Getting Something For Nothing

Ever noticed that within the work-force of just about any business, you’ll find the better portion of the younger employees barely clinging to those bottom of the totem pole positions? That they have no real direction, no real motivation to do the job, and will find ways around it? That those individuals, it seems, are out to make it painfully obvious that they are just riding it out for the paycheck until something better falls in their laps? Where’s the guilt that should normally come with getting something for nothing?

I don’t know which makes me angrier; the fact that I’m a part of this generation and the reputation alone reeks of laziness, or that it seems to only be getting worse.

It seems like I’ve had this conversation several times with people that I regularly share more than just a passing glance. I know I’m not the only one who’s noticed the trend, but it seems that there are very few of us in this generation that will speak about their disgust in the topic.

It seems that something in our parents generation made the need to pass on good work ethic and the sense of pride you feel when you have earned something, completely flat-lined.

I know that I’m one of the lucky ones, along with several of my closest friends, that our mothers and fathers bestowed this in us to do our best in everything we do. To make sure that if it’s something we want to have, that our needs and our family’s needs are taken care of first. Not only that, but making sure that we express the sense of pride we have in our jobs to our children so that they, when they are older, will be able to acknowledge and carry it on.

I’ve heard one theory that precariously sparked my interest. The theory was that with our generation, our grandparents, who are possibly the hardest working generation we know, somehow had a sympathetic itch for us when we are children. The whole “grandparents are allowed to spoil” conundrum. What if, in this thought, it went a little too far and that it caused some parts of our generation, in marriage with the growing technological advances that only accelerates laziness, to think that things should be handed to us on a regular basis? Anyhow, no matter if it may hold an argument, I personally doubt that this has any reasonable truth.

What ever the cause may be, it seems that as time goes by this range of selfishness is only growing. The newest wave of work ready bodies are more and more apparent to be home-bodies. The only spark they have in their eye is when someone mentions a video game or a internet advancement. I’m not saying that everyone who plays video games is lazy. That’s obviously not true. My only quaff is that it is recognizable that the youthful generations as a whole have this weighing over our heads and it is treated like a widely known “fact”. That more and more people are wasting creativity on finding some way to not have to work. Using their brains for finding loopholes in the system instead of using it to will their hands to work.

So where does it start to turn around? Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue. As much as it pisses me off, the only thing I can do about it is make sure that I’m not one of these elite. The only thing any of us can to is continue to contradict this perception and instill it in our kids that this is how a person can stay honest and grateful for the things he has and stay patient but still ambitious for the things he wants. I think we owe at least this much to our parents, grandparents, and children.