# Not straining to do something physical. Am I just being lazy or being smarter? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-straining-to-do-something-physical-am-i-just-being-lazy-or-being-smarter/834176 "2019-05-19T04:00:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-straining-to-do-something-physical-am-i-just-being-lazy-or-being-smarter/834176/21 "2019-05-20T01:48:27Z")
I’ve never been what anyone would call “graceful” and my wife constantly worries that I’ll break something while flipping a light switch. You have my permission to hire someone to open jars for you. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-straining-to-do-something-physical-am-i-just-being-lazy-or-being-smarter/834176/22 "2019-05-20T14:01:04Z")
A long time ago I had a summer job with a large theatrical festival. We used these rolls of really large heavy inflexible cables that kinked easily. The only “approved” way to unroll them was to stand them on edge and unroll them by sort of bouncing them, which was very physically strenuous as the rolls weighed over a hundred pounds. This was usually a two person job I did not like my job that summer and I had a difficult time with my “crewmates” due to a situation I was unaware of when I was hired. There was a member of the design team that wanted me to work there and had pulled some strings to get me the job. A job that traditionally went to the crew heads girlfriend, whom everyone loved. So my coworkers thought of me as the person that took their friend’s job. And they were frequently not nice to me. Mostly they liked to give me tasks that were physically strenuous so they could complain that I wasnt strong enough. So one day I was assigned to stay in the ground and unroll the cables ( by myself ), as someone on a level above me pulled them up. I examined the task and realized I could get the same result by setting the roll on its side on top of a dolly and spinning the dolly to unroll the cable. So when my “teammates” came over to check on me, hoping to find me struggling with these cable rolls I couldn’t lift, they instead found me standing leisurely, kicking a dolly with one foot. The looks on their face were priceless. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-straining-to-do-something-physical-am-i-just-being-lazy-or-being-smarter/834176/23 "2019-05-21T03:33:06Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > As I’m nearing my 6th decade on this Earth… Just checking… Are you about to turn 60? If so, you’re concluding your sixth decade, and nearing your seventh. If you’re about to turn 50, you got it right. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-straining-to-do-something-physical-am-i-just-being-lazy-or-being-smarter/834176/24 "2019-05-21T15:10:18Z")
I believe that best workers in the world are lazy people who know how to work. They are going to do it the best way possible and make fewer mistakes because they don’t like fixing them. When I was hiring people I always asked “On a scale of 1-10, how lazy are you?” If anyone answered 4 or lower, I didn’t need them. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-straining-to-do-something-physical-am-i-just-being-lazy-or-being-smarter/834176/25 "2019-05-28T01:12:35Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I believe that best workers in the world are lazy people who know how to work. They are going to do it the best way possible and make fewer mistakes because they don’t like fixing them. > > When I was hiring people I always asked “On a scale of 1-10, how lazy are you?” If anyone answered 4 or lower, I didn’t need them. Definitely agree. Truly lazy people are extremely efficient in my experience. They like getting work out of the way promptly and correctly so they can have more leisure to do nothing. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-straining-to-do-something-physical-am-i-just-being-lazy-or-being-smarter/834176/26 "2019-05-28T01:21:47Z")
I’m all for being efficient at tasks, but my doctor assures me I’ll live longer if I also take regular exercise (walking is fine.) I’m 65. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-straining-to-do-something-physical-am-i-just-being-lazy-or-being-smarter/834176.md?page=1)