I have worked at a few jobs during my brief life. I've worked at a bookstore, KFC, UPS, a twenty-four hour diner, a dog kennel, a homeless shelter, and a Residential Treatment Center, and that doesn't include any temp or quick labor stuff. Each job had perks that the other jobs didn't, lingo that was unique to each place, different attitudes on bonuses and time off, but at none of them did I desire to work over forty hours in a week. This country supposedly has a strong work ethic, and I'll admit I feel better when I have a job than when I'm wondering how long the money I saved will last. What bothers me about people working today is that there are many who work fifty, sixty, and even eighty hours in a week.
People talk about addictions to drugs, relationships, food, sex, and sports, but very rarely do I hear anyone cry out about the work-a-holics. The folks constantly putting in for overtime so they can get time and half for a few hours are as unhealthy any other addiction. Unfortunately, we have a society that smiles on the ultra-worker because they are being productive.
Most of the well paid professions require working long into the night or even around the clock. Doctors work sixteen hour shifts without a second thought, small business owners put in sixty hour weeks, and even the president gets by on four or five hours of sleep a night. Anytime I hear that someone is working that hard, I ask "What do you do in your free time?" Most of the time they give out a little sigh and say that they rest.
What's wrong with a life of working extremely hard? First off, it makes everyone else seem lazy when they're not. I regularly put in thirty hour weeks. I could work more, but I don't prefer to do so. If you're surrounded by work-a-holics, your thirty hour schedule looks like that of a slacker even though I'm paying the bills and putting food in my belly. Another problem with working too much is that it becomes impossible to talk to that person about anything other than their job. While I don't mind listening to job related stories for a while, it would be nice to engage in a conversation that has nothing to do employment. There's nothing wrong with books, sports, trips, music, and that off-the-wall idea you've been kicking around.
When a person works for more than forty hours, they get used to being at work for too long. So I say let's wean them of this habit. Sure, there are going to be some nasty withdrawal symptoms, and the addicts will suffer boredom, frustration, and anxiety. After surviving the come down though, many of these work-a-holics may be able to lead healthy and diverse lives. They might even find something called a hobby, or read that book they've always thought about reading, or look at those flowers on the roadside.
There should be meetings to help people deal with the concept of free time because once you're a worker of excess you can never really be a normal person again. Work-a-holics can live normal lives, but without treatment, who knows when the urge to pick up three extra shifts will occur. I'm not saying that there aren't times when people might want or need to put in a little extra time either as a favor or to help pay for an unexpected cost. It's the consistency of this behavior that makes working overtime unhealthy. When people say "Everything in Moderation," that includes employment.
One of the smaller political parties once enticed me with an aspect of their platform dealing with the overworking problem. They suggested that the work week be cut to thirty-five hours a week. I've worked both seven hour and eight hour days, and I must say an extra hour of free time a day was down right pleasant. I went around telling people of this idea, and most of the folks responses came in the form of chuckles saying how cute the idea was. Very few want to change the work week. Very few people think it's wrong to work a fifty hour week. Is it that they want the work ethic to stay strong with an eight hour week? Or maybe working overtime makes people feel good about their existence? Or is it just about money?
It's not just about the money, is it?
Chris Jungle has been warned about scolding other people's addictions considering the ones he currently has.