Most people will never be happy at work

[Alphaboy]

My boss is bending over backwards trying to keep us from leaving.

There's just so many perks. It's next to impossible to get fired. Nobody ever gets in trouble for anything, but people still complain.

I read a quote recently, it read: "You can let people walk all over you and there will still be people who are complaining that you aren't flat enough"

I learned long ago that you simply cannot satisfy people. This is why I am an advocate of being a respectful person, but never changing you core personality.

 

[Cole train]

I've had a few easy jobs that paid well. I got sick of them eventually.

You gotta be challenged by your work to find long term satisfaction, but in a way that makes you feel like you're accomplishing something that matters.

People in shitty work cultures, especially on the bottom rungs, just feel like they get bullshit dumped in their plate all the time and tackling it all doesn't actually get them anywhere. Been in that situation too.

Fuck challenging

Give me a job where i dont have to do shit or anything complicated and pays ok then im happy

 

[LukeSkyrocker]

Happiness is born from an attitude and a response to your environment, not from the environment itself. That's a response, not a reaction. A reaction comes from an immediate observation from the environment. A response is a reaction that has been carefully considered and an appropriate action or thought determined from that consideration. If you can stop a quick reaction from ruining your day, you may be able to develop a response that allows you to justify your situation and feel better about it. This is part of the adaptation ability of the human mind, it takes some work to stop yourself from having knee-jerk reactions but it can be very useful.

I've done a lot of research and been part of the psychiatric system for a very long time now, and this is the best explanation for a method to achieve some peace that I've found. The key lies in interceding when you first get upset by the environment, and constantly reassessing and reevaluating what bothers you, and why. You have to stop that automatic cycle where you get upset by something -> think about it -> make yourself more upset.

This is VERY insightful. You must be doing Cognitive behavioural therapy, or reading some Stoic philosophers but exactly, more people need to hear and learn this.

 

[Anomonis]

This is VERY insightful. You must be doing Cognitive behavioural therapy, or reading some Stoic philosophers but exactly, more people need to hear and learn this.

Nice to hear some appreciation man, and I hope my words help somebody. I'm just an old worn out psych patient trying to find some peace, that's all. I studied a lot of stuff.

 

[Daverisimo]

I teach developmentally disabled individuals. I get hit, bit, scratched, spit on, kicked, scratched etc all day. I clean up poop and pee and boogers non stop. I'm not paid well. I work with a bunch if gossipy women. The hours arent bad tho, its m through f 8 to 4 I do get 11 paid weeks of vacation plus 19 personal days per year. But I laugh all day and I love my job. I feel bad for people doing regular shit.

It's sad that having a genuinely meaningful job is such a rare thing in this economy. I think that's kind of pivotal to having a happy work life for most people.

A person who is genuinely happy doing meaningless work must be either an idiot or a sage.

 

[Riptide]

I'm a union tradesman. My boss is bending over backwards trying to keep us from leaving.

We work 8 hours a day, but 1 hour of that is paid break time. The pay is very good.

We have an empolyee dining room with free food. It's buffet style, different menu every day. We have chefs making the food. They try to make it different every day, like they'd do different ethnic foods around the world often. On Monday, it was Ethiopian food. On Cinco deMayo, it's always Mexican food, etc.. We have staples that we'd have every day, like we always have different types of pizza available every day, if you want a sandwhich or a burger, just ask the cook and he'll make it for you however you want it. Hot dogs, there's an omelette station where he can make you whatever omelette you want. There's a desert station with different cakes, pies, etc... There's a salad area, soft serve ice cream or ice cream sandwhiches/cones. There's also a healthy section with sugar free stuff, and low calorie menu.

We have chef battles on sometimes where the chefs are competing to make the better food and we get to eat the results. Not too often these days, people got tired of it.

The rules are you can't take food home, but people do it anyway.

Out of that 7 hours, we maybe only work 2 hours, the rest of that time is everyone is just hanging out, goofing around. Our boss put wifi so we have internet on our phones without using data.

We get whatever tools we want. We order it, they get it. We also get to take older tools home. For example, we have this contract with Hilti, DeWalt, Milwaukee, where we get new tools/batteries every year. We get to take last year's tools home.

It's a union gig, so there's pension after 5 years, but you have to wait til you're 59 years old in order to start getting the money. Or you work 20 years, and retire after then. If you got in at 21, you can retire from working at 41.

There's just so many perks. It's next to impossible to get fired. Nobody ever gets in trouble for anything, but people still complain. The complaints mostly are about other people. Since it's impossible to get fired, people complain about lazy people all the time.

Do they hire?

 

[F1980]

what trade?

Facilities/Engineering/Maintenance

 

[TheJewBear]

When you're a skilled professional in an industry that is understaffed, you will get a lot of perks.

I used to be an FAA air traffic controller at a major facility. It was and still is severely understaffed. They don't want anyone to leave or even retire. They grant age waivers all the time to keep people working traffic.

There are only so many positions to staff. If you come in to work and all the positions are filled, you're told to go take a break and come back in an hour. On weekends you work one hour on, one hour off (on a break) until quitting time. If you wrap up your final hour on position and you've only been at work for 6.5 or 7 hours, the supervisor will look at the schedule and tell you "have a nice day." or "go self-study" (implication being that you'll "self study" in your car while you drive home)

The pay is OBSCENE.

It's almost impossible to get fired.

 

[colby25]

Happiness is born from an attitude and a response to your environment, not from the environment itself. That's a response, not a reaction. A reaction comes from an immediate observation from the environment. A response is a reaction that has been carefully considered and an appropriate action or thought determined from that consideration. If you can stop a quick reaction from ruining your day, you may be able to develop a response that allows you to justify your situation and feel better about it. This is part of the adaptation ability of the human mind, it takes some work to stop yourself from having knee-jerk reactions but it can be very useful.

I've done a lot of research and been part of the psychiatric system for a very long time now, and this is the best explanation for a method to achieve some peace that I've found. The key lies in interceding when you first get upset by the environment, and constantly reassessing and reevaluating what bothers you, and why. You have to stop that automatic cycle where you get upset by something -> think about it -> make yourself more upset.

That's very insightful.

Reminds me of the writings of Paul when he talks about being content in ALL situations. His happiness was not contingent on his circumstances....like so many for us...thus when things are going good. We're happy. And when they're bad...it's...well, bad. This roller coaster of emotions.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength." -Philippians

It would seem that Paul was responding to what Christ had done for him rather than reacting to his circumstances at hand.

Nevertheless, I would love to hear more input on this subject from you- or perhaps point me in the right direction where I could read more up on it as what you're talking about seems to be a biblical truth.

 

[Anomonis]

That's very insightful.

Reminds me of the writings of Paul when he talks about being content in ALL situations. His happiness was not contingent on his circumstances....like so many for us...thus when things are going good. We're happy. And when they're bad...it's...well, bad. This roller coaster of emotions.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength." -Philippians

It would seem that Paul was responding to what Christ had done for him rather than reacting to his circumstances at hand.

Nevertheless, I would love to hear more input on this subject from you- or perhaps point me in the right direction where I could read more up on it as what you're talking about seems to be a biblical truth.

That's a very good quote from the Bible there. I can't give you a specific source I got this from because it's my personal philosophy that I've developed over years from different sources. If I can point out one thing that has been helpful for me, it's recognizing when you have a knee-jerk reaction to something that happens to you. Other people will always piss you off or trigger you to some degree, and that's perfectly natural and normal. But you don't need to stew on that reaction or the way you feel about it. That decision to sit on that first reaction is where your power to choose comes in. As soon as you start feeling angry and upset over some life stuff, you can stop, realize you're getting upset, and do something that changes your course a bit. (I just think of something pleasant or make a joke of it myself) Sometimes it's as simple as distracting yourself with something you like for a little bit, like a funny TV show or clip.

If it is a chronic problem that is pissing you off, you need some kind of plan to deal with it. If you feel like you're helpless or powerless against whatever is triggering you repeatedly, it's much worse. In that case you must develop some kind of plan to deal with it or it'll bother you forever. I know it sucks to hear but you may want to quit your job or leave a relationship over something like this. Your mental health is super precious IMO and you need to preserve it. Don't quit right away but recognize that you will likely be alright even if your money or your relationship status is disrupted for a bit. Nothing in life is worth being miserable over for a long time, even if it does seem so.

 

[colby25]

That's a very good quote from the Bible there. I can't give you a specific source I got this from because it's my personal philosophy that I've developed over years from different sources. If I can point out one thing that has been helpful for me, it's recognizing when you have a knee-jerk reaction to something that happens to you. Other people will always piss you off or trigger you to some degree, and that's perfectly natural and normal. But you don't need to stew on that reaction or the way you feel about it. That decision to sit on that first reaction is where your power to choose comes in. As soon as you start feeling angry and upset over some life stuff, you can stop, realize you're getting upset, and do something that changes your course a bit. (I just think of something pleasant or make a joke of it myself) Sometimes it's as simple as distracting yourself with something you like for a little bit, like a funny TV show or clip.

If it is a chronic problem that is pissing you off, you need some kind of plan to deal with it. If you feel like you're helpless or powerless against whatever is triggering you repeatedly, it's much worse. In that case you must develop some kind of plan to deal with it or it'll bother you forever. I know it sucks to hear but you may want to quit your job or leave a relationship over something like this. Your mental health is super precious IMO and you need to preserve it. Don't quit right away but recognize that you will likely be alright even if your money or your relationship status is disrupted for a bit. Nothing in life is worth being miserable over for a long time, even if it does seem so.

Agreed. There's a lot on proverbs about restraining your anger:

Proverbs 29:11
Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

I struggle with patience personally...especially when it comes to house work. I want to do it once, and do it right ….and ill be good for the first 30 minutues to an hour of working on a project. And manage to control myself after a few screw ups but there comes a point after each screw up and mistake my patience draws...thinner and thinner until I usually snap and break something. I really don't like it, it's a problem area. House work. Drives me insane.

And it's embarrassing when I have to apologize to my kid after he sees me blow up cause I can't put a sink in or something stupid like that correctly without flooding everything. Work in progress for sure.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Just about every occupation has negatives, and that's something that the younger generations don't seem eager to admit. Sure, someone's passion might be teaching botany through interpretive dance and music, but if it doesn't pay the bills they won't be truly happy.

 

[Anomonis]

Agreed. There's a lot on proverbs about restraining your anger:

Proverbs 29:11
Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

I struggle with patience personally...especially when it comes to house work. I want to do it once, and do it right ….and ill be good for the first 30 minutues to an hour of working on a project. And manage to control myself after a few screw ups but there comes a point after each screw up and mistake my patience draws...thinner and thinner until I usually snap and break something. I really don't like it, it's a problem area. House work. Drives me insane.

edit: sometimes I just step back and laugh, at how seriously I'm taking this relatively insignificant project. It is funny in the big picture.

And it's embarrassing when I have to apologize to my kid after he sees me blow up cause I can't put a sink in or something stupid like that correctly without flooding everything. Work in progress for sure.

I have this problem as well. There always seems to be a point where I know I am getting angry, I know I'm pushing too hard and it's going to make me more upset. That is where you must step back, just for a second. Step back, catch your breath, stop that angry train of though that is driving you to do this thing right now. I get so frustrated if I continue there. But if you even take 30 seconds, to step back, reassess, calm yourself, it makes a world of difference. And if the job doesn't need to be done instantly, you can take a little break. If it does need to be done fast, then 30 seconds won't make much difference.

 

[Merlotte's]

I always laugh when people say this because everyone says that, and everyone is "people at work". But don't worry, I'm sure you're the smart one

I am a product of my environment.

 

[eighterumg5]

I'm a union tradesman. My boss is bending over backwards trying to keep us from leaving.

We work 8 hours a day, but 1 hour of that is paid break time. The pay is very good.

We have an empolyee dining room with free food. It's buffet style, different menu every day. We have chefs making the food. They try to make it different every day, like they'd do different ethnic foods around the world often. On Monday, it was Ethiopian food. On Cinco deMayo, it's always Mexican food, etc.. We have staples that we'd have every day, like we always have different types of pizza available every day, if you want a sandwhich or a burger, just ask the cook and he'll make it for you however you want it. Hot dogs, there's an omelette station where he can make you whatever omelette you want. There's a desert station with different cakes, pies, etc... There's a salad area, soft serve ice cream or ice cream sandwhiches/cones. There's also a healthy section with sugar free stuff, and low calorie menu.

We have chef battles on sometimes where the chefs are competing to make the better food and we get to eat the results. Not too often these days, people got tired of it.

The rules are you can't take food home, but people do it anyway.

Out of that 7 hours, we maybe only work 2 hours, the rest of that time is everyone is just hanging out, goofing around. Our boss put wifi so we have internet on our phones without using data.

We get whatever tools we want. We order it, they get it. We also get to take older tools home. For example, we have this contract with Hilti, DeWalt, Milwaukee, where we get new tools/batteries every year. We get to take last year's tools home.

It's a union gig, so there's pension after 5 years, but you have to wait til you're 59 years old in order to start getting the money. Or you work 20 years, and retire after then. If you got in at 21, you can retire from working at 41.

There's just so many perks. It's next to impossible to get fired. Nobody ever gets in trouble for anything, but people still complain. The complaints mostly are about other people. Since it's impossible to get fired, people complain about lazy people all the time.