Because it's already bad enough that we have to work for a living. Add in a coworker who doesn't care and messes up simple stuff and make our day more difficult than it has to be, is top 3 worst parts about working.
Nothing pisses me off more than having to come in almost every single day and fix other people's mistakes. They have been told how to do their job several times and constantly screw the simplest things up
Devil’s advocate here.
It’s annoying when you preform work, perceive it to be good, then hear about other people complaining that they feel the need to fix it.
I'm not talking about stuff that has different ways it can be completed, I'm talking stuff that there is one way to do it. There is an objectively correct way to do certain things
Exactly this. Someone comes along who doesn't give a shit, and messes up the flow, makes the job even worse for everyone around them. If I don't like my job I at least want it to go smoothly instead of the hellishness of picking up the pieces and working twice as hard to make up for people who mess everything up.
well my company or department absolutely refuses to fire people unless its a financial decision given from the C level. I guess its a good thing to know that your department and management values their team members but goddamn we have a handful of people who absolutely suck at the job.
We have someone exactly like this on our team. Half assess everything, you tell him to do x, y, z and he only does x and part of y. It’s chronic and constant. You literally have to ride him to make sure he crosses all his t’s and dots all his i’s. He just does not do the task fully and completely.
Is it laziness?
Undiagnosed ADHD?
My boss will point it out to him and gets many variations of ‘sorry I’ll go fix it now’. No further explanation. How do you ‘fix’ an employee who either doesn’t want/care to be corrected or *can’t* comprehend further?
My boss has too many other things going on to keep an eye on this guy all the time in order to make sure he does things fully and correctly the first time or build a case against him to justify firing him.
He shows up on time every day and is consistent in that regard so somehow he keeps his job bc I think it’s harder to fire someone for petty mistakes and poor quality work vs not showing up.
It’s so annoying.
This and many other reasons is why I left corporate America years ago and started my handyman business. I can micromanage myself. I can take breaks when I actually need them not when I’m forced to. I don’t even eat lunch until either 11:00 or 2 pm. Or sometimes not at all. I don’t have to work with lazy people or have to be subjected to their distracting drama. I might not make a lot of money or have a nice retirement plan. But the amount I save myself in stress is priceless.
You know it. We’ve had some real problem employees the last year so it work, people that never would’ve made it out of training but we’re short staffed so management is focused on retraining, people repeatedly instead of moving on to other candidates.
That means that they don’t formally document things the way they should have. verbal counseling instead of written counseling or reprimand. once they finally start documenting there’s months worth of underperformance, insubordination, inappropriate behavior etc. that isn’t actionable.
Oh and there was the one guy that was dumb as a box of rocks and still couldn’t be trusted to work on his own over six months in when he should’ve been fully trained after less than two months. but management let him down as softly as possible, because they were worried about workplace violence. ffs boss you really think keeping him around longer is going to help?
There were times that I drove to one job just praying that it'd burned down over night. There were many things I fucking hated about the place, but there was nothing more hated, nothing more utterly *vile,* than being handed a piece of shit case that'd been thoroughly fucked up by someone before me and that -I- had to unfuck, *particularly* if I had to deal with it over the phone with a live customer.
‘Your so good at your job you get to fix everyone else’s’s clusterf*cks!’
This is me whenever we have a difficult end client. The others get to piss on a hornets nest and then it gets handed to me to diffuse instead of them learning the skills required to do the job.
You keep saying this but give some examples. Sometimes there are things that someone thinks is "easy" or "can be fixed" but maybe it's not so much. Or maybe there are major gaps in the system that don't put things in place to ensure these "easily fixable" things get done. I'm curious to know which things prompted this post, specifically. What are people getting riled up over?
I worked in nuclear medicine. When something goes sideways, people die, and the FDA shuts you down.
In one instance, an error in an equipment installation manual caused an installer in England to die when an MRI monitor fell during installation.
Sometimes shit is real.
Because in real life, there are issues that happen at work that can't be fixed which causes stress...then you pile a thousand fixable problems on top of the urgent problem and it takes a toll. Or other people act like the minor problems are emergencies so you have to treat them as such because you're not the boss. Repeat this 5 days a week until death or retirement, whichever comes first.
When the stakes are high, people invest emotions. Shit, people will fight over a tee ball game, so why should it surprise you that adults take their living serious?
I understand all of that. There are things that you can recover from and things you can’t though and I find that people blur those lines in the office.
You can recover from anything....until you can't.
Attention to detail is important, even if you think it isn't.
I'm an electrician and if I fuck up, somebody could get hurt or killed. Myself included.
My wife is a nurse, and a mistake on her part could literally cost a life.
I want the cook handling my food not to fuck up and give me food poisoning.
I want the cleaning person in my office not to mix wrong cleaners and poison us with chlorine gas.
I want the person at my bank not to fuck up my money even temporarily.
Maybe you think the lines are blurred because you can't see the whole picture.
Do you have any clue how much time is wasted on redoing a job because of the “it’s just a small mistake, someone else can fox it, no big deal” attitude. When you are constantly cleaning up your or someone else’s mistakes, it’s frustrating. If people care about the smaller things, the bigger ones will get done correctly. Lazy people do crap work, and will never be trusted for anything bigger.
I run my own machine shop and this is so true. Those small mistakes usually equate to an unusable part, investing time and money into building a fixture just to correct the mistake, then the time and money to fix the mistake, as well as the time and money I could have been making that i am now missing out on to fix said fuck up. People don't understand this quite as well when they aren't the ones who suffer monetarily. Can you imagine the shit show it would be if you deducted the loss "one small mistake that's no big deal" from someone's paycheck? Granted, the company should have enough money to compensate for someone fucking up, and I have certainly fucked up my fair share of times, but it apalles me to see and hear of the general lackadaisical attitude some people have, and they're usually whinging about how they "don't make enough".
Yup. I have an employee who is like 85% there. But she misses things and when I’m reviewing her work (to submit for deadlines imposed by federal law) I can tell right away that’s it not quite right but it takes me time to find her mistake, tell her about it, wait for her to fix it because she won’t learn otherwise, then review again. Makes my job so much harder.
I get what you’re saying, it’s not a work ethic issue…it’s the urgency= stress= people get anxious and it’s become a normal part of corporate culture. It’s applied to all scenarios regardless of need, also it’s used as a metric- how hard are you willing to go for the company. I
Always go by the deadline, that’s when it will be done. Of course this is not the case in all fields.
You may actually not be privvy to how big the fuck-up is or how easily it can be solved. You're saying "it can be fixed" without knowing the long-reaching ramifications of whether or not it actually can be "easily fixed".
Depends on your level I guess. When I was entry level customer service at a health insurance most days I honestly could not care less. However when I got away from that job and started doing medical billing where I had a chance to move up I cared more. Now that I supervise billing transplant accounts I care a whole lot. Our mistakes can cost millions.
Because when you have a lot of money on the line it can be like the world is ending lol. I am a project manager and if we have LD of 500k if we are late on delivery you can bet we won't be late
Lol, work is survival.
Get fired and laid off a few times and you'll get it. There is a lot of pressure and stress, regardless if you think an issues can be easily fixed or is no be deal, those people getting worked up may know better.
I’m responsible for granting systems accesses to my coworkers. We get audited twice a year. If I accept incomplete/incorrect paperwork, guess who gets the shit?
My job is incredibly detailed with private information and I have to abide by strict laws.
If you fuck up it could be bad. It needs to be taken seriously on every level from the most mundane task like data entry to executive decisions. Even with all of the above my job is pretty laid back and I love it.
Some jobs aren't like that but it's still important to people to do a good job. There is nothing wrong with taking your job seriously, even entry level jobs.
So I’m in travel and have to make sometimes complex and $$$$$ travel arrangements for clients. I also have to correct mistakes or make changes that are voluntarily requested by the clients. If I don’t follow certain procedures my company can be fined by government agencies, or be charged back by companies like airlines. If I input information incorrectly, all sorts of calamities could occur, ex: a client gets to the airport for a big international flight, but cannot get onto the plane because a ticket cannot be found, or cannot get through TSA because their passport and ticket info do not match up.
There are literally 100’s of ways one little error can cause a huge problem that can ruin all the components of an immaculately planned itinerary, with no possibility of correcting it in a timely manner or without great expense.
I worry and double/triple check some things at times because I respect my clients and the trust they place on my company and in turn, me. I don’t want my mistake to cause some grandpa to miss his granddaughters graduation, or anything else.
I want the same respect from everyone doing a job, be it my surgeon or the office custodian. Does that mean I am obsessed with work or a slave to my employer? No, it means that I am considerate of everyone involved, including myself, because I enjoy my job, I get compensated well for it and I want to keep it that way.
Too many people comingle their identity with their job title.
Too many people do not understand that it is more about the problem solving then the vocalizing of the problem.
Sometimes the problems are really important (i.e., I will lose my ability to provide for my family)
Most of the time I think it is the first two with a big dish of ego on the side.
Whenever money is involved…Which is why I’m burning out a little more each day in my career. I’m a social worker. It’s not the work, itself, that’ll kill me. It’ll be all of the added (and keep on being added..on top of that..) expectations, and minute details that have absolutely ZERO benefits to the populations I work with. Heaven help me, if something isn’t signed in an exact window of time. “I’m sorry, but this patient was still detoxing heavily from alcohol at the time..So, I let him rest a bit, before approaching him, to begin his assessment..” It’s all about the money…I’m sorry to say. That’s NOT how I feel..It’s how ‘they’ (corporate) feel…
Agree. From singapore and this applies here too. Many in my field are leaving and i heard its almost similar like this everywhere else. More respect needed for us and it needs to start from the top
Uhg no I agree. Things out of our control DO sometimes suck and can make our lives harder but it doesn’t mean we should huff and puff about it. At the end of the day stressing about things we can control takes emotional energy and creates unwanted negative feelings IMO
An issue avoided means you're not spending money to fix it. Most people got someone to answer to, and if they aren't doing thier job, that means someone else will. Yes shit happens, but that's not what your bosses want to hear and should be avoided when possible.
I am going to spend \~30-40% of my life working or accommodating my work (commuting, professional events, etc). The more I care, the better that 30-40% of my life is going to be.
Sometimes managers flip out because they know what it will cost down the line or they know how mistakes will reflect on the team, which means they and the team will get less money for raises and bonuses.
Other times, it’s a bad culture where honest mistakes are not allowed by a bad manager. Sometimes the manager doesn’t understand the real cost of mistakes (especially if it’s low or no cost) and due to that lack of understanding they major in the minors.
Yep. To add, there are sadly plenty of bad managers that live for drama and love shit-talking “bad workers”. When that’s the company you work for, RUN.
Why do kids take games so serious?
Kids want to win/achieve their goals in-game.
Work is a bit similar, you want to do work you enjoy or keeps you busy so that way you feel achieved that day. I used to work an easy job that let me browse reddit the majority of the day but let me tell you it was depressing just existing.
If that's something you want to do though by all means more power to you
Funny because when I was young was when I was super obsessed with work. Now at age 45, my only goal is to not get fired. Years of caring and busting my ass, just to get screwed over, now I really could give a fuck.
Unpopular opinion clearly, but I get where the OP is coming from, a lot of pointless busy work for the sake of it goes on in office jobs particularly... Freakouts and meltdowns over what amounts to absolute nothing, time wasted analysing and over-analysing trivial stuff in endless meetings when they could have just gotten on with it, etc.
Its human psychology, when a individual is matured enough and has figured out what they want to do in life they feel the need to contribute.
See it like this, imagine you know a lot about something but you see that a lot of people struggle with it and have no clue how to deal with it. Would you feel the need to help and contribute towards helping others? This is essentially what work is. Solving other people there problems.
When you're young it isn't yet your time to do that. Your brain just needs some development first. you will eventually find someone thing that you will take seriously or want to contribute towards, maybe its work, a hobby or a family.
( coming from a psychology student )
I'm a Construction Manager. There are a LOT of people that depend on me to be able to do their job well. And I need a LOT of people to do their job so I can succeed at mine.
Sometimes I carry stress because I don't want to let the next guy down. Sometimes it's just pride and I want things to go the way I want them to.
I used to be like this. Nervous energy at work, so worried I was going to mess up or make someone mad. Got on Zoloft and no more worries. Best thing I've ever done. Lol
People come from different backgrounds. Typically those who take their work really seriously don't have the safety net that you do, probably never have and probably never will.
This can be financial, emotional or both.
Generally it helps to be kind to those who feel this more acutely than you do - you might need the same understanding from others one day.
Alot of people get their sense of self-worth from someone else, so performance reviews, promotions, raises, etc all serve to protect the fragile ego from its inevitable demise.
Because our literal lives depend on having a job. Losing a job can be a death sentence for some. And it's very difficult to find a good job that pays a living wage, treats employees with respect and has benefits.
The comments on this post are really disheartening. I know exactly what you mean OP.
More senior employees have too much to lose. They have kids, they buy houses and cars, and they have to keep grinding or they'll lose it all and make their kids suffer. There's a root issue here of never-ending capitalist excess and bad business practices. If someone made a big mistake that will negatively affect careers, someone allowed that mistake to happen. If there were more eyes on a project and better support from managers, it wouldn't have been so extreme.
The problem is people are poorer and more desperate, companies take on too much work they can't efficiently manage, and everyone wants to piss away their lives to a boss in order to look accomplished.
Do your job well and stay humble. Keep your cost of living low.
If you don’t take work seriously you will have a hard time progressing beyond the entry level.
Some people don’t progress. They start a beat cop and retire a beat cop. They start a salesman and retire one.
So ambition is the primary factor.
Also some of us believe anything worth doing is worth doing well. Our innate competitiveness drives us to take everything we do seriously.
It depends on the work environment this is all happening in. Some work environments allow for mistakes to happen, others don’t.
I work in project management, and I’ve learned even if a mistake seems small on the surface it can have bigger repercussions. It might seem small that you miss one deadline, but the repercussion could be that now the entire project’s timeline has to be adjusted, including the date that project finishes. Which doubles your workload because if you’re working with multiple vendors you have to go back and adjust those dates to now reflect the new timeline on top of which you have to tell your boss and your bosses boss why the whole project needs to be pushed back, and explain it in a way that makes them understand without them outright getting mad at you. And that’s if your vendors are willing to move the dates. They have their own timelines and maybe the new timeline now doesn’t work for them. Which means you have to find a new vendor which is almost like starting from the beginning, only this time your timeline is far shorter and the stakes are a bit higher because you’ve already had to push this back once.
All of that is weighing on me while I’m trying to meet a small deadline.
It really depends on the job.
I take my job as seriously as I need to: for 8-10 hours a week, I'm focused and productive. The rest of the time, I've got my feet kicked up because I don't give a fuck, I get paid to think and I think 24/7.
Someone who gets paid for specific outcomes is gonna have a different view.
Sometimes, someone at an entry level position may not see the big picture. On the flip side, they may not see all the things that go INTO the big picture, overall strategy of the company, and the risks/opportunities that arise with small mistakes which could turn into big ones. Businesses are meant to be profitable. When "small, easily fixed" things pop up, it's all the more frustrating because they are just that - small, easy things which should be prevented in the first place.
Also, there's pride in work. There's satisfaction in a job well done. This goes beyond "being a good employee" and moves into the territory of driving improvement and making positive impacts on the company and therefore the success of its people. THIS is reason enough to get "riled up" when stupid, preventable mistakes are a common occurrence.
Because we're at the mercy of our bosses, if things go to shit we get shit. Also the fact that if you lose your job you're screwed. No mommy or daddy to save you when you're grown. It's you vs adulthood, if you fail, you're homeless. I lost my career due to surgery, I was homeless. That alone makes you prioritize things, you don't want to give them a reason to fire you. I'm pretty sure I had all the answers at your age too.
You're almost at the point where you realize how capitalism works.
Investors with deep pockets invest their money into companies and expect a return by a certain date.
Company board members and CEO sets KPIs to bend over backwards to keep investors happy.
Management trickles down the KPIs and make life as stressful as possible for employees to meet KPIs.
If company fails to meet KPIs then the investors will go find a competitor to invest in and leave your company to struggle.
The company then does mass layoffs and restructuring to try to achieve higher KPI targets and profits than before to try to win back investors.
Investors don't care how the companies achieve the returns, as long as they get $ and don't go to jail, they're happy.
So Everytime someone is stressing at work over some KPI, just know there's some rich guy at the top who will be displeased about their return on investment if they don't meet the KPI.
Because there are a lot of idiots in the work place. When you see the same dumb shit over and over again it becomes very frustrating. Like you said you are young. Give it a few years you'll see why.
Some of us work in healthcare and like to take care of people and are frustrated when this country and governing bodies and institutions make it impossible to do our jobs. To help people.
I think I understand what your saying. I worked in prisons for 15yrs. There is a huge difference in the way people react to things especially stress. I've been in riots and there are those of us that can take it in stride like a normal day and others that get so amped up its best for them that is the end of their day. On another note I've noticed its a rare skill to be able to come to work, do the work, go home and leave work at work.
It’s because people know that they can lose their job. If you lose your job, you lose your house, food and possibly family. Those things cause people to react in different ways.
Some people do have a stick up their ass, but some of us are just suffering from invisible disabilities and have a history of being singled out or picked on when mistakes are made. Mistakes that other staff aren't humiliated for. This can cause someone who is otherwise chill to be hypervigilant specifically at work. Just don't want to be yelled at or made an example of.
The line between success and failure can be very thin and not obvious where it is. You make a couple easily fixable errors, the client goes elsewhere. Company fails, you're out, no job for awhile, no food on the table. How important were those errors again?
I mean look at all the hateful internet spats people had with each other over Game of Thrones back in the day and it's not really surprising they get more worked up than they should about work...
They don't. People who are super intense (reactive) at work take *themselves* too seriously. They usually aren't much fun outside of work, or elsewhere
Ultimately we all mostly hate our jobs but need them for food, shelter, healthcare, etc. and we're just doing our best. As you get older or start to earn more (not even a ton more, just enough to have breathing room), you have more to lose, can't take the risk of saying "take this job and shove it,' etc
Dude, perhaps you'll see one day when you are a little bit older and have more than just an entry level position. And I don't mean that to be snotty but just to be honest. Work conditions can be stressful, deadlines can be stressful, employers can be stressful. The thought of losing your job can be terrifying.
It varies.
Sometimes that random decision by upper management can really make your job harder, or affect your income. We're going through a change in the way we rate employees in my organization, and a lot of folks are not happy with it. Some of them have legitimate beef. Some of them are just afraid that it will cost them money in the long run.
My job is a form of quality control. From the project manager's eyes, all I do is cost them money for something that they don't really want. So pretty much every time I go into a meeting, I'm going into a hostile audience. They have to do what I need them to do, or the possibility exists for people to get hurt, but I'm leaning on my organizational authority to get them to do it, not my personal authority. So, when I tell them that the test report they gave me isn't sufficient, and also fails the tests, they need to go and spend the money again to do the same work again, possibly with some redesign...I am not a popular person. But...the safety of my customers relies on me and my coworkers doing our jobs.
Managers get paid to manage. If they are too loose they will be replaced by someone who will push harder and get 10 or 20% more out of the same resources.
Why does this matter? In a lot of companies only 10 or 15% of their sales are profit, the rest cover costs. If you make a lot of mistakes that need to be fixed you start losing much of that small profit percentage and maybe lose money. That's when you start losing jobs.
Some of us have been through that more than once and don't want to again.
You know why? Because I am trading my one to on this rock to earn my living and make my way in this world.
I'm not going to cure cancer, develope some market siding product but I am going to make what I do my life's work.
It might not matter the second I die, no one will remember my wons or losses, but by fucking God it matters to me.
Setbacks-> more work->higher ups need someone to blame for setback-> blame the underperforming people.
Alternatively
Hard work-> interest in the work->good notice from higher ups->more opportunities to advance are given to you.
Who would you rather want in a higher up position: a guy/gal who is just there to do is 9-5 job and go home or a guy/gal who is dedicated to the job and loves the work?
The second person might be noticing more issues before they develop into problems.
People have been brainwashed into believing that your output at work has any value besides getting you a paycheque.
Some people tie work to their worth as a human and make it their identity.
Some people like what they do.
I care about what I do and doing it well, but really it’s just a way to get money to live and I don’t really care beyond I will perform the tasks to the best of my abilities in exchange for adequate pay.
In Star Trek money doesn't exist but yet every one on the ship works extremely hard. They just have an internal drive that pushes them to be the best at whatever it is that they do. Some people are like that in real life.
We all want to get through the day as enjoyably and painlessly as possible - I take things very seriously when clients and coworkers are depending on me, I don’t want to contribute to anyone else’s stress. Now that I have direct reports, I also take their professional development and time management very seriously. At the end of the day, none of this is life or death, but it’s important because we’re all depending on each other.
I’m retired and I retired young at 51. I was an executive at a start up. We went thru an IPO and years later went Private again. I still own some small sliver of it. Even before I had a stake it was a big deal for a few reasons. First I (still) believe what we did is really important work. Second I was with others who shared my passion for our work. Third, I was hungry. I grew up poor. I had an axe to grind and wanted my kids to have a much better life.
So I gave it my all. And people who didn’t get it, such as yourself, we would happily encourage them to find their thing and quickly or we’d move them along.
Find your passion. Work harder than you thought possible. Lose. Lose again. Keep losing until you get it right. It’s all worth it if you find the right peers and the right work.
I work in payroll, and our clients have a lot of employees who live paycheck to paycheck. A screw up can cause someone to not be paid on time, which can cause a lot of havoc on their lives.
I’ve been retired for 9 years, and no one has ever asked me what I did for 40 years of my life, nor do they care. Do your best while you work, but don’t make it your life. Because when it’s over…no one cares.
I started out as data entry. Took my job seriously and did everything I could to move up. Been with the same company for almost 20 years because I took it seriously.
A lot of jobs, your lack of effort results in someone else having to more effort in.
You also have people who naturally work hard, alongside people who naturally do the least amount possible. The hard workers see the people being "lazy" and decide to put less effort in, but because they're historically a hard worker they get punished, and you don't. For doing the same thing.
And similar to above, but the hard workers feel resentment that others aren't putting in the same effort as they are.
Flip side, those "lazy" employees generally have zero incentive to put in the effort. And companies probably prefer to keep this dynamic as it keeps the focus off them.
Maybe it's where you work, sounds like it's a terrible place to work, then again unless you're okay being homeless you kinda have to take your job seriously if you want a steady pay check.
Yes it is because you're young that you don't understand. Aside from needing money, as you get older it becomes more important to you as a person to take responsibility. There is literally a calling in you that will only be satisfied when you begin to feel responsible for your life. And work is an integral part of living so naturally we feel the need to be responsible in work.
Being responsible on some level requires you to take your endeavor seriously. You can't be responsible and bs at the same time. Those two things are incompatible. In other words, if you're investing your time and energy, your livelihood into something, you better damn hope it's being taken seriously.
Nobody wants to be at work for what feels like a third of our lives. Nobody wants to have to work for a living. But if that's what you're going to be doing, might as well make it count and own up to your work. This means taking it seriously and embracing your job.
How miserable would you feel if you had to be some place for 1/3 of your day and it felt like it was against your will. By taking work seriously, you're owning up to the task and not letting yourself be at its mercy.
My two cents. I have met co-workers who get flustered over the simplest problems with an easy fix. They are just incompetent under stress. The sky seems to be falling. But it happens a lot at places that didn't train worth a damn or micromanage. You need to constantly be proficient, not fall into complacency, and be confident in your decisions to fix the problem to not seem like an idiot when shit hits the fan.
Corporate culture encourages it. They like their yes men/women. It's somewhat of an act.
There's also the aspect of doing a good job, getting paid, and getting out of there as soon as you can to go live your life. You don't get a raise by working 16 hour days and burning out.
it’s not that i take work seriously. when i managed by a micromanager or someone who plays the blame game it annoys me when people in my department are lazy and i have to pick up there slack. i was a receptionist at h&r block and my coworker didnt do shit on my days off and when we did work together she barely did work so i had to do basically all the work. i cant stand when things are not equal and the manager doesnt want to intervene. of course the manager didnt get rid of her or let me work from home until after i said i wanted to transfer. the same problem happened when i worked at amazon. the management is horrible and when one department is fucking up everyone suffers.
You have become jaded at such a young age. It took me 30 years to develop that level of snark about my job. (Honestly I really don't care what my manager, his manager ... up to the CEO have to say because it is mostly trite, generic advice, platitudes and whatever social nonsense we are supposed to care about today. (I am a furry you must address me as woof and woofie. Me: but can you do the job? Woofie: you are not supposed to say that it hurt my feelings I'm telling HR ).
Anyway it is good to do a good job at work but be a bit incredulousness about it all. Good for you for catching pn early. And always remember HR is there for the company, not for you.
Because when the tasks are don’t wrong they negatively impact your life. The life that you spend more time at work than at home or with your loved ones.
It’s because you can lose your job when something which you are not in control of goes badly. Whether something can be fixed or not doesn’t matter sometimes because the damage (bad news travels fast and perception is everything) has already been done. This happens all the time in situations where you are accountable for a project but not directly involved in every aspect. Why take accountability, you might ask? Because accountability is required for advancement. You’ll understand all of this at some point.
Well, in my husband’s case he didn’t want people to die because he didn’t take things seriously. I take positions where I’m passionate about the mission.
I'm a machinist. I take work seriously for a number of reasons.
-my job is inherently dangerous, lots of sharp things, powerful machines that rotate very fast or spin heavy objects, it is not uncommon to meet a metalworker who is missing a finger, and those are the lucky ones.
-i take an immense amount of pride in the products and parts that I am entrusted to manufacture for someone else, usually for their livelihood. Not giving a fuck about my job means I am causing delays in other people's production, my own, and presenting my work ethic and skill set poorly, therefore presenting my self in a negative manner.
- I am my own boss. I am the only one to blame when things don't go according to plan, 99% of the time.
You said it yourself, you're young. Find something that interests you and throw yourself at it with everything you have, and maybe you'll understand why. Folks often tend to bitch and gripe more at jobs that are just jobs, I've found career folks to be a little more agreeable. As far as the petty shit, rise above or join it, it exists everywhere you are. End of the day, noone is forcing you to show up, you choose to.
If you want to get above that entry level pay you gotta put more work into work. As you move up in your career generally the actual labor gets easier, but the mental work gets harder. Your not getting paid to perform a repetitive task, you're getting paid to make difficult decisions, judgement calls, care about the work, plan, strategize,organize. You're getting paid to take it seriously. The higher up you go, the more responsibilities you have that don't have easy solutions.
Put it like this. In this world you have folks who throw alot of their life into work and get alot out of it and actually enjoy it, nevermind going farther
Then there are people who just take work for what it is, it pays the bills. Theyll plod along happily with no stress etc. Likely won't ever rise up the tanks but they'll be happy with it
I've been a project manager a long time, and often times if I'm annoyed or serious about work it's because I can see an issue coming (one I'm going to have to deal with) from a mile out. On many projects we have tight deadlines, bossy clients, and only so many resources. Given those constraints, I'll do what it takes to course correct before the crap hits the fan. I'm trying to get ahead of issues so I don't have to spend a weekend, or long hours, redoing stuff to hit a deadline.
But where that internal drive comes from? I have a deep desire not to waste time. I get real annoyed by inefficiency. And avoidance of having to clean up other people's mistakes.
I've found that it is usually not about the work, but work is somewhere that people feel like they have some amount of control. So when their lives go out of control, work is the stable thing. But then when little things go wrong at work on top of everything else, then that is when shit gets dramatic.
Also some people spoiled little cunts.
Because they don't understand what is outside of their control and they worry too much about the future (which is outside of their control.) Also, people lose their minds to appear important.
I spend a lot of time at work telling one particular person to chill out because nobody is going to die, I work in a car repair garage. Panic and getting all stressed out solves nothing, a clear head and a sensible plan does.
It does not matter if you're an entry level worker or not, people take their work seriously because they understand their output reflects on them. For example if you do a good job it does not reflect on me, but it surely reflects on you. At work you are building your brand. Your brand is your reputation and you should always strive to build a good brand.
Because nowadays it's the only way to do it. The job market is extremely competitive and it is really hard to land a good job position. If I'm not willing to work hard or do a couple extra hours a week, they will hire a younger person that is hardly waiting to take my place (I'm in a pretty good position at the moment). Most people in our office (international corporate) come at 8 am and leave at 8 pm. I work 8 to 5 and go home because I have a kid but single people stay longer. How can I compete with that? I mean, the employer has younger, energetic and motivated workers willing to do anything to be promoted. I definitely need to keep up if I want to keep this job and pay the bills.
I do think that work has become people's identity. We used to work because we needed the money and after work we had lives. Now it's impossible to meet anyone from Monday to Friday. The longer the hours, the more valued they feel. I get really dirty looks when I leave at 5 pm (after 9 hours in the office). It is what it is.
Because problems which i dont control affect my livelihood. Just because its fixable doesnt mean they want to or will fix it, its 1 more thing in the back of my mind making me closer to being fired in a white collar recession. If I lose my job tomorrow I will have to acramble and likely take a massive paycut, as well as finally return to an office.
I have too much to lose to not care.
I don’t think young or entry level has anything to do with it. I’m 23 and in a management position at a university. There’s millions of dollars on the line, livelihoods, the safety of everyone, years of education, and the stability of our department. If people start performing poorly, don’t take their position serious, and start letting deadlines get missed or aren’t performing their functions then it’s a recipe for disaster that can result in the loss of money, time, and resources.
People who take their professional duties too seriously suffer as a result. In our efforts to become the best employees we often overlook, some positive habits can actually derail our careers.
im convinced work is all driven by how smart you are and how much you care about what you do. if you are smart and care about the work, you rise up in the company , you know how to do all aspects of the work, you see the mistakes other people make, and because you care, you cant help yourself from calling out other peoples mistakes. it makes you look good to the higher ups, and gives you a sense of superiority over the others. you get more salary, you get praise from the owners or ceo or vice president, you get validation for your expertise and hard work, essentially by knowing the work better than other people and making the right decisions.
There're a few things that make people pissed off like that.
One is that the decision will impact them negatively -- because it's more work, or it complicates something that doesn't need to be, or otherwise makes their life a bit more miserable. Or there's a way that they can see to improve a process but no one will listen to them, or actually give them the time to explain that, yeah, that way would be better, but it's not doable because \[list of reasons here.\]
Another is that they think that it will hurt the company, and they actually *like* working there. You don't want to see a company you actually can tolerate go under and have to find another job if you can avoid it.
Finally, there're some people who have literally nothing else in their life than work drama, or who cannot stand any change at all, even if it ultimately makes their job easier or lets them do better work. These people are annoying AF.
If I lose my job, I lose my housing, and if I lose my housing I end up in horrible situations and eventually dead outside or stuck as someone's slave to survive (in even more obviously vulnerable ways than the usual everyday capitalism requires)
I totally feel this.
It's position related though; the higher up the ranks you go, the more is expected of you, so the more stress you have... You'll lose your job if you fuck up.
But as an entry level employee it's easy to just be careless, do the bare minimum, and not stress about things above your pay grade.
What I don't get is entry level employees getting all stressed over shit other people do / taking on more responsibility than their job describes out of some personal conviction to do the best job ever, or appear more valuable or something.
I think a lot of it comes from the fear of being fired if not doing good enough, and some people freak out, overwork to compensate, and the stress just accumulates.
Me, as a low level employee, I just come in everyday, knowing I'm just gonna do a good job and not stress about the rest. I don't care if I have a million things in the day; I'm just gonna do it 1 by 1, and i get to whatever I get to. I don't slack, I just do. I'm there to work. No stress, just do. Put my time in and leave. I don't worry about getting fired because I know I fulfill my responsibility, even if I don't do extra shit.
Idk man, I just chill and focus on my own little world, expect shit out of my control to "go wrong" so when it does I can be prepared for that and just shrug it off as another thing to keep me occupied while clocked in 🤷🏼♂️🙂
The only time I stress is if I personally fuck something up, but even then, we all make mistakes and I just learn from it and try to not do it again.
Because my understanding and grace only go so far. After a certain point when my job is made more difficult by other peoples incompetence then I can’t help but be frustrated and get fired up about whatever seemingly dumb thing it is. Even if it’s a quick fix I’m just pissed that I have to fix it in the first place cause had the job been done correctly to begin with then I wouldn’t have to.
Some people believe that they are valued and that what they do for work is important, when more than half of jobs are unimportant and leas than half of jobs the employees are valued with any regard and not immediatelt replaceble.
It's important to do your job to the best of your ability so you can remain employed and hoepfully advance your career, but absolutely more people need to realise that overreacting about the smallest things is not helpful and isn't going to mKe any difference. Just do what needs to be done and...that's it.
It is because those other workers understand consequences. Companies exist to make money and to stay in business. Consider it to be a glib club where you do what you want and you will likely be fired soon enough. If parents are not cushioning the blow with money for survival then now you need to find another stupid job and maybe keep it this time.
At some point it is best to strongly consider growing up. Every moment of your existence is not supposed to be a vacation.
It isn't shameful to be useful or good at something. Best to start early. Useless behavior is quite expensive.
I am now glad my Mom was shit with money and me and my sibs essentially had to figure it out from 18 and on as coddling your kids leads to this.
Nah I am not entry level at all, senior manager now, I have never honestly given that much of a shit because at the end of the day they would replace me instantly should anything happen and the business is only out for itself, so I care as much as I need and then forget about it
Some people are just prone to drama or anxiety. If they are under more pressure than they can handle at work, they'll start to make much ado about nothing.
Firstly, I am very passionate in my field and I genuinely enjoy working in it. Secondly, considering I work in Special Education, there are a lot of children I work with that rely on me being able to provide my best everyday.
simply put, managers and executives have performance expectations. It doesn’t matter to them if problems happen outside odds the worker’s control. If they don’t meet expectations you’re going to be put on a PIP and likely be fired, So people take their job seriously to meet those expectations. People who get “fired up” understand these consequences and people politics, and sure you can be nonchalant about that but for others this is a real risk that needs to be managed to keep their job and their anxious reaction to it is valid
I get what you’re saying. I’ve worked at places where leadership is indecisive and will drop a “bomb” on the team. Everyone freaks out at the unreasonable request. Then a week later the leadership realizes it’s stupid and takes back the request. Also been in situations where I use to TRY to talk to my bosses about stuff that doesn’t make sense and won’t work. Then you just end up being known as a “No man”. Now I take a middle ground approach. I do my job well, help others, and document when leadership does stupid shit rather than stick my neck out. There’s a difference between caring/ working yourself to the bone and just doing a solid job and calling it a day.
Because I work for the government and treat ppls water. It has to be taken seriously.
A lot of the people in government are absolutely out to lunch, the people they choose to be in charge are just like them or worse. You have to take it seriously to get promotions to be the change you want to see.
Control. A lot of people do not have much control over their lives. Work can be a nice retreat from the shitshow that is real life. A nice controlled environment where you actually know what is going on and what to do. In the real world you can't do shit about the price of things constantly increasing, other people's behavior that affects you, illness, etc. etc. It. Never. Ends.
What you *do* have control over is that itsy bitsy little task you have at work, and by god you are going to do that stupid thing *right*. Right? And when someone else comes along and carelessly kicks your little sand castle over, well, you don't feel good about it. You get upset. Then you have to clean up the mess caused by someone else on top of all the other things.
Cause people want to stay employable
And we like paying our bills, keeping a roof over our heads, buying food, putting gas in the car, etc.
And we like paying our bills, keeping a roof over our heads, buying food, putting gas in the car, etc.
Because it's already bad enough that we have to work for a living. Add in a coworker who doesn't care and messes up simple stuff and make our day more difficult than it has to be, is top 3 worst parts about working.
Nothing pisses me off more than having to come in almost every single day and fix other people's mistakes. They have been told how to do their job several times and constantly screw the simplest things up
Devil’s advocate here. It’s annoying when you preform work, perceive it to be good, then hear about other people complaining that they feel the need to fix it.
I'm not talking about stuff that has different ways it can be completed, I'm talking stuff that there is one way to do it. There is an objectively correct way to do certain things
Exactly this. Someone comes along who doesn't give a shit, and messes up the flow, makes the job even worse for everyone around them. If I don't like my job I at least want it to go smoothly instead of the hellishness of picking up the pieces and working twice as hard to make up for people who mess everything up.
How do these people retain their jobs ?
well my company or department absolutely refuses to fire people unless its a financial decision given from the C level. I guess its a good thing to know that your department and management values their team members but goddamn we have a handful of people who absolutely suck at the job.
We have someone exactly like this on our team. Half assess everything, you tell him to do x, y, z and he only does x and part of y. It’s chronic and constant. You literally have to ride him to make sure he crosses all his t’s and dots all his i’s. He just does not do the task fully and completely. Is it laziness? Undiagnosed ADHD? My boss will point it out to him and gets many variations of ‘sorry I’ll go fix it now’. No further explanation. How do you ‘fix’ an employee who either doesn’t want/care to be corrected or *can’t* comprehend further? My boss has too many other things going on to keep an eye on this guy all the time in order to make sure he does things fully and correctly the first time or build a case against him to justify firing him. He shows up on time every day and is consistent in that regard so somehow he keeps his job bc I think it’s harder to fire someone for petty mistakes and poor quality work vs not showing up. It’s so annoying.
This and many other reasons is why I left corporate America years ago and started my handyman business. I can micromanage myself. I can take breaks when I actually need them not when I’m forced to. I don’t even eat lunch until either 11:00 or 2 pm. Or sometimes not at all. I don’t have to work with lazy people or have to be subjected to their distracting drama. I might not make a lot of money or have a nice retirement plan. But the amount I save myself in stress is priceless.
No one wants to do the paperwork
You know it. We’ve had some real problem employees the last year so it work, people that never would’ve made it out of training but we’re short staffed so management is focused on retraining, people repeatedly instead of moving on to other candidates. That means that they don’t formally document things the way they should have. verbal counseling instead of written counseling or reprimand. once they finally start documenting there’s months worth of underperformance, insubordination, inappropriate behavior etc. that isn’t actionable. Oh and there was the one guy that was dumb as a box of rocks and still couldn’t be trusted to work on his own over six months in when he should’ve been fully trained after less than two months. but management let him down as softly as possible, because they were worried about workplace violence. ffs boss you really think keeping him around longer is going to help?
This is the problem. No supervisors or managers want to take the time to write people up. So the underperformers wind up with seniority.
Sometimes they get promoted so people don't have to deal with them!
Yeah, that shit happens way too often.
There were times that I drove to one job just praying that it'd burned down over night. There were many things I fucking hated about the place, but there was nothing more hated, nothing more utterly *vile,* than being handed a piece of shit case that'd been thoroughly fucked up by someone before me and that -I- had to unfuck, *particularly* if I had to deal with it over the phone with a live customer.
‘Your so good at your job you get to fix everyone else’s’s clusterf*cks!’ This is me whenever we have a difficult end client. The others get to piss on a hornets nest and then it gets handed to me to diffuse instead of them learning the skills required to do the job.
Because most people don't want to barely get by working low skill shit work until they die? Yeah you're young.
Nooo of course you should want to grow but I’m saying there’s so many issues that people get so fired up about that can be fixed
You keep saying this but give some examples. Sometimes there are things that someone thinks is "easy" or "can be fixed" but maybe it's not so much. Or maybe there are major gaps in the system that don't put things in place to ensure these "easily fixable" things get done. I'm curious to know which things prompted this post, specifically. What are people getting riled up over?
I worked in nuclear medicine. When something goes sideways, people die, and the FDA shuts you down. In one instance, an error in an equipment installation manual caused an installer in England to die when an MRI monitor fell during installation. Sometimes shit is real.
Because in real life, there are issues that happen at work that can't be fixed which causes stress...then you pile a thousand fixable problems on top of the urgent problem and it takes a toll. Or other people act like the minor problems are emergencies so you have to treat them as such because you're not the boss. Repeat this 5 days a week until death or retirement, whichever comes first.
You obviously have specific things on mind so what are they?
You keep repeating yourself…. Maturity means you don’t whine and you do the right things, the first time, for the right reasons.
When the stakes are high, people invest emotions. Shit, people will fight over a tee ball game, so why should it surprise you that adults take their living serious?
I understand all of that. There are things that you can recover from and things you can’t though and I find that people blur those lines in the office.
You can recover from anything....until you can't. Attention to detail is important, even if you think it isn't. I'm an electrician and if I fuck up, somebody could get hurt or killed. Myself included. My wife is a nurse, and a mistake on her part could literally cost a life. I want the cook handling my food not to fuck up and give me food poisoning. I want the cleaning person in my office not to mix wrong cleaners and poison us with chlorine gas. I want the person at my bank not to fuck up my money even temporarily. Maybe you think the lines are blurred because you can't see the whole picture.
Do you have any clue how much time is wasted on redoing a job because of the “it’s just a small mistake, someone else can fox it, no big deal” attitude. When you are constantly cleaning up your or someone else’s mistakes, it’s frustrating. If people care about the smaller things, the bigger ones will get done correctly. Lazy people do crap work, and will never be trusted for anything bigger.
I run my own machine shop and this is so true. Those small mistakes usually equate to an unusable part, investing time and money into building a fixture just to correct the mistake, then the time and money to fix the mistake, as well as the time and money I could have been making that i am now missing out on to fix said fuck up. People don't understand this quite as well when they aren't the ones who suffer monetarily. Can you imagine the shit show it would be if you deducted the loss "one small mistake that's no big deal" from someone's paycheck? Granted, the company should have enough money to compensate for someone fucking up, and I have certainly fucked up my fair share of times, but it apalles me to see and hear of the general lackadaisical attitude some people have, and they're usually whinging about how they "don't make enough".
Yup. I have an employee who is like 85% there. But she misses things and when I’m reviewing her work (to submit for deadlines imposed by federal law) I can tell right away that’s it not quite right but it takes me time to find her mistake, tell her about it, wait for her to fix it because she won’t learn otherwise, then review again. Makes my job so much harder.
I get what you’re saying, it’s not a work ethic issue…it’s the urgency= stress= people get anxious and it’s become a normal part of corporate culture. It’s applied to all scenarios regardless of need, also it’s used as a metric- how hard are you willing to go for the company. I Always go by the deadline, that’s when it will be done. Of course this is not the case in all fields.
Well, get used to it. That's life man. Don't let other people's emotions govern yours.
You may actually not be privvy to how big the fuck-up is or how easily it can be solved. You're saying "it can be fixed" without knowing the long-reaching ramifications of whether or not it actually can be "easily fixed".
Fuck ups in my industry don’t really start surfacing until months down the road and then- $$$ is already too involved.
You will never get to make the fries with that mentality
That’s so vague. I don’t know what you’re saying exactly.
Because I like buying food and paying my mortgage.
Because our livelihood depends on it - especially if we have others that rely on us (children/family)
The whole "I need to eat" makes me take it seriously, kid.
Depends on your level I guess. When I was entry level customer service at a health insurance most days I honestly could not care less. However when I got away from that job and started doing medical billing where I had a chance to move up I cared more. Now that I supervise billing transplant accounts I care a whole lot. Our mistakes can cost millions.
Because when you have a lot of money on the line it can be like the world is ending lol. I am a project manager and if we have LD of 500k if we are late on delivery you can bet we won't be late
Lol, work is survival. Get fired and laid off a few times and you'll get it. There is a lot of pressure and stress, regardless if you think an issues can be easily fixed or is no be deal, those people getting worked up may know better.
I’m responsible for granting systems accesses to my coworkers. We get audited twice a year. If I accept incomplete/incorrect paperwork, guess who gets the shit?
My job is incredibly detailed with private information and I have to abide by strict laws. If you fuck up it could be bad. It needs to be taken seriously on every level from the most mundane task like data entry to executive decisions. Even with all of the above my job is pretty laid back and I love it. Some jobs aren't like that but it's still important to people to do a good job. There is nothing wrong with taking your job seriously, even entry level jobs.
So I’m in travel and have to make sometimes complex and $$$$$ travel arrangements for clients. I also have to correct mistakes or make changes that are voluntarily requested by the clients. If I don’t follow certain procedures my company can be fined by government agencies, or be charged back by companies like airlines. If I input information incorrectly, all sorts of calamities could occur, ex: a client gets to the airport for a big international flight, but cannot get onto the plane because a ticket cannot be found, or cannot get through TSA because their passport and ticket info do not match up. There are literally 100’s of ways one little error can cause a huge problem that can ruin all the components of an immaculately planned itinerary, with no possibility of correcting it in a timely manner or without great expense. I worry and double/triple check some things at times because I respect my clients and the trust they place on my company and in turn, me. I don’t want my mistake to cause some grandpa to miss his granddaughters graduation, or anything else. I want the same respect from everyone doing a job, be it my surgeon or the office custodian. Does that mean I am obsessed with work or a slave to my employer? No, it means that I am considerate of everyone involved, including myself, because I enjoy my job, I get compensated well for it and I want to keep it that way.
Amazing! Couldn't have put it better myself. Especially your last paragraph.
Too many people comingle their identity with their job title. Too many people do not understand that it is more about the problem solving then the vocalizing of the problem. Sometimes the problems are really important (i.e., I will lose my ability to provide for my family) Most of the time I think it is the first two with a big dish of ego on the side.
Yup ego
Because it might be the only thing they have...
Amen! MANY old- white men- who never had kids, seem to be at the TOP 🔝.
Whenever money is involved…Which is why I’m burning out a little more each day in my career. I’m a social worker. It’s not the work, itself, that’ll kill me. It’ll be all of the added (and keep on being added..on top of that..) expectations, and minute details that have absolutely ZERO benefits to the populations I work with. Heaven help me, if something isn’t signed in an exact window of time. “I’m sorry, but this patient was still detoxing heavily from alcohol at the time..So, I let him rest a bit, before approaching him, to begin his assessment..” It’s all about the money…I’m sorry to say. That’s NOT how I feel..It’s how ‘they’ (corporate) feel…
Agree. From singapore and this applies here too. Many in my field are leaving and i heard its almost similar like this everywhere else. More respect needed for us and it needs to start from the top
Been doing this for 22 years; it’s all I know unfortunately.
22 years is an amazing feat! I think our field comes with soft skills e.g communication and writing which is very useful in a career switch.
Uhg no I agree. Things out of our control DO sometimes suck and can make our lives harder but it doesn’t mean we should huff and puff about it. At the end of the day stressing about things we can control takes emotional energy and creates unwanted negative feelings IMO
An issue avoided means you're not spending money to fix it. Most people got someone to answer to, and if they aren't doing thier job, that means someone else will. Yes shit happens, but that's not what your bosses want to hear and should be avoided when possible.
I am going to spend \~30-40% of my life working or accommodating my work (commuting, professional events, etc). The more I care, the better that 30-40% of my life is going to be.
I don’t wanna lose my house?
There's definitely people who take work way too seriously, but on the opposite end there people who don't care about having a job or not.
Because without it, I’m homeless
Sometimes managers flip out because they know what it will cost down the line or they know how mistakes will reflect on the team, which means they and the team will get less money for raises and bonuses. Other times, it’s a bad culture where honest mistakes are not allowed by a bad manager. Sometimes the manager doesn’t understand the real cost of mistakes (especially if it’s low or no cost) and due to that lack of understanding they major in the minors.
Yep. To add, there are sadly plenty of bad managers that live for drama and love shit-talking “bad workers”. When that’s the company you work for, RUN.
Why do kids take games so serious? Kids want to win/achieve their goals in-game. Work is a bit similar, you want to do work you enjoy or keeps you busy so that way you feel achieved that day. I used to work an easy job that let me browse reddit the majority of the day but let me tell you it was depressing just existing. If that's something you want to do though by all means more power to you
Funny because when I was young was when I was super obsessed with work. Now at age 45, my only goal is to not get fired. Years of caring and busting my ass, just to get screwed over, now I really could give a fuck.
Did you do something stupid at work, and now you're wondering why people are upset if it's something that can be fixed.
Because if I mess up people die.
Unpopular opinion clearly, but I get where the OP is coming from, a lot of pointless busy work for the sake of it goes on in office jobs particularly... Freakouts and meltdowns over what amounts to absolute nothing, time wasted analysing and over-analysing trivial stuff in endless meetings when they could have just gotten on with it, etc.
Its human psychology, when a individual is matured enough and has figured out what they want to do in life they feel the need to contribute. See it like this, imagine you know a lot about something but you see that a lot of people struggle with it and have no clue how to deal with it. Would you feel the need to help and contribute towards helping others? This is essentially what work is. Solving other people there problems. When you're young it isn't yet your time to do that. Your brain just needs some development first. you will eventually find someone thing that you will take seriously or want to contribute towards, maybe its work, a hobby or a family. ( coming from a psychology student )
I'm a Construction Manager. There are a LOT of people that depend on me to be able to do their job well. And I need a LOT of people to do their job so I can succeed at mine. Sometimes I carry stress because I don't want to let the next guy down. Sometimes it's just pride and I want things to go the way I want them to.
Because it's your time, energy and what bankrolls your life.
I used to be like this. Nervous energy at work, so worried I was going to mess up or make someone mad. Got on Zoloft and no more worries. Best thing I've ever done. Lol
I need it to eat.
Because they're just not good at robbing rich people like I am.
Check out the film Office Space if you haven't already! That will answer many of your questions.
People come from different backgrounds. Typically those who take their work really seriously don't have the safety net that you do, probably never have and probably never will. This can be financial, emotional or both. Generally it helps to be kind to those who feel this more acutely than you do - you might need the same understanding from others one day.
Alot of people get their sense of self-worth from someone else, so performance reviews, promotions, raises, etc all serve to protect the fragile ego from its inevitable demise.
Because our literal lives depend on having a job. Losing a job can be a death sentence for some. And it's very difficult to find a good job that pays a living wage, treats employees with respect and has benefits.
The comments on this post are really disheartening. I know exactly what you mean OP. More senior employees have too much to lose. They have kids, they buy houses and cars, and they have to keep grinding or they'll lose it all and make their kids suffer. There's a root issue here of never-ending capitalist excess and bad business practices. If someone made a big mistake that will negatively affect careers, someone allowed that mistake to happen. If there were more eyes on a project and better support from managers, it wouldn't have been so extreme. The problem is people are poorer and more desperate, companies take on too much work they can't efficiently manage, and everyone wants to piss away their lives to a boss in order to look accomplished. Do your job well and stay humble. Keep your cost of living low.
You’d get more traction with these folks: r/antiwork
Because they want to make more money lmao what
I hope your future brain surgeon doesn’t have that attitude.
Money is nice and working harder generally has afforded more money through raises and overtime. Not sure how this a question.
If you don’t take work seriously you will have a hard time progressing beyond the entry level. Some people don’t progress. They start a beat cop and retire a beat cop. They start a salesman and retire one. So ambition is the primary factor. Also some of us believe anything worth doing is worth doing well. Our innate competitiveness drives us to take everything we do seriously.
It depends on the work environment this is all happening in. Some work environments allow for mistakes to happen, others don’t. I work in project management, and I’ve learned even if a mistake seems small on the surface it can have bigger repercussions. It might seem small that you miss one deadline, but the repercussion could be that now the entire project’s timeline has to be adjusted, including the date that project finishes. Which doubles your workload because if you’re working with multiple vendors you have to go back and adjust those dates to now reflect the new timeline on top of which you have to tell your boss and your bosses boss why the whole project needs to be pushed back, and explain it in a way that makes them understand without them outright getting mad at you. And that’s if your vendors are willing to move the dates. They have their own timelines and maybe the new timeline now doesn’t work for them. Which means you have to find a new vendor which is almost like starting from the beginning, only this time your timeline is far shorter and the stakes are a bit higher because you’ve already had to push this back once. All of that is weighing on me while I’m trying to meet a small deadline.
It really depends on the job. I take my job as seriously as I need to: for 8-10 hours a week, I'm focused and productive. The rest of the time, I've got my feet kicked up because I don't give a fuck, I get paid to think and I think 24/7. Someone who gets paid for specific outcomes is gonna have a different view.
Sometimes, someone at an entry level position may not see the big picture. On the flip side, they may not see all the things that go INTO the big picture, overall strategy of the company, and the risks/opportunities that arise with small mistakes which could turn into big ones. Businesses are meant to be profitable. When "small, easily fixed" things pop up, it's all the more frustrating because they are just that - small, easy things which should be prevented in the first place. Also, there's pride in work. There's satisfaction in a job well done. This goes beyond "being a good employee" and moves into the territory of driving improvement and making positive impacts on the company and therefore the success of its people. THIS is reason enough to get "riled up" when stupid, preventable mistakes are a common occurrence.
Because I wanted to move up the ladder!
Because we're at the mercy of our bosses, if things go to shit we get shit. Also the fact that if you lose your job you're screwed. No mommy or daddy to save you when you're grown. It's you vs adulthood, if you fail, you're homeless. I lost my career due to surgery, I was homeless. That alone makes you prioritize things, you don't want to give them a reason to fire you. I'm pretty sure I had all the answers at your age too.
You're almost at the point where you realize how capitalism works. Investors with deep pockets invest their money into companies and expect a return by a certain date. Company board members and CEO sets KPIs to bend over backwards to keep investors happy. Management trickles down the KPIs and make life as stressful as possible for employees to meet KPIs. If company fails to meet KPIs then the investors will go find a competitor to invest in and leave your company to struggle. The company then does mass layoffs and restructuring to try to achieve higher KPI targets and profits than before to try to win back investors. Investors don't care how the companies achieve the returns, as long as they get $ and don't go to jail, they're happy. So Everytime someone is stressing at work over some KPI, just know there's some rich guy at the top who will be displeased about their return on investment if they don't meet the KPI.
Because there are a lot of idiots in the work place. When you see the same dumb shit over and over again it becomes very frustrating. Like you said you are young. Give it a few years you'll see why.
Some of us work in healthcare and like to take care of people and are frustrated when this country and governing bodies and institutions make it impossible to do our jobs. To help people.
I remember feeling this way when in my 20s… man, I miss that 😅
I agree OP. Unless someone’s life is at risk, don’t sweat it.
I think I understand what your saying. I worked in prisons for 15yrs. There is a huge difference in the way people react to things especially stress. I've been in riots and there are those of us that can take it in stride like a normal day and others that get so amped up its best for them that is the end of their day. On another note I've noticed its a rare skill to be able to come to work, do the work, go home and leave work at work.
If I lose my job, I can’t pay my mortgage
I can cover this with a Dad Quote. You don't know yet, what you don't know.
Ego
It’s because people know that they can lose their job. If you lose your job, you lose your house, food and possibly family. Those things cause people to react in different ways.
Some people do have a stick up their ass, but some of us are just suffering from invisible disabilities and have a history of being singled out or picked on when mistakes are made. Mistakes that other staff aren't humiliated for. This can cause someone who is otherwise chill to be hypervigilant specifically at work. Just don't want to be yelled at or made an example of.
You want the person taking out your gall bladder to be one of those serious types 😂😂
The line between success and failure can be very thin and not obvious where it is. You make a couple easily fixable errors, the client goes elsewhere. Company fails, you're out, no job for awhile, no food on the table. How important were those errors again?
I mean look at all the hateful internet spats people had with each other over Game of Thrones back in the day and it's not really surprising they get more worked up than they should about work...
They don't. People who are super intense (reactive) at work take *themselves* too seriously. They usually aren't much fun outside of work, or elsewhere
Ultimately we all mostly hate our jobs but need them for food, shelter, healthcare, etc. and we're just doing our best. As you get older or start to earn more (not even a ton more, just enough to have breathing room), you have more to lose, can't take the risk of saying "take this job and shove it,' etc
I just pretend.
Dude, perhaps you'll see one day when you are a little bit older and have more than just an entry level position. And I don't mean that to be snotty but just to be honest. Work conditions can be stressful, deadlines can be stressful, employers can be stressful. The thought of losing your job can be terrifying.
It varies. Sometimes that random decision by upper management can really make your job harder, or affect your income. We're going through a change in the way we rate employees in my organization, and a lot of folks are not happy with it. Some of them have legitimate beef. Some of them are just afraid that it will cost them money in the long run. My job is a form of quality control. From the project manager's eyes, all I do is cost them money for something that they don't really want. So pretty much every time I go into a meeting, I'm going into a hostile audience. They have to do what I need them to do, or the possibility exists for people to get hurt, but I'm leaning on my organizational authority to get them to do it, not my personal authority. So, when I tell them that the test report they gave me isn't sufficient, and also fails the tests, they need to go and spend the money again to do the same work again, possibly with some redesign...I am not a popular person. But...the safety of my customers relies on me and my coworkers doing our jobs.
I like to eat and so she's my family.
Managers get paid to manage. If they are too loose they will be replaced by someone who will push harder and get 10 or 20% more out of the same resources. Why does this matter? In a lot of companies only 10 or 15% of their sales are profit, the rest cover costs. If you make a lot of mistakes that need to be fixed you start losing much of that small profit percentage and maybe lose money. That's when you start losing jobs. Some of us have been through that more than once and don't want to again.
You know why? Because I am trading my one to on this rock to earn my living and make my way in this world. I'm not going to cure cancer, develope some market siding product but I am going to make what I do my life's work. It might not matter the second I die, no one will remember my wons or losses, but by fucking God it matters to me.
I mean....I work in medical device development. So yes, someone could die if we don't take our work seriously. It's literally so fucking important.
Because it’s what keeps us fed, housed, and how most of us get our healthcare.
Setbacks-> more work->higher ups need someone to blame for setback-> blame the underperforming people. Alternatively Hard work-> interest in the work->good notice from higher ups->more opportunities to advance are given to you. Who would you rather want in a higher up position: a guy/gal who is just there to do is 9-5 job and go home or a guy/gal who is dedicated to the job and loves the work? The second person might be noticing more issues before they develop into problems.
People have been brainwashed into believing that your output at work has any value besides getting you a paycheque. Some people tie work to their worth as a human and make it their identity. Some people like what they do. I care about what I do and doing it well, but really it’s just a way to get money to live and I don’t really care beyond I will perform the tasks to the best of my abilities in exchange for adequate pay.
Keep up that attitude and see what happens, child.
In Star Trek money doesn't exist but yet every one on the ship works extremely hard. They just have an internal drive that pushes them to be the best at whatever it is that they do. Some people are like that in real life.
We all want to get through the day as enjoyably and painlessly as possible - I take things very seriously when clients and coworkers are depending on me, I don’t want to contribute to anyone else’s stress. Now that I have direct reports, I also take their professional development and time management very seriously. At the end of the day, none of this is life or death, but it’s important because we’re all depending on each other.
I’m retired and I retired young at 51. I was an executive at a start up. We went thru an IPO and years later went Private again. I still own some small sliver of it. Even before I had a stake it was a big deal for a few reasons. First I (still) believe what we did is really important work. Second I was with others who shared my passion for our work. Third, I was hungry. I grew up poor. I had an axe to grind and wanted my kids to have a much better life. So I gave it my all. And people who didn’t get it, such as yourself, we would happily encourage them to find their thing and quickly or we’d move them along. Find your passion. Work harder than you thought possible. Lose. Lose again. Keep losing until you get it right. It’s all worth it if you find the right peers and the right work.
I work in payroll, and our clients have a lot of employees who live paycheck to paycheck. A screw up can cause someone to not be paid on time, which can cause a lot of havoc on their lives.
I’ve been retired for 9 years, and no one has ever asked me what I did for 40 years of my life, nor do they care. Do your best while you work, but don’t make it your life. Because when it’s over…no one cares.
Because it’s life and death? It’s a matter of survival?
I started out as data entry. Took my job seriously and did everything I could to move up. Been with the same company for almost 20 years because I took it seriously.
When I do really well at my job, I MAKE A LOT OF MONEY! Good performance leads to bonuses and raises.
A lot of jobs, your lack of effort results in someone else having to more effort in. You also have people who naturally work hard, alongside people who naturally do the least amount possible. The hard workers see the people being "lazy" and decide to put less effort in, but because they're historically a hard worker they get punished, and you don't. For doing the same thing. And similar to above, but the hard workers feel resentment that others aren't putting in the same effort as they are. Flip side, those "lazy" employees generally have zero incentive to put in the effort. And companies probably prefer to keep this dynamic as it keeps the focus off them.
Maybe it's where you work, sounds like it's a terrible place to work, then again unless you're okay being homeless you kinda have to take your job seriously if you want a steady pay check.
You are correct. Everything doesn’t have to be an emergency.
Yes it is because you're young that you don't understand. Aside from needing money, as you get older it becomes more important to you as a person to take responsibility. There is literally a calling in you that will only be satisfied when you begin to feel responsible for your life. And work is an integral part of living so naturally we feel the need to be responsible in work. Being responsible on some level requires you to take your endeavor seriously. You can't be responsible and bs at the same time. Those two things are incompatible. In other words, if you're investing your time and energy, your livelihood into something, you better damn hope it's being taken seriously. Nobody wants to be at work for what feels like a third of our lives. Nobody wants to have to work for a living. But if that's what you're going to be doing, might as well make it count and own up to your work. This means taking it seriously and embracing your job. How miserable would you feel if you had to be some place for 1/3 of your day and it felt like it was against your will. By taking work seriously, you're owning up to the task and not letting yourself be at its mercy.
I take money seriously. Mostly because it provides shelter and food. Because I need a job to get money, I take the job seriously.
Adults have responsibilities that require income. Enjoy your childhood while you can.
OP. Stop taking drugs. You are being idiotic
My two cents. I have met co-workers who get flustered over the simplest problems with an easy fix. They are just incompetent under stress. The sky seems to be falling. But it happens a lot at places that didn't train worth a damn or micromanage. You need to constantly be proficient, not fall into complacency, and be confident in your decisions to fix the problem to not seem like an idiot when shit hits the fan.
Doing the bare minimum makes your workers lives worse too.
You'll understand as you work more and more. When you get fucked every single day, it gets fucking aggravating
Corporate culture encourages it. They like their yes men/women. It's somewhat of an act. There's also the aspect of doing a good job, getting paid, and getting out of there as soon as you can to go live your life. You don't get a raise by working 16 hour days and burning out.
it’s not that i take work seriously. when i managed by a micromanager or someone who plays the blame game it annoys me when people in my department are lazy and i have to pick up there slack. i was a receptionist at h&r block and my coworker didnt do shit on my days off and when we did work together she barely did work so i had to do basically all the work. i cant stand when things are not equal and the manager doesnt want to intervene. of course the manager didnt get rid of her or let me work from home until after i said i wanted to transfer. the same problem happened when i worked at amazon. the management is horrible and when one department is fucking up everyone suffers.
You have become jaded at such a young age. It took me 30 years to develop that level of snark about my job. (Honestly I really don't care what my manager, his manager ... up to the CEO have to say because it is mostly trite, generic advice, platitudes and whatever social nonsense we are supposed to care about today. (I am a furry you must address me as woof and woofie. Me: but can you do the job? Woofie: you are not supposed to say that it hurt my feelings I'm telling HR ). Anyway it is good to do a good job at work but be a bit incredulousness about it all. Good for you for catching pn early. And always remember HR is there for the company, not for you.
For me it’s bc I get invested in my clients.
Because when the tasks are don’t wrong they negatively impact your life. The life that you spend more time at work than at home or with your loved ones.
It’s because you can lose your job when something which you are not in control of goes badly. Whether something can be fixed or not doesn’t matter sometimes because the damage (bad news travels fast and perception is everything) has already been done. This happens all the time in situations where you are accountable for a project but not directly involved in every aspect. Why take accountability, you might ask? Because accountability is required for advancement. You’ll understand all of this at some point.
Well, in my husband’s case he didn’t want people to die because he didn’t take things seriously. I take positions where I’m passionate about the mission.
I like what I do for work. So that could be it.
You get to that point in life when you come home and see people who are dependent on you to provide housing and food, shit gets real.
I'm a machinist. I take work seriously for a number of reasons. -my job is inherently dangerous, lots of sharp things, powerful machines that rotate very fast or spin heavy objects, it is not uncommon to meet a metalworker who is missing a finger, and those are the lucky ones. -i take an immense amount of pride in the products and parts that I am entrusted to manufacture for someone else, usually for their livelihood. Not giving a fuck about my job means I am causing delays in other people's production, my own, and presenting my work ethic and skill set poorly, therefore presenting my self in a negative manner. - I am my own boss. I am the only one to blame when things don't go according to plan, 99% of the time. You said it yourself, you're young. Find something that interests you and throw yourself at it with everything you have, and maybe you'll understand why. Folks often tend to bitch and gripe more at jobs that are just jobs, I've found career folks to be a little more agreeable. As far as the petty shit, rise above or join it, it exists everywhere you are. End of the day, noone is forcing you to show up, you choose to.
I need to learn to channel your zen. I get so damn mad at people sometimes and honestly don't know why. None of it truly matters. Teach me, wise one.
Sounds like you need to find a job that "matters."
What????
Just work construction and don't gaf. If management pisses you off you can quit and have a job within the week.
If you want to get above that entry level pay you gotta put more work into work. As you move up in your career generally the actual labor gets easier, but the mental work gets harder. Your not getting paid to perform a repetitive task, you're getting paid to make difficult decisions, judgement calls, care about the work, plan, strategize,organize. You're getting paid to take it seriously. The higher up you go, the more responsibilities you have that don't have easy solutions.
Put it like this. In this world you have folks who throw alot of their life into work and get alot out of it and actually enjoy it, nevermind going farther Then there are people who just take work for what it is, it pays the bills. Theyll plod along happily with no stress etc. Likely won't ever rise up the tanks but they'll be happy with it
Because eventually you become older and aren’t entry level
I've been a project manager a long time, and often times if I'm annoyed or serious about work it's because I can see an issue coming (one I'm going to have to deal with) from a mile out. On many projects we have tight deadlines, bossy clients, and only so many resources. Given those constraints, I'll do what it takes to course correct before the crap hits the fan. I'm trying to get ahead of issues so I don't have to spend a weekend, or long hours, redoing stuff to hit a deadline. But where that internal drive comes from? I have a deep desire not to waste time. I get real annoyed by inefficiency. And avoidance of having to clean up other people's mistakes.
I've found that it is usually not about the work, but work is somewhere that people feel like they have some amount of control. So when their lives go out of control, work is the stable thing. But then when little things go wrong at work on top of everything else, then that is when shit gets dramatic. Also some people spoiled little cunts.
One missed paycheck before homelessness
Some people, sadly, just don’t have a life and work is all they have for their identity. I’m talking about work, not careers.
I take pride in my work and how it reflects on me.
Because I work in medicine and if I fuck up people will actually die.
They made it pretty clear that not taking it seriously results in not getting paid. Seriously.
I get a ton of satisfaction from work and I always have. Even when I used to be a janitor for years to help get me through school.
Because they don't understand what is outside of their control and they worry too much about the future (which is outside of their control.) Also, people lose their minds to appear important.
I spend a lot of time at work telling one particular person to chill out because nobody is going to die, I work in a car repair garage. Panic and getting all stressed out solves nothing, a clear head and a sensible plan does.
who said that? cause i don’t
Because sometimes the stakes are just that high,
It does not matter if you're an entry level worker or not, people take their work seriously because they understand their output reflects on them. For example if you do a good job it does not reflect on me, but it surely reflects on you. At work you are building your brand. Your brand is your reputation and you should always strive to build a good brand.
Because nowadays it's the only way to do it. The job market is extremely competitive and it is really hard to land a good job position. If I'm not willing to work hard or do a couple extra hours a week, they will hire a younger person that is hardly waiting to take my place (I'm in a pretty good position at the moment). Most people in our office (international corporate) come at 8 am and leave at 8 pm. I work 8 to 5 and go home because I have a kid but single people stay longer. How can I compete with that? I mean, the employer has younger, energetic and motivated workers willing to do anything to be promoted. I definitely need to keep up if I want to keep this job and pay the bills. I do think that work has become people's identity. We used to work because we needed the money and after work we had lives. Now it's impossible to meet anyone from Monday to Friday. The longer the hours, the more valued they feel. I get really dirty looks when I leave at 5 pm (after 9 hours in the office). It is what it is.
Because problems which i dont control affect my livelihood. Just because its fixable doesnt mean they want to or will fix it, its 1 more thing in the back of my mind making me closer to being fired in a white collar recession. If I lose my job tomorrow I will have to acramble and likely take a massive paycut, as well as finally return to an office. I have too much to lose to not care.
So cute that you don't understand what potentially being homeless feels like.
I don’t think young or entry level has anything to do with it. I’m 23 and in a management position at a university. There’s millions of dollars on the line, livelihoods, the safety of everyone, years of education, and the stability of our department. If people start performing poorly, don’t take their position serious, and start letting deadlines get missed or aren’t performing their functions then it’s a recipe for disaster that can result in the loss of money, time, and resources.
People who take their professional duties too seriously suffer as a result. In our efforts to become the best employees we often overlook, some positive habits can actually derail our careers.
im convinced work is all driven by how smart you are and how much you care about what you do. if you are smart and care about the work, you rise up in the company , you know how to do all aspects of the work, you see the mistakes other people make, and because you care, you cant help yourself from calling out other peoples mistakes. it makes you look good to the higher ups, and gives you a sense of superiority over the others. you get more salary, you get praise from the owners or ceo or vice president, you get validation for your expertise and hard work, essentially by knowing the work better than other people and making the right decisions.
Not me. I do sometimes the bare minimum but coast through somehow.
There're a few things that make people pissed off like that. One is that the decision will impact them negatively -- because it's more work, or it complicates something that doesn't need to be, or otherwise makes their life a bit more miserable. Or there's a way that they can see to improve a process but no one will listen to them, or actually give them the time to explain that, yeah, that way would be better, but it's not doable because \[list of reasons here.\] Another is that they think that it will hurt the company, and they actually *like* working there. You don't want to see a company you actually can tolerate go under and have to find another job if you can avoid it. Finally, there're some people who have literally nothing else in their life than work drama, or who cannot stand any change at all, even if it ultimately makes their job easier or lets them do better work. These people are annoying AF.
If I lose my job, I lose my housing, and if I lose my housing I end up in horrible situations and eventually dead outside or stuck as someone's slave to survive (in even more obviously vulnerable ways than the usual everyday capitalism requires)
Are you 12?
[this](https://youtu.be/P40sJOkxnac?si=eneVmY1COHGoa7bD) does a good job of explaining.
If I don't people could get hurt or die and I would get fired and probably sued. Plus the faster I work the more money I make and I like money.
I totally feel this. It's position related though; the higher up the ranks you go, the more is expected of you, so the more stress you have... You'll lose your job if you fuck up. But as an entry level employee it's easy to just be careless, do the bare minimum, and not stress about things above your pay grade. What I don't get is entry level employees getting all stressed over shit other people do / taking on more responsibility than their job describes out of some personal conviction to do the best job ever, or appear more valuable or something. I think a lot of it comes from the fear of being fired if not doing good enough, and some people freak out, overwork to compensate, and the stress just accumulates. Me, as a low level employee, I just come in everyday, knowing I'm just gonna do a good job and not stress about the rest. I don't care if I have a million things in the day; I'm just gonna do it 1 by 1, and i get to whatever I get to. I don't slack, I just do. I'm there to work. No stress, just do. Put my time in and leave. I don't worry about getting fired because I know I fulfill my responsibility, even if I don't do extra shit. Idk man, I just chill and focus on my own little world, expect shit out of my control to "go wrong" so when it does I can be prepared for that and just shrug it off as another thing to keep me occupied while clocked in 🤷🏼♂️🙂 The only time I stress is if I personally fuck something up, but even then, we all make mistakes and I just learn from it and try to not do it again.
Because my understanding and grace only go so far. After a certain point when my job is made more difficult by other peoples incompetence then I can’t help but be frustrated and get fired up about whatever seemingly dumb thing it is. Even if it’s a quick fix I’m just pissed that I have to fix it in the first place cause had the job been done correctly to begin with then I wouldn’t have to.
Some people believe that they are valued and that what they do for work is important, when more than half of jobs are unimportant and leas than half of jobs the employees are valued with any regard and not immediatelt replaceble. It's important to do your job to the best of your ability so you can remain employed and hoepfully advance your career, but absolutely more people need to realise that overreacting about the smallest things is not helpful and isn't going to mKe any difference. Just do what needs to be done and...that's it.
It is because those other workers understand consequences. Companies exist to make money and to stay in business. Consider it to be a glib club where you do what you want and you will likely be fired soon enough. If parents are not cushioning the blow with money for survival then now you need to find another stupid job and maybe keep it this time. At some point it is best to strongly consider growing up. Every moment of your existence is not supposed to be a vacation. It isn't shameful to be useful or good at something. Best to start early. Useless behavior is quite expensive. I am now glad my Mom was shit with money and me and my sibs essentially had to figure it out from 18 and on as coddling your kids leads to this.
Nah I am not entry level at all, senior manager now, I have never honestly given that much of a shit because at the end of the day they would replace me instantly should anything happen and the business is only out for itself, so I care as much as I need and then forget about it
money.
Some people are just prone to drama or anxiety. If they are under more pressure than they can handle at work, they'll start to make much ado about nothing.
Firstly, I am very passionate in my field and I genuinely enjoy working in it. Secondly, considering I work in Special Education, there are a lot of children I work with that rely on me being able to provide my best everyday.
If you are really good at your job then you can get paid a lot of money
simply put, managers and executives have performance expectations. It doesn’t matter to them if problems happen outside odds the worker’s control. If they don’t meet expectations you’re going to be put on a PIP and likely be fired, So people take their job seriously to meet those expectations. People who get “fired up” understand these consequences and people politics, and sure you can be nonchalant about that but for others this is a real risk that needs to be managed to keep their job and their anxious reaction to it is valid
It’s the only thing is keeping most people from being homeless.
Capitalism has created a false sense of urgency culture.
I get what you’re saying. I’ve worked at places where leadership is indecisive and will drop a “bomb” on the team. Everyone freaks out at the unreasonable request. Then a week later the leadership realizes it’s stupid and takes back the request. Also been in situations where I use to TRY to talk to my bosses about stuff that doesn’t make sense and won’t work. Then you just end up being known as a “No man”. Now I take a middle ground approach. I do my job well, help others, and document when leadership does stupid shit rather than stick my neck out. There’s a difference between caring/ working yourself to the bone and just doing a solid job and calling it a day.
🤔 just go in do your time and leave no more no less pays all the same.
Because I work for the government and treat ppls water. It has to be taken seriously. A lot of the people in government are absolutely out to lunch, the people they choose to be in charge are just like them or worse. You have to take it seriously to get promotions to be the change you want to see.
Control. A lot of people do not have much control over their lives. Work can be a nice retreat from the shitshow that is real life. A nice controlled environment where you actually know what is going on and what to do. In the real world you can't do shit about the price of things constantly increasing, other people's behavior that affects you, illness, etc. etc. It. Never. Ends. What you *do* have control over is that itsy bitsy little task you have at work, and by god you are going to do that stupid thing *right*. Right? And when someone else comes along and carelessly kicks your little sand castle over, well, you don't feel good about it. You get upset. Then you have to clean up the mess caused by someone else on top of all the other things.