The Routine Is Off
A little out of whack.
That’s what the holidays do, I guess, and it was a tad strange to have Christmas fall on a Wednesday.
Kinda’ caught in between.
I actually got up and went out on Thursday and Friday even though I was going to eat most of my vacation days for 2019.
I needed the routine.
It turned out that mostly everyone was at work.
But there’s also planning the next week...
...another Wednesday off.
I’m thinking it would be a pretty decent thing if that was a constant thing. Would turn Tuesday into a night for happy hour.
And the work weeks used to be longer, right?
Wasn’t it the emergence of unions that cut it to 40 weeks?
There’s a real problem with the 40-hour week these days...
...a lot of younger workers don’t show up quite so routinely.
“How many you have?” I asked one supervisor.
“Three!” He said. “I’m supposed to have 8 but 5 guys didn’t show. No call. No show.”
“They quitting?” I asked.
“Nah, they’ll be back tomorrow. That’s the way it goes now.”
“Wow,” I said. “I remember being so afraid to ever miss a day. I still feel guilty!”
“Yeah,” the supervisor said, “things are different now. People used to want to find one job for life, get the retirement watch. Most of these kids have already worked for five or six contractors. There’s no loyalty but it kind of goes both ways. People don’t fear doing a shit job either. It’s a little sad.”
“It’s different,” I said. “I see my kids being impatient. They know what they want out of life, but they aren’t playing the long game. They want it immediately, and you need to keep them entertained.”
“Makes you wonder how this work is going to get done in the future,” he said.
“It will,” I said, “but I only have about 50 years left to see how it goes.”
He laughed.
Will it turn around again?
Will there be better health care options offered or retirement plans used to entice?
It oughta’ be interesting.
Too late for me...
...I’ll get up and go to work until they tell me not to.
It’s part of the routine.
That’s what the holidays do, I guess, and it was a tad strange to have Christmas fall on a Wednesday.
Kinda’ caught in between.
I actually got up and went out on Thursday and Friday even though I was going to eat most of my vacation days for 2019.
I needed the routine.
It turned out that mostly everyone was at work.
But there’s also planning the next week...
...another Wednesday off.
I’m thinking it would be a pretty decent thing if that was a constant thing. Would turn Tuesday into a night for happy hour.
And the work weeks used to be longer, right?
Wasn’t it the emergence of unions that cut it to 40 weeks?
There’s a real problem with the 40-hour week these days...
...a lot of younger workers don’t show up quite so routinely.
“How many you have?” I asked one supervisor.
“Three!” He said. “I’m supposed to have 8 but 5 guys didn’t show. No call. No show.”
“They quitting?” I asked.
“Nah, they’ll be back tomorrow. That’s the way it goes now.”
“Wow,” I said. “I remember being so afraid to ever miss a day. I still feel guilty!”
“Yeah,” the supervisor said, “things are different now. People used to want to find one job for life, get the retirement watch. Most of these kids have already worked for five or six contractors. There’s no loyalty but it kind of goes both ways. People don’t fear doing a shit job either. It’s a little sad.”
“It’s different,” I said. “I see my kids being impatient. They know what they want out of life, but they aren’t playing the long game. They want it immediately, and you need to keep them entertained.”
“Makes you wonder how this work is going to get done in the future,” he said.
“It will,” I said, “but I only have about 50 years left to see how it goes.”
He laughed.
Will it turn around again?
Will there be better health care options offered or retirement plans used to entice?
It oughta’ be interesting.
Too late for me...
...I’ll get up and go to work until they tell me not to.
It’s part of the routine.
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