The Strange "Worship" of Work in the USA
Sometimes I have to wonder why we value "working hard" so if incredibly highly here in the United States.
I'm not suggesting there's anything wrong with working, but wouldn't it make some more sense to work effectively than just to work hard?
Coming to this country from Europe way back when, one of the first things that surprised me when I got my first job here in the US was the fact that people seem to almost take a pride in how many hours a week they were working. It seemed like an endless topic of conversation.
Surprisingly, very little was said about whether they actually got their work done. It felt more like a pissing contest over "oh, I spent 70 hours at work last week! Really? I spent 75!"
Somehow, that never really made sense to me as an objective reason for why you would go to work. In fact, I'd prefer to be at work as little as possible but work with intense focus while I'm there!
During the years I was in the IT industry, I befriended a young woman who worked in the human resources department while I was working at a Fortune 500 company. She admitted as how they just loved to hire Europeans because they had a tremendous work ethic in the sense that while they were at work they really got work done, instead of letting their work drag on into loads of Side Tracks and diversions that meant they had to be at work for really long hours.
Of course, the employer would exploit that by asking for such dedication for really long hours, as well. Burnout was common...
I'm not suggesting that's how things go at all work places in the United States, but it does seem to be a fairly common practice, and it is one of the reasons I ended up working for myself.
I mean, if I'm going to work endlessly long hours I might as well be doing it for myself, right?
All that said, I do feel that we are obsessed with work in this country, to point where it becomes toxic. Our entire identities become our work. Think about it: what is one of the most common conversation starters in the US? "So, what do you do?"
Makes me glad I no longer "go to" work!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your holiday weekend!
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Created at 2023-09-04 01:29 PDT
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It is the culture of the American dream! It is part of the identity of being an American I believe!
Here in Canada, we don't have this type of mentality!
Fuck work!
I would much rather be paid per piece or a lump sum for a job than paid by the hour unless it is a solution necessary to be on the premises for a certain number of hours. Service jobs come to mind for hourly rates, like the library.
Same here. I'm very grateful to be self-employed... most of the time, anyway.