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.
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.
::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.
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.
Check out the National Association for the Self-Employed . 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.
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?
