Where's the work ethic?

[Caveman Jim]

Why do people not have a work ethic anymore?? Because parents never instilled one in their kids. People who have one earned their own money from very early on. How many of you started working at 15-16, etc for $ ? I caddied at a nearby golf course, carrying doubles for $40 a round. I didn't even know how to play golf!

Told our daughter when she was 13 that if she wanted a drivers license at 16 she had to come up with the difference in our insurance before she could get one. That meant that she had 3 years to come up with a job to make that $. Had her layout the $450 in cash on the table so she could see how much it was.
After school, she kept her job in 2008 when many others were losing theirs. She is a hard worker and her company loves her for it. Her first child is due in 8 weeks and I hope she passes this lesson along.
I've always said that if you want to give your children something, give them a work ethic. If they have that you'll never need worry about them in life.

I started paying taxes at 13 yo.

 

[The Heretic]

You can't handle having 6 weeks paid time off? Great go get a job where you get 1/3 of that and see how you like it.

The only time off I get paid for is sick time, and only that because it is the law.

I am a contract employee and my official employer gives zero paid vacation time. I have taken very little voluntary vacation time in the last 8 years - I took two hours this week to deal with some issues at home due to fire risk and got paid zilch for it. The employer I am contracted out to shuts down for a week twice a year, and I don't get paid anything for those shut downs.

Sure, I get paid fairly well compared to average income, but poorly compared to others in my profession. Next year, when I turn 66, I am thinking of cutting back my hours to 30. Enough to keep benefits (especially health insurance), but let me get some things done at home - probably work from home one day a week too. Maybe work 3 ten hour days - maybe every other day, with a 2 day weekend.

 

[The Heretic]

I started paying taxes at 13 yo.

I was working in the fields since I was 6 years old. Granted, didn't get much done when I was that young, but I was out there.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I was working in the fields since I was 6 years old. Granted, didn't get much done when I was that young, but I was out there.

Oh I worked for my Dad doing carpentry since I was old enough to fetch a bucket of nails.

 

[The Heretic]

 

[The Heretic]

 

[USMC1911]

I work in the power industry. Hard work and long days are part of the game. You know how many would LOVE to have a job that starts at over $30 an hour, 100% of your benefits paid along with retirement? You think people would be crawling over each other but long hours and manual labor is involved so not so much. Still get some good young ones but most are from rural areas.

 

[CoastRange57]

I was working in the fields since I was 6 years old. Granted, didn't get much done when I was that young, but I was out there.

On the hay raking tractor at 11 years old. Hand watering plants for $ 1.10 an hour in the nursery where my mom worked. Never have looked backed, always had a job.

 

[Vierings]

I'm in that younger generation (25) that seems to have to problem and it drives me nuts.
I'm one of three a service advisors at a dealership. Each advisor has a team of 5-6 techs, and each team is on a different 4/10 schedule than the rest. My team meets every week and I always tell them, "we sink as a team, we swim as a team." Techs used to get individual bonuses for performance but it caused a lot of variation in the quality of work we got. So I got rid of it and told them that if the whole team meets a goal, the whole team gets a spiff, and you get your individual. Things have gotten way better.
My team is also expected not to leave bubblegum in the shop on their Fridays and to make them selves available to cover/swap days off with techs on the other teams to work as a better larger team unit.

 

[The Heretic]