Does anyone here actually want to work?

Post Reply New Topic

I hear ya! I think what you seek and I seek as well as I am getting older is a way to enjoy life. Working at some job we don't like is very depressing. I work in a call center and it is wearing on me, burning me out. A while ago, we debated and talked about the idea of Basic Living Wage aka Universal Basic Income that is livable and until something like that happens, we will not be able to do what we'd like to do in this post unless we were born wealthy, inherit a good amount of money or hit the lottery. Some say idle hands are the Devil's Worskshop and there is a lot of truth in that but if I did not have to work, I would devote a lot of time to my electronics and amateur radio hobby and go back to school for a technical degree. Maybe volunteer some time to help animals or people with cancer in getting around, something like that. If I could though, I'd take some time to get in my car with my cat and go bumming around the U.S. for a while and see things, friends, relatives and so on. I always wanted to drive the Al-Can Highway. I think there should be easier ways to be able to channel work into something we like to do and are good at. I'm not too good at call center work and the boss knows so I play to God I find something else I can do soon. I don't know if the social contract about job and work is obsolete yet but it will be soon at some point if and when automation takes over and we as a society will have to adjust.

I only try to work to keep the jobcentre and society off my back. I'm clever or so I'm told but I struggle in jobs.I'd say 3 of my last 5 jobs I didn't really do very well though I got away with it. My favourite jobs have been loner data entry jobs in which I can wear my headphones all day. Unfortunately the money's terrible. I think I'd enjoy some kind of driving job so trying to get funding to do an HGV licence.

Yes, I do. At the moment I have a job that I love - I get a lot out of doing something useful and keeping a small organisation running. It's not enough hours though and soon I'll have to look for something else. I really hope I can find something similar because on the flip-side, I've had jobs that have been a living hell.

I want to work so I work. I can't imagine not wanting to work. I would be bored due to having too much time on my hands and with work, I get extra income. You don't get much with Social Security. If you are on SSDI, that is different because it stays the same just as long as you make under a certain amount. I also cannot relate to working and hating to work like most people because for me I want to work any job I can do. Unless you have a boss that is an as*hole or have a co worker that is a bully and they harass you or the whole work place is just toxic, then I understand because it's not like you can just quit and go get another one if you have a hard time finding work. And sure sometimes there are days when work is hard and then you wish you didn't have to work that day even if you do like your job or the days when you just don't feel like working but you have to go to work because you need money to pay your bills and you don't want to get fired and you want to be a good employer so you don't abuse your sick days. I have felt like that before from time to time about employment because I would have to miss out on things or miss the nice weather because it was so nice out and I would feel I don't want to go to work it's soo nice outside. But I want to be a reliable worker and a good employee so I go to work when scheduled and not call in sick when I am not even sick.

No I am not lying to myself and I find it very insulting to be told I am lying to myself just because I like something or have a different opinion than someone. To me that is either being closed minded and the thought police and the feeling police or you are seriously lacking TOM so you actually have a hard time understanding that there are people out there who do like their job and don't mind working. What if I liked Mario Brothers and you didn't, would you accuse me of lying to myself?

Fair enough - I also tried teaching and hated it, so I understand what you mean!

Well, if you still see the movie thing as a possibility, you could always start by getting experience blogging. Start up a WordPress account, create some articles and see if you can get a following. Maybe attach it to a YouTube account and do some video blogs as well? Then apply for jobs as a Digital Content Creator, focusing on positions aimed towards movies or similar things.

I definitely do, I don't want to sit around doing nothing with my life. If you don't work you won't have any money and won't have any life worth living, it's very hard just existing like I do now. I feel like pretty much every generation ahead of me in my family had more opportunity, the proceeding ones will probably have more too. Just seems like a terrible time to be alive.

God no, I don't want to work. I used to think that I did, but honestly, I only ever believed that because we are constantly told by anyone and everyone who gets the chance to (mainly politicians), that we should be selfless, live for others, plan for the future, be 'responsible' and all of that other drivel, but I've finally decided that I will only care about myself. From this day forward I will simply not care about anyone else, because quite frankly, other people don't deserve my consideration. Being altruistic simply does NOT pay off, it isn't rewarding - at all. The so-called Protestant work ethic is a crock of you-know-what, it's just one more method the rich use to convince the poor, ignorant masses that they shouldn't complain about their virtual slavery.

Signed: Lazy, selfish, and proud of it.

I absolutely do want to work.
I've always dreamed of my career being a sort of special interest. Something I was passionate about, interested in, could devote most of my time to - essentially being one of those people who are "married to the job" and happy with that.
However, I find it almost impossible. Longest I ever survived in a job was a year, casual. Since then I only make it three or four months, and in the last few years, not at all.
Without work, you're constantly derided. People treat you as if you're nothing because you don't have a job.
At the moment I'm with relatives, who treat me like a mixture of a charity case freeloader they support (and I better be grateful for it and keep my mouth shut) and a personal domestic slave. Every day they snidely ask me "so did anything interesting happen to you today?" Because they know it didn't.
You meet someone and what do they ask? Yep - "what do you do for work?"
Ugh.
I really want to work. I live below poverty line and life is pretty empty. An income would help with being able to have enough to do things.

That's a difficult question to answer. I don't want to do work that I don't like. Do I enjoy taking endless calls from loud, psychopathic customers? Of course not. Would I enjoy being able to do nothing but write books all day and watch my bank account rise? Uh... I don't know. On the one hand, having a job you don't like makes you appreciate your hobbies and passions more, because those are what you do because you want to, not because you have to. What happens if you take that away? What if I suddenly had a contract with a publisher that said I have to write [this many] books every year, [this many] words a day, and if the publisher didn't like it I had to redo it, regardless of my own opinions on it? Would it still be fun? Maybe the fact that I'm writing, writing, writing nonstop would make it tolerable. Then again, maybe the fact that I'm now being forced to do it, and that if I stop I'll no longer have food, water, and electricity, rather than doing it to relax and have fun, could take away that enjoyment.

TLDR, sometimes having a job you don't like is for the best because it helps you appreciate what you do in your free time more. You don't have to stick with something you absolutely hate, but don't discard a job just because it doesn't line up with what you do for fun.

Yes! I love to work. My career is in an area I feel strongly about and I take personal satisfaction from the job I do. I have cut back my work hours over the last couple of years and are spending more time doing other things where I don't get paid financially but still contribute to society in ways I feel are important.

A side note here, this issue is my concern too. Still we got to do what it takes to survive but it seems like things are a lot different for my generation as well as yours, even more so.

I do, I want nothing better than to prove to myself and others I can be fully independent, it's a real sore topic. Everything in my life literally revolves around my studies currently, and they are pretty intense to the point where I feel genuinely bad when I think how hard it must be to maintain a good work ethic, e.g. 9-5 job, get up at reasonable times, go to bed at reasonable times... repeat. I so want to get into the science field, find a nice lab position somewhere, but my additional worry factor is experience, which means work experience in my chosen field, which means competing with others who in all likelihood are great talkers and get on well in teams. Overwhelmed.

I really like working in my field. I get a lot of positive energy out of my job. It also brings meaning to my life, along with research.

I think it brings a purpose to my life, regardless of the stress associated, so I don't mind it.

Yes, but no one will hire me. I can't even get volunteer positions.

If you know your topic, you'll be a great talker in this specific domain. Because it helps explaining a comprehensive synthesis of your topic in a minimum amount of time. And with passion.
I suffer from the same flaw as you, but let me start talking about astrophysics or computers, people told me they're glued to my speech every time, whether they're people who know the topic or people who don't. When I talk about something else, they yawn or they ask me to rephrase it all the time.
The better you know your topic, the better you'll talk about it. You can even get as technical as you want and even if people don't follow you, they don't always mind, just add a few additional details to help them understanding and it will work most of the time. So don't worry too much, passion helps.