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The modern work ethic . . .

nightandthecity

Practically Family
Messages
904
Location
1938
plus.....

if you eat in McDonald's what do you expect?

Not that I have ever set foot in that establishment.....

I understand they do not serve kedgeree, well seasoned port, or Sullivan's cigarrillos
 

varga49

One of the Regulars
Messages
247
Location
Central Texas
nightandthecity said:
if you pay peanuts.....
.....YOU GET MONKEYS

If the job is SHITE....
.....so is the work

etc

Merry Christmas
Which reminds me of that old saying,..."Life is like a shyte sandwich...The more bread you have the less shyte you have to eat"
 

Section10

One of the Regulars
DanielJones said:
Section10: I know exactly what you mean. But because of liability we don't cut any slack. An underground crew had to dig up an entire stretch of sewer line because it just didn't flow and we weren't going to sign off on it and neither was the City. Boy were they ever mad at having to do that over again. And that was just two weeks ago. But if we did sign off on it and it failed even 10 years down the line it's our butts in a sling, and I'm not about to do that to my Company.

Something just occurred to me as I read this again.
I'm not trying to disagree or argue or prove some obscure point, but without passing judgement, I would simply pose the questions: Is this an example of a true work ethic or simply having the good sense to cover your butt? Would things have gone the same way if liability were not an issue?
 

varga49

One of the Regulars
Messages
247
Location
Central Texas
Section10 said:
Something just occurred to me as I read this again.
I'm not trying to disagree or argue or prove some obscure point, but without passing judgement, I would simply pose the questions: Is this an example of a true work ethic or simply having the good sense to cover your butt? Would things have gone the same way if liability were not an issue?

Having the good sense to cover your butt, at least to me, is one of the factors that promotes a good work ethic. Those same people who tell you that they cover their butt's are more likely than not to take pride in their effort. A persons work ethic ( positive or negative ) tends to be self perpetuating.
 

DanielJones

I'll Lock Up
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4,042
Location
On the move again...
I put forth my best effort in my job wether I like what I'm doing or not. I take pride in what I do and I like to do thing right the first time, liability or not.

Cheers!

Dan
 

Twitch

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,133
Location
City of the Angels
Lat time I went to a MacDonalds is about 15 years ago. The bun smelled like chemicals- preservants? and there was nothing substantial on the menu but a bunch of miniature-looking burgers. While the fries had a fair flavor they were so skinny they looked sick and anemic. Never went back!:hamburger
 
I just don't understand why McDonalds buns need to be so sweet. I've been free of McDonalds for about 6 years now. I'm clean. I make my own bread at home, no sugar. And McDonalds fries are cooked in that horrid palm oil. Give me animal fat any day. Actually, scratch that, i don't even want to know where fast food joints would source animal fat. Maybe from New Jersey funeral parlours?

bk
 

varga49

One of the Regulars
Messages
247
Location
Central Texas
DanielJones said:
I put forth my best effort in my job wether I like what I'm doing or not. I take pride in what I do and I like to do thing right the first time, liability or not.

Cheers!

Dan
I'd expect no less from ya Dan! :cheers1:
 

Steve

Practically Family
Messages
550
Location
Pensacola, FL
Baron Kurtz said:
And McDonalds fries are cooked in that horrid palm oil. Give me animal fat any day. Actually, scratch that, i don't even want to know where fast food joints would source animal fat. Maybe from New Jersey funeral parlours?
:D :clap
 
I'm sorry, but - with all the downsizing and outsourcing going on - anyone who fails to view his employment with a jaundiced eye is more than a little bit naive.

And with the minimum wage not having been raised in all these many years - well, you get what you pay for. ( Businesses which cannot pay substantially more than the current minimum wage are - frankly - businesses we would be better off without. )

So I can neither join the chorus of criticism of those who are less than dedicated to their jobs nor can I join the chorus of praise for those who assert that they, instead, work so diligently at their own jobs.
 

varga49

One of the Regulars
Messages
247
Location
Central Texas
Perhaps you've overlooked

Billingsgate said:
I'm sorry, but - with all the downsizing and outsourcing going on - anyone who fails to view his employment with a jaundiced eye is more than a little bit naive.

And with the minimum wage not having been raised in all these many years - well, you get what you pay for. ( Businesses which cannot pay substantially more than the current minimum wage are - frankly - businesses we would be better off without. )

So I can neither join the chorus of criticism of those who are less than dedicated to their jobs nor can I join the chorus of praise for those who assert that they, instead, work so diligently at their own jobs.

I guess I didn't really elaborate as much as I could have. Speaking for only myself and the numerous others I have known and/or worked side by side with for more than a few decades; Ones work ethic is personal. How well one performs his job duties/work tasks is ones signature. How one feels about himself with regards to his knowledge skills and abilities relating to his employment tend to reveal many things about that person. It doesn't matter how crappy the employment is, if you cop an attitude with a "jaundiced eye" [been there, done that] that mindset and the behaviors that accompany it will follow you forever. When I had jobs I didn't like, and believe me, I've had a few, I did my best "in spite" of everything elsel. I did my best for my own peace of mind and personal integrity's sake. For what it's worth that mind set and behaviors, have followed me throughout my working career. There's no argument about low wages and crappy employment. they'll always exist. That being said your work ethic and how you view your self are personal and should hopefully not be related to your employment situation no matter how crappy! I would never suggest that one ought to suck it up and give in to anything related to a crappy low paying job. I would suggest that having realistic lifetime goals and pursuing them will fare you better than that "jaunduced eye". Have a good one! DV
 
Messages
11,579
Location
Covina, Califonia 91722
Modern Work Ethic versus Modern Work and workers

In the Musical Bye Bye Birdie there is a great song What About Kids Today. ANd it goes to show that each generation complains about the next.

There is a lot going on with work ethics coming in from the bottom newly hired and coming down from the top. I have seen thievery and shannanigans that I would not thought posible by positioned adults, I would not be capable of the same. I have seen it in a variety of places I have worked, so very often management seems lacking in ethics.

At the same time our youth are becoming less and less capable of doing a good job because they are not exposed to any type of responsibility. Todays youth often can't grasp a big picture of what hey are doing and how it effects others. Many people are incapable of looking to the future and can only see the "now" and are sacraficing their future for the now. Much like the monkey trap, where the piece of fruit just fits in the jar, the monkey reaches in and gets caught because he won't let go of the fruit but can't get his hand out of the jar with out dropping the fruit.

I have taught people with or with out college degrees and I find that a degree doesn't guarantee either intelegence or ethics.

One thing that seems to have helped more than a lot of others is If you worked as a youngster and had good mentors. How many of you were able to have any type of job as a youngster? Picking fruit, or doing a paper route? If you had good mentors in these endevors you often learned many life changing lessons. Today no kid under 16 can do these type of jobs and therefore they lack the growth skills that came with these jobs and the resposibility that came from them.

From 12 until 15 I had a paper route, took a year off and went back to work at 16, and worked pretty much ever since. I have had to train a lot of people in the last 20 years and over time I have realized the short comings of the modern education, as time went on the abilities were in decline and the reasoning skills were declining even faster. Consideration for anything outside of their little box is dwindling rapidly. We are breeding towards a generation for whom thought and reason seems a liability and expediency is the key to their wants and desires. Warning here: Becareful what you teach your children, because they will have the power over what nursing home you wind up in.

It has been said many tmes if the electricity went out at McDonalds could any body working there make change with out the register telling them?

If you still think a man's word is his bond, you are in for a rude awakening.

There was a timewhen men strived to live by the Lone Ranger's Creed.

The Lone Ranger Creed
By: Fran Striker

?¢‚Ǩ?ìI believe that to have a friend, a man must be one. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. That God put the firewood there but that every man must gather and light it himself. In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. That a man should make the most of what equipment he has. That 'This government, of the people, by the people and for the people' shall live always. That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number. That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken. That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever. In my Creator, my country, my fellow man.?¢‚Ǩ?

Grand and great yet very simple and humble at the same time! Some how that seems to no longer work, so we may need to live by these words. The Credo of J.B. Books from the movie "The Shootist" as played by John Wayne.

?¢‚Ǩ?ìI won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people, and I expect the same from them."

Good night and God Bless!
 

Section10

One of the Regulars
I think it's a fine thing to have a good work ethic and find fulfillment in your employment. But always know that all such things are temporary. Someday, you will walk out the front door of your employer for the last time and your self-worth had better be founded on something other than your work ethic. When my father's health failed and he lost his job at the mine, his self-worth died. I will not let that happen to me.
 

Harry Lime

Suspended
Messages
167
Location
Tri-coastal
A fine point.

Section10 said:
I think it's a fine thing to have a good work ethic and find fulfillment in your employment. But always know that all such things are temporary. Someday, you will walk out the front door of your employer for the last time and your self-worth had better be founded on something other than your work ethic. When my father's health failed and he lost his job at the mine, his self-worth died. I will not let that happen to me.

A friend of mine who is very successful and self employed told me that if there's one thing he hopes to teach his children "it's to never be reliant on a company." I think the argument about self-worth is a great one. We've all seen men broken by dissappointments.

As much as people may see a decline in modern workers we should also acknowledge a decline in quality of the average American company. Companies simply do not take care of their own the way they once did, the trust in many of these institutions has eroded, rightfully.

I personally no longer believe in being "a company man." There is too little incentive, too many dirty-dealings in backroom politics, too few people to trust. Business is not a religion, but that is what many big businesses preach to "build their brands." Business as religion and faux icons have no place in my life.

The person who truly values himself and his work needs to look for opportunities in this world to start his own business or become self-employed. Fine services and skills are still valued and will be sought out; the means of offering them may need to change. A strength of our country is that it offers all a chance to enter the system and succeed. Maybe more of those who want this success need to think about entering the system in a new way.

Harry Lime
 

varga49

One of the Regulars
Messages
247
Location
Central Texas
Section10 said:
I think it's a fine thing to have a good work ethic and find fulfillment in your employment. But always know that all such things are temporary. Someday, you will walk out the front door of your employer for the last time and your self-worth had better be founded on something other than your work ethic. When my father's health failed and he lost his job at the mine, his self-worth died. I will not let that happen to me.

I can appreciate what you've written section10 and it sounds to me like your self worth is intact.

Self worth and work ethic, being a part of ones greater moral ethic are inseperable. It doesn't matter if your shoveling feces or gold, whether one can see it or not, work habits, directly impact/affect ones personal integrity. At the risk of sounding lofty and full of crap, I have to add; a person does not necessarily need to find fulfillment in their work BUT in themselves.
Oh By The Way I'm really enjoying this thread. Excellent points made by everyone!
 

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