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The clickbait article says that she has a corporate job in the "New York area" which means driving to work might very well be a fool's errand. In many major cities, taking your personal car to work would be cost-prohibitive and extremely inconvenient, so of course people take public transportation. That has little to do with bad planning.
You don't have to be a snowflake to be discouraged by facing a whole life of corporate grind and not looking forward to it. If this is her first job, she's coming out of a world of summers off and spring and winter and fall breaks, not accruing 1.5 days of PTO per month. I don't blame her at all for being 'this is it?" and all of the boomer uphill both ways stories aren't going to change that.
OK, the "corporate job in the New York area" line motivated me to read the article, because anyone who scored something like that, which sounds like a potential stepping stone to a good career, should be looking at the positive side, and thank their lucky stars they got that job.
And indeed, she does say, she's grateful for landing this job
Quote:
she feels fortunate to have a job she is interested in and enjoys, but is concerned that many office workers aren't finding time to enjoy "sunlight, exercise, adequate sleep, healthy eating, and forming connections with other people."
Sunlight and exercise are what lunch hour is for! This is why people in NYC head for the nearest park at lunch, even if it's just a "pocket park", as they call the mini-parks squeezed into small spaces at the end of blocks in Manhattan. "Healthy eating" is whatever you choose to bring with you from home for lunch, and whatever your grocery budget can afford or what your creativity with that budget will allow.
Sure, some people will go into shock at the schedule (my jobs were usually 8-5, not 9-5; lunch hours were unpaid), but the situation is not bleak! You adapt. You cope. You innovate. You find ways to make it all work. And you have weekends completely free, unlike in college.
She also comments, that commuting and work leave "no time for your life". SURPRISE, honey: work IS a major part of your life, now. And this is a good thing; with patience you can develop it into a rewarding career. Rome wasn't built in a day; you need to look into the future, to see where this corporate job could take you, and chart a course that will get you to a better place. OR, after you've been at the job a couple of years, consider going to grad school part-time, to boost your earning ability. That will make you wish for the "good old days", when all you had to worry about was your 9-5 job!
Well, I did not have a job during school semesters when I was in college, and frankly I don't think I could have done it. Between problem sets for three to four major courses due every Thursday or Friday, lectures, labs (and you stayed in the lab as long as it took to get the lab completed), studying for exams, writing papers, convening study groups to try to figure out what the hell was going on, plus a modicum of social life, once I started working full time it WAS like being on permanent vacation. Heck, I was already getting up for those 8 am lectures (though commuting was longer with the job), and I was DONE with work by 5 or 6 every day. There were the extremely ocassional late night assignments, but those were usually because I was working on some equipment during an off-shift, so I was off the clock in the daytime during those assignments. Weekend work was practically unheard of on the job whereas my Sunday afternoons in college were always a panic to try to get stuff done that was due Monday, or try to catch up on something I didn't understand from last week.
I've now been working professionally for 39 years, and I think I've had one or at most two all-nighters in all that time (aside from intercontinental travel, when you are "working" but "working" consists of sleeping on a plane). In four years of university I probably pulled four or five all-nighters every semester.
She also comments, that commuting and work leave "no time for your life". SURPRISE, honey: work IS a major part of your life, now. And this is a good thing; with patience you can develop it into a rewarding career. Rome wasn't built in a day; you need to look into the future, to see where this corporate job could take you, and chart a course that will get you to a better place. OR, after you've been at the job a couple of years, consider going to grad school part-time, to boost your earning ability. That will make you wish for the "good old days", when all you had to worry about was your 9-5 job!
But this is the idea that Gen Zers are pushing back against. That the only time you can see the sky is your lunch hour or that half your life is spent commuting to a cube n a windowless office is sad. That's not what they want--corporate bootlicking doesn't have to be the goal. Your job shouldn't be your life--you're exchanging your time and skills for the money and benefits that allow you to really live.
Well, I did not have a job during school semesters when I was in college, and frankly I don't think I could have done it. Between problem sets for three to four major courses due every Thursday or Friday, lectures, labs (and you stayed in the lab as long as it took to get the lab completed), studying for exams, writing papers, convening study groups to try to figure out what the hell was going on, plus a modicum of social life, once I started working full time it WAS like being on permanent vacation. Heck, I was already getting up for those 8 am lectures (though commuting was longer with the job), and I was DONE with work by 5 or 6 every day. There were the extremely ocassional late night assignments, but those were usually because I was working on some equipment during an off-shift, so I was off the clock in the daytime during those assignments. Weekend work was practically unheard of on the job whereas my Sunday afternoons in college were always a panic to try to get stuff done that was due Monday, or try to catch up on something I didn't understand from last week.
I've now been working professionally for 39 years, and I think I've had one or at most two all-nighters in all that time (aside from intercontinental travel, when you are "working" but "working" consists of sleeping on a plane). In four years of university I probably pulled four or five all-nighters every semester.
OMG, labs! *shudder* I remember when I had a couple of courses with required labs. The labs took up so much time, it was like adding another 4 or 5-credit course to my schedule! I can relate to everything you say, and am impressed to you managed all that, in what sounds like some kind of science or medical-related major.
" Brielle" posted on TikTok almost near tears about how "difficult" she found her first full time job.
Besides the commuting time it was her indignation of having to work "9-5". Between the two this young woman claimed she "exhausted" and had not time for friends or chores...
" Brielle" posted on TikTok almost near tears about how "difficult" she found her first full time job.
Besides the commuting time it was her indignation of having to work "9-5". Between the two this young woman claimed she "exhausted" and had not time for friends or chores...
Sadder thing is how scores of other snowflakes co-signed on TikTok about this young woman's plight.
She will get used to it. Everyone in life starts from a different place. I suspect her parents never made her work summer jobs in high school which was a mistake. Lots of people act dumb during their adolescence and college years. However, she will adjust.
But this is the idea that Gen Zers are pushing back against. That the only time you can see the sky is your lunch hour or that half your life is spent commuting to a cube n a windowless office is sad. That's not what they want--corporate bootlicking doesn't have to be the goal. Your job shouldn't be your life--you're exchanging your time and skills for the money and benefits that allow you to really live.
Corporate office jobs aren't for everyone. If a person wants to see the sky and breath in the fresh air more than they are able to during the work week, there are other jobs they can get.
Not everyone feels put upon being at their desk and doing the job that they were hired and paid good money to do.
But this is the idea that Gen Zers are pushing back against. That the only time you can see the sky is your lunch hour or that half your life is spent commuting to a cube n a windowless office is sad. That's not what they want--corporate bootlicking doesn't have to be the goal. Your job shouldn't be your life--you're exchanging your time and skills for the money and benefits that allow you to really live.
I'm for work-life balance, too. I didn't say her job was her life now; I intentionally said it was a major (meaning: important) part of her life. Important in the sense that it could be a potential stepping stone to something better. We don't know what her position is (more info needed), but once she gets over the shock, she can start looking around to see what other options there are in her workplace and in other workplaces in her field, and start working on a strategy to get where she wants to be over time.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 10-25-2023 at 09:09 AM..
But this is the idea that Gen Zers are pushing back against. That the only time you can see the sky is your lunch hour or that half your life is spent commuting to a cube n a windowless office is sad.
What's that I hear? A violin in the background?
Quote:
Originally Posted by fleetiebelle
Your job shouldn't be your life
Incorrect. Your job IS your life for 40-ish years where you balance the following principle objectives:
put food on the table
put a roof over your head
save & invest & amass sufficient wealth that one day, 40-ish years hence, you can retire without jeopardizing #1 & #2.
That's it. Anything else is gravy. Strike that: Everything else is gravy. If GenZers think otherwise, they are spoiled beyond belief.
But this is the idea that Gen Zers are pushing back against. That the only time you can see the sky is your lunch hour or that half your life is spent commuting to a cube n a windowless office is sad. That's not what they want--corporate bootlicking doesn't have to be the goal. Your job shouldn't be your life--you're exchanging your time and skills for the money and benefits that allow you to really live.
But that is specific to the job and its location. I worked an office job all of my career. Never once was I confined to some space with no window where I could not "see the sky" except on my lunch hour. Are there some jobs like that? Of course! If you can't work in that environment, then don't take that kind of job! Sheesh. The babies out there today are just maddening.
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