervisor for the team though, so I work all over the building.

You're doing good. I mean, people roll my eyes when I tell them that at my job because it sounds condescending but we should all remember it.

[lucas_lee]

Mar 17, 2017 3:48:15 GMT -5 @rrnew said:

Mar 17, 2017 3:37:49 GMT -5 lucas_lee said:

I do the same thing, except my post is in the hospital psych ward. everyday is a drag to me and I got my first scar from work recently, increasing the workday dragging for me. I try all the time to talk down patients from acting up or coming back, but usually people will do things that I cannot comprehend and I gotta get physical. Anytime I feel demotivated I look at my patients (most are homeless who try to find a place to stay) and I know I don't want that for myself

Mhm. We've got a psych ward myself. I'm supervisor for the team though, so I work all over the building.

You're doing good. I mean, people roll my eyes when I tell them that at my job because it sounds condescending but we should all remember it.

Oh definitely I have a patient that was semi famous in the 90s and he pretty much lost everything due to his illness. Im always greatful for any opportunity I have

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

I know the feeling. I like my current job but even in a job I like I get bored or frustrated pretty often. and this is after my last job which was terrible and turned me into a total jobsworth so I know how much shittier things COULD be.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Mar 16, 2017 17:24:49 GMT -5 mizerable said:

Mar 16, 2017 9:47:47 GMT -5 Eunös ✈ said:

It's better than being homeless.

Well, there's a few beggars who live not too far from me who make a LOT of money by what they do. One "homeless" guy was interviewed by the news and when they revealed they knew he was living in a pretty nice house with a wife and kids, he walked off the interview. He estimated a bad hour is when he only makes about $50.

There was a similar guy here, who became something of a local celebrity, with regular appearances in the local news and his own Facebook fan page. He genuinely was homeless, but raked in hundreds per day because of his "fame" which he'd spend on heroin and hard liquor.

[Mid-Carder]

I was unemployed after university and I hated it. I'm thankful every day to have a job.

Plus the money allows me to do the things I love.

[domrep]

I think what gets me is this: I take the metro (train) into work every day. And I've told my wife this in the past, it just feels like I'm on autopilot. It feels like we're all robots because I can hear the clanking of the heels and dress shoes hitting the pavement, it's monotonous. The job I have now is extremely boring, there's moments throughout the day (morning and late afternoon) where it gets really busy but most of the time I'm sitting here looking at wrestling stuff, planning vacations, etc. I'm only here b/c of the benefits and the wink wink agreement that I will be supervisor in about 3 years (by that point I would have put in 11 years into this company) and that's a six figure payday. After that it's cruise control.

At the end of the day, I do this gig to get paid, take time off and take care of my family. That's all the motivation I need.

[DragonMasterP]

Honestly, I'd probably drop dead of boredom if I didn't have a job. Days off are nice, but I need something to do.

[lucas_lee]

Well this topic just jinxed me. I possibly sprained or torn something in my knee at work today