“Work ethic is a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in the moral benefit of work and its ability to enhance character.” -Someone Very Smart
I’ve always said that one of my greatest pet peeves is lazy people. There’s really no polite way to say it. It drives me crazy when I see perfectly healthy, smart people failing to live to their full potential. Where is their work ethic?
Disclaimer: All of these examples could be feminine as well. For simplicity’s sake, however, I’m using the masculine.
Example Number 1: The kid who drops out of high school or college because he doesn’t feel like doing his homework and going to class. Now, I’m not including kids that have some kind of disaster happen in their lives or have some kind of physical or mental disease (besides laziness). These are the kids that just want to have everything handed to them on a silver platter and don’t care about working for a living. They want to party all the time. They don’t care about pulling their own weight. Unfortunately, they eventually grow into adults that have no skills to contribute to the functioning of society. Now is that really fair to the rest of us who support them?
Example Number 2: The person who has a decent job and refuses to do it. There are people in this world that are never content with what they have and refuse to see how good their life really is. If you are lucky enough to have a job in this economy, then do it! There are so many people out there with ridiculously high qualifications that are welcoming people to Wal Mart or flipping burgers because that’s the only job they can find to put food on the table for their families. More than likely, if you were given a job by an employer, you are competent enough to do it. I understand that there are people who are unhappy with their jobs for one reason or another, but don’t just sit there and pout because you’re not where you want to be. Your job must matter to others, otherwise it wouldn’t exist. Either find a new job (if you can) or suck it up. It’s not fair to make life miserable for everyone else around you just because you have chosen to let yourself be miserable.
Example Number 3: Those parents that expect everyone else to take care of their kids. This drives me completely nuts. If you’re going to have a child, then you need to accept all of the responsibilities that come with raising said child. It’s not the teacher, the neighbor, or the grandparents’ job to raise your children! Don’t have them if you can’t take care of them. I know there are certain situations that require unavoidable help from an outside source, but while receiving that help, you should be doing all that you can to function on your own. I know a single parent that went to school, worked, and raised two kids all at the same time. And let me tell you, I know the kids as adults now, and they turned out just fine and had a really great childhood. This woman did all that she possibly could to make sure of that. Now that’s work ethic people.
I’m not saying that if you put your all into everything, it always turns out perfectly, but isn’t it worth it to at least try? Don’t you want to feel good about earning what you own? Doesn’t that make it mean more? Don’t you like that sense of accomplishment?
I can’t imagine not working or at least volunteering; that’s just not how I was raised. I was taught that work ethic matters. It’s not enough to just do your job; to make others feel good about you and, most importantly, to feel good about yourself, you have to do your job well. I learned that at a very young age when my mother accepted nothing but A’s from me in grade school. Even with the physical challenges I have, I was not allowed to just sit around and feel sorry for myself, and I’m thankful for that. By the time I was in high school, Mom had to keep telling me to stop obsessing about my grades. I promptly blamed her for my complex.
I just don’t understand how people can go through life and not feel like they are making a difference in the world, even if it’s only to one person. It’s just…boring!