# Tell me your inspiring story about "getting off the merry-go-round." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 21, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822 "2005-05-21T00:33:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822/41 "2005-05-25T02:36:43Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > Like seriously, I do not get it when people say they live for their jobs. It is the most depressing thing EVER that some people do this, because to me that means that they don’t know what to fill up that big gaping hole in their life with. Some people fill up that hole with drugs or alcohol, which, while definitely dysfunctional, has at least a little more dignity than giving themselves a crammed schedule of machine work. It’s a good thing that _some_ people live for their jobs; much basic science and medical research, not to mention trauma care, education, literature and art, philanthropy, et cetera, is performed by people who don’t and wouldn’t punch a clock or time out at the end of the day. It doesn’t mean that they have a “big gaping hole in their life”; it means they’ve found a cause that gives value to their work and meaning to their existence. Of course, if your life’s work is dedicated to marketing cheap beer or manipulating little bits of paper in order to increase the little bits of paper you have, then I’d have to question the value that you hold of your life. But there are jobs, and professions, worthy of sacrifice and commitment by those whose talents and interests fit them. And I fear that, like many, you romanticize drug and alcohol abuse by your comment that it “has at least a little more dignity than giving themselves a crammed schedule of machine work”. At least the workoholic can point to something constructive to come from their efforts. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822/42 "2005-05-25T06:45:38Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > It’s a good thing that _some_ people live for their jobs; much basic science and medical research, not to mention trauma care, education, literature and art, philanthropy, et cetera, is performed by people who don’t and wouldn’t punch a clock or time out at the end of the day. It doesn’t mean that they have a “big gaping hole in their life”; it means they’ve found a cause that gives value to their work and meaning to their existence. Of course, if your life’s work is dedicated to marketing cheap beer or manipulating little bits of paper in order to increase the little bits of paper you have, then I’d have to question the value that you hold of your life. But there are jobs, and professions, worthy of sacrifice and commitment by those whose talents and interests fit them Well yeah, there’s a difference between working a job you love and a job you hate or only like on a surface level–a job that meshes with your life philosophy is no longer just your job, but is fully integrated into your life in a way that a crap job isn’t. Keep in mind that every job I’ve worked (aside from the one day a week retail job I have at a small non-chain store, which is the only job I’ve ever liked) have been for big machine-like enterprises, so I may be a little biased. So I tend to think all work is torturous and bad and that all bosses are patronizing asswipes (because almost all of mine have been). I plan to teach for a living once I get my Master’s, and I fully expect to like that work (though I won’t forget that I exist outside of it). But I knew people at Walmart who lived for their jobs–taking overtime every day, coming in on off days to chat, organizing potluck dinners for Walmart employees and basically acting like the Walmart Solidarity Corps. And that’s just sad. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822/43 "2005-05-25T07:54:13Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > But I knew people at Walmart who lived for their jobs–taking overtime every day, coming in on off days to chat, organizing potluck dinners for Walmart employees and basically acting like the Walmart Solidarity Corps. And that’s just sad. ::shudder:: Having worked, albeit briefly, for a Wal-Mart operation (the plasticine uberstore Hypermart), I cannot help but concur with your analysis. Still, everybody wants to fit in somewhere (except those of us to have come to the realization that we do not fit anywhere on this benighted quasi-sphere and long to achieve escape velocity) and there are people who will latch onto any silly, pointless cause, be it Wal-Mart or Jehovah’s Witness, in order to fill the crevase. Personally, I prefer a good book and a few fingers of the nectar if Ireland, but to each his and her own as the cause may suit. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822/44 "2005-05-25T08:16:27Z")
> [@Campion](#): > > We got past that, didn’t we? Can’t we get past this too? 😉 My God, you’re in litigation? You must be working all the hours God sends, you poor thing. I think lit’s really interesting but personally I don’t think I could handle the pressure. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822/45 "2005-05-25T08:29:10Z")
Well, you know the saying: “All’s fair in litigation and war”. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822/46 "2005-05-25T14:26:21Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > On the practical side, the only downsides that I can see so far are more expensive medical insurance, taxes are going to be difficult, and going independent means less chance for notoriety, working a project that people are guaranteed to see just by vritue of your company’s reputation. Check out the [National Association for the Self-Employed](http://www.nase.org) . I used their insurance for years when I was doing contract work. I set myself up with a “catastrophic” plan, so that if I got hit by a meteor or something, I had coverage, but I would pay for any regular doctor visits out of pocket. The plan also covered prescriptions as well. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822/47 "2005-05-25T14:35:38Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > A career (or job) is a means to an end - to have enough money so that you can have a life. Exactly. I don’t get the people who dedicate their lives to their jobs and have the family “on the side”. The husband of a woman I used to work with is the prime example. He didn’t stay home for even a minute when his kids were born. They can never take vacations longer than a week, because that’s how long he’s “able” to be away from his job. And so forth. All I can think is: this guy _really_ misunderstood everything. He has completely, utterly and totally missed the point. His priorities are all screwed up. If my job started to intrude on my life like that, I’d quit. Why would I stay? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822/48 "2005-05-26T16:36:11Z")
The latest [Dilbert](http://www.comics.com/comics/dilbert/index.html) on the subject. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-inspiring-story-about-getting-off-the-merry-go-round/304822.md?page=2)