Folks, I am going to jump right out and ask the question, and please, bear with me on this: Does anyone actually believe that we here in the United States of America are economically downtrodden? Is the "recession" we are currently facing a true representation of economic strife?
Now, before you lose interest, rest assured that this article is NOT going to be an argument for or against any particular political viewpoint currently blowing about in the wind. I honestly could not care less about politics, and if there is something we can all agree on, it is that sheer stupidity, corruption, and gross incompetence are traits that transcend political boundaries. Yes, they exist on all sides.
The reason I put forth that initial question is because over the course of the last few months I have made an interesting observation. On one hand, the American public is being made to believe that we are experiencing the "Worst economic times since the Great Depression." On the other hand, I have not run into a single individual who is grateful to be employed. EVERYONE I talk to hates his or her job, or at least expresses profound discontent.
The truth is, that here in America in 2009, we are experiencing nothing like the Great Depression. The fact that the two are even put in the same sentence is intellectually insulting, and simply outrageous. During the 1930s, unemployment hit 25 percent; meaning one in four Americans was out of work. I have personally interviewed, and read countless transcripts from, folks who lived during this time. In all cases, these people expressed a sense of pride and joy in the work they did to survive. There was no discontent, no displeasure in having a job during the 1930s.
One has to wonder if things are as bad as we are made to believe, then why the disgruntlement toward employment? As if on queue, I stumbled across an online quiz, posted at MSN.com. It was a simple 10-question examination bent on answering the 10 million dollar question, "Do you love your job?" Of course, the logical argument of "if you have to ask" need not apply. I bit.
This was a standard multiple-choice quiz. Each question was followed by four responses, of which you could choose one. Irritatingly, each response was obviously tied to an outcome that, let's face it, you already knew before taking the quiz in the first place. For example, one of the questions asked, "What is your attitude about having to work overtime?" Possible answers ranged from, "What's overtime?" to "Time to find a new job!" to "I already live, breathe, sleep, and eat my career; it's too bad there are only 24 hours in a day." Possibly the most interesting aspect of the entire quiz was the author's use of sexual designation. You see, when I was in early grade school, everything was referred to as "he" or "his". By about third grade, it had become politically correct to use "he OR she" or "his OR her." No big deal; there are, after all, more females on earth than males. But in this quiz, there were five specific references to gender. All were listed as feminine - no male acknowledgment; no polite designation of "his OR her," simply, "her." Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to sit here and scream sexism, but does anyone else notice this slight but subtle change? (Or, maybe the CEO of MSN.com is simply assuming that only females visit his or her Web site).
At any rate, I completed the quiz, titled "Do you love your job?" There were four possible outcomes: Either you are a complete workaholic and have no concept of a personal life, or you absolutely hate your job and would rather die, or (congratulations!) you found the perfect mix between work and play. The fourth option was a "none-of-the-above" type response, where you really don't know what you want because you can't settle down and are afraid of commitment of any kind and is it enough money, well, just enough to pay the bills and oh, man, I sure hope they don't do random drug testing anytime soon.
Well, my friends, if you have read this far, then I will share with you the results of my quiz. Turns out, I do NOT hate my job! And, as an added bonus, I apparently have no interest in changing careers anytime soon, which is a good thing. I've sort of become attached to several of my girls. I was a perfect mix of 50 percent career-orientated, and 50 percent able to split work and play. Strangely, I did not need the quiz to tell me what I already know: I actually do love my job!
What the quiz (or any other source) does not explain is that happiness and passion do not magically occur within a given field. I, for example, find great personal fulfillment in the dairy farming industry. Other people hate it. The point is, that until one finds happiness and contentment within, he or she will never find it from an outside source.
Finally, to wrap up, I think this would be a good time to get back into my series of articles on World War II. Starting next week, we will rejoin Carl on Iwo Jima. Until next week, I will leave you with this thought: you think YOU had a rough day at work?
Now, before you lose interest, rest assured that this article is NOT going to be an argument for or against any particular political viewpoint currently blowing about in the wind. I honestly could not care less about politics, and if there is something we can all agree on, it is that sheer stupidity, corruption, and gross incompetence are traits that transcend political boundaries. Yes, they exist on all sides.
The reason I put forth that initial question is because over the course of the last few months I have made an interesting observation. On one hand, the American public is being made to believe that we are experiencing the "Worst economic times since the Great Depression." On the other hand, I have not run into a single individual who is grateful to be employed. EVERYONE I talk to hates his or her job, or at least expresses profound discontent.
The truth is, that here in America in 2009, we are experiencing nothing like the Great Depression. The fact that the two are even put in the same sentence is intellectually insulting, and simply outrageous. During the 1930s, unemployment hit 25 percent; meaning one in four Americans was out of work. I have personally interviewed, and read countless transcripts from, folks who lived during this time. In all cases, these people expressed a sense of pride and joy in the work they did to survive. There was no discontent, no displeasure in having a job during the 1930s.
One has to wonder if things are as bad as we are made to believe, then why the disgruntlement toward employment? As if on queue, I stumbled across an online quiz, posted at MSN.com. It was a simple 10-question examination bent on answering the 10 million dollar question, "Do you love your job?" Of course, the logical argument of "if you have to ask" need not apply. I bit.
This was a standard multiple-choice quiz. Each question was followed by four responses, of which you could choose one. Irritatingly, each response was obviously tied to an outcome that, let's face it, you already knew before taking the quiz in the first place. For example, one of the questions asked, "What is your attitude about having to work overtime?" Possible answers ranged from, "What's overtime?" to "Time to find a new job!" to "I already live, breathe, sleep, and eat my career; it's too bad there are only 24 hours in a day." Possibly the most interesting aspect of the entire quiz was the author's use of sexual designation. You see, when I was in early grade school, everything was referred to as "he" or "his". By about third grade, it had become politically correct to use "he OR she" or "his OR her." No big deal; there are, after all, more females on earth than males. But in this quiz, there were five specific references to gender. All were listed as feminine - no male acknowledgment; no polite designation of "his OR her," simply, "her." Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to sit here and scream sexism, but does anyone else notice this slight but subtle change? (Or, maybe the CEO of MSN.com is simply assuming that only females visit his or her Web site).
At any rate, I completed the quiz, titled "Do you love your job?" There were four possible outcomes: Either you are a complete workaholic and have no concept of a personal life, or you absolutely hate your job and would rather die, or (congratulations!) you found the perfect mix between work and play. The fourth option was a "none-of-the-above" type response, where you really don't know what you want because you can't settle down and are afraid of commitment of any kind and is it enough money, well, just enough to pay the bills and oh, man, I sure hope they don't do random drug testing anytime soon.
Well, my friends, if you have read this far, then I will share with you the results of my quiz. Turns out, I do NOT hate my job! And, as an added bonus, I apparently have no interest in changing careers anytime soon, which is a good thing. I've sort of become attached to several of my girls. I was a perfect mix of 50 percent career-orientated, and 50 percent able to split work and play. Strangely, I did not need the quiz to tell me what I already know: I actually do love my job!
What the quiz (or any other source) does not explain is that happiness and passion do not magically occur within a given field. I, for example, find great personal fulfillment in the dairy farming industry. Other people hate it. The point is, that until one finds happiness and contentment within, he or she will never find it from an outside source.
Finally, to wrap up, I think this would be a good time to get back into my series of articles on World War II. Starting next week, we will rejoin Carl on Iwo Jima. Until next week, I will leave you with this thought: you think YOU had a rough day at work?
