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[3man75]

Well that's the thing i'm not a drug user. I've never taken drugs for anything outside doctors orders. I think in the 21 years I've been alive that I can count maybe 5-6 times that an actual drug was prescribed to me.

Today was a much nicer but then two co-workers joked about some random person who wasn't in our office being at the event that I was suppose to set up for (laptop thing) and she commented 'well at least someones doing something there'. I acted like I didn't pay attention because I was off the clock. Frustrates me that this was the same person who inside an elevator gave me a job offer when I needed one. *face palm*

As for being challenged..man I just coudn't take it seriously. I worked in sonic an like I said just up and left at day 3 (grand opening I think it was). I remember asking a manager if I could take a break after  3 hours but no dice. I was tired my hand got burnt by cooking oil and swollen, running back and forth to get stuff out of a fridge, and then when they saw I wasn't fast enough put some guy who kept bouncing the friers that dangled over the cooking oil where I got burned. I remember thinking that if that feel in the greaser my manageable burns would get so much worse and that job didn't have insurance or enough cream in the first aid box. I tried going faster but an assistant manager (he got fired later I hear) told me off because I wasn't being organized at my station despite me telling him I was being switched around alot.

One conversation later, Nirvanna hit me. Minimum wage when I didn't need the job (back then I didn't) wasn't worth it. I've never looked back at fast food/kitchen jobs again.

I guess that's why I'm just not fast enough.

Thanks again for the advice guys. If someone feels they can add anything please do so.

[nenjin]

I've done fast food too. And done it well. Again, it's about setting a personal standard for yourself. At the end of the day if you're not truly motivated to do better, you're always going to be dragging your feet through work. And ending up changing jobs a lot. Because if you're not creative or exceptionally talented or going to live off a Youtube channel....life is generally a job that isn't your first choice. So you learn to find passion in your work not for the work's sake but because if you can't make yourself care, it's intolerable. I've done a lot boring jobs and the only thing that made them bearable was trying to do them well. And after working tech for 4 years, I can honestly say troubleshooting and problem solving doesn't really inspire me. Turned out talking to customers does to a greater extent. Something I never would have pegged for myself.

Learning to care about your work regardless of what it is now, while you're young, can only help you. It sounds stupid but, I remember as a kid my mom trying to convince me washing dishes was "fun", in an effort to get me to do them. I told her that was crazy, that washing dishes can't be fun. Now....? I sort of DO get into washing the dishes, getting the kitchen cleaned up. Setting a task and completing it. Zoning out for 15 or 20 minutes and just doing something task-oriented. When I was 20 I couldn't be assed to do anything outside of my paying job. (Transcribing for the university Sociology Department at the time. There it was about trying to crank out the most transcriptions the fastest with the highest accuracy.)

I guess my real point is....it doesn't get any easier. Maybe you get lucky, and stumble on a cool job that you like and eventually really get into. More than likely though, most jobs are one form of suck or another that you have to learn to deal with in your own way. Especially after college when you've gotten that degree but perhaps have no real motivation to "start a career." (I didn't.) I ended up being unemployed for three years after graduating, leeching off family, because I couldn't really get my shit together and get working again. "Nothing motivated me" was my response then too. Eventually it was guilt, desperation and luck that landed me my current job. Even after all my "have passion" I struggled to work up the motivation.

So if you think it's blargh now.....just wait. It only intensifies as you get older. Unless, again, you get into a job that is just so awesome it beggar's belief. You gotten straighten that back and start taking your job seriously, whatever job it is, or ennui will never stop bugging you. That, or you start actually looking for an interesting job.

What helps me at work is the knowledge that, on the other end of the phone, there's probably a heavy-set redneck truck mechanic in his 40s with a gun rack in his truck who doesn't get technology but knows his day is getting fucked up because of it. Outta respect for that guy's time, and supporting my company's pledge to help our peeps, I take my job seriously.

[3man75]

So nenjin in your experience when do you have fun? Not trying to be funny or anything but..when do people decide 'hey i'm going to go take a month off to vacation'?

Or is that one of those things you only do at 40 when your supposedly secured in your job?

[nenjin]

Well, I work at a very non-traditional place. It's a privately owned software company of like 25 people, run by a nerd who loves being an entrepreneur and running his business like a mini-Google.

So I took a month off last year and went to Europe. It put my tech support department in a slightly tight spot but, I'd been there about three years at that point and given them everything I had. I was burnt out and when my cousin invited me to spend the summer there, I said fuck it, yeah, let's do it. And they were cool with it, ultimately.

Most other jobs.....people need to really like you to give you that kind of freedom and not just replace you. Or as you say, you have to earn that privilege over years and years and years.

I don't expect I'll take another trip like that or that much consecutive time off for quite a while.

As for when I have fun.....I go to a motto a friend told me once. "Play hard. Work harder." So I game my ass off on the weekends. That's my release. I work for the weekend in the most literal way. I get in as much of my fun as I can on the weekends to fill me up and sustain me for the next week of 9 to 5 workaday boredom and stress. And my job sometimes keeps it fun with events, community cook outs, stuff like that. I also travel a bit for work as well so I'm getting out of the office for half a week every other couple of months in the year. So it's not all misery. And work itself does offer intangible rewards like actual satisfaction from helping people, accomplishing important things or being instrumental in them.

Like I said, you have to get as invested in work as you would a video game. It may not be brain-obliterating fun but if you actually give yourself over to it, work and being challenged can actually be enjoyable. You just have to find reasons to get invested because they're not immediately obvious or take effort to be gratifying. Like, my investment with the company stems from the fact it's small, I can walk into my CEOs office at any moment to have a word with him, I'm literally responsible for how people view the company, and they took a chance on me as a late-20s college graduate with no ambition or actual experience. In a way I care because I'm continually paying back that trust and opportunity with genuine effort when, honestly, I could be a shit employee and probably not get fired, do the minimum until I punch the clock and go have fun.....but my life with my coworkers would hellish. Sound familiar?

[3man75]

Yep. Thanks for the perspective I appreciate it.

[DJ]

Always check your work after you finish something. If you mess up and don't know how to fix it, ask for advice immediately. In general it's much better to admit your mistakes than try to sweep them under the carpet because most of the time they crawl back out. If you don't know how to do something, ask for advice, don't just try to bumble your way through it. Don't let yourself be idle, if you have no tasks try to find something useful to do, whether it's preparing things for future tasks or researching how to do work stuff that you don't know yet. And the best way to research is actually to talk to an experienced co-worker, you can usually find someone willing to share anecdotes containing little tricks and warnings about common mistakes. This also shows you're actually interested in learning the job, which for most sane employers is a lot more important than your current skill level (unless you're a temp).

[TheBiggerFish]

I'm going to PTW this.  I might need the advice.

[lordcooper]

It's literally little bits of cocaine

Sorry, but I've got to call you out on that.  This is completely and utterly false.  They're two distinct chemicals with very little in common at all.

[Vector]

-snip-

[Orange Wizard]

Incidentally, amphetamines are restricted in many countries because it's not the healthiest stuff for children. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Reelya]

There's also something I read about how students born in December are 40% more likely to be prescribed ADD drugs than students born in January.

Now, that sounds ridiculous on the surface until you delve into what it's actually saying. Kids born in December are actually almost a full year younger than the January kids, when classes are determined by calendar year of birth. Thus, children are basically being prescribed mind altering drugs to cure the "disability" of being the youngest in their class, and thus less emotionally mature.

This also suggests it can be beneficial to have your kid born around the start of the year, say February, because they will be among the oldest in their class, be slightly taller compared to classmates (associated with self esteem and future earnings) and more able to cope with the work. That's some strategic thinking for future parents there.

[penguinofhonor]

Okay, but 3man75 is 21. If you guys are angry about kids being prescribed ADD meds then there are other places to talk about it.

[3man75]

Yep.

As a 21 how much would that affect me? I'm going to talk to an expert anyways but any outside laymans opinions would be welcomed.

[3man75]

There's also something I read about how students born in December are 40% more likely to be prescribed ADD drugs than students born in January.

Now, that sounds ridiculous on the surface until you delve into what it's actually saying. Kids born in December are actually almost a full year younger than the January kids, when classes are determined by calendar year of birth. Thus, children are basically being prescribed mind altering drugs to cure the "disability" of being the youngest in their class, and thus less emotionally mature.

This also suggests it can be beneficial to have your kid born around the start of the year, say February, because they will be among the oldest in their class, be slightly taller compared to classmates (associated with self esteem and future earnings) and more able to cope with the work. That's some strategic thinking for future parents there.

Is there even a way to make it so that your kids are born in januray through just planning? I would think the babies come out when they want after their 6 month period. Sometimes I know they come out pre-mature for reasons I'm not enlighted to but..eh?

[Reelya]

9 months is the standard, not 6 months. And the variation is a 5 week window, so unless something goes really wrong, aiming for the birth in February (through deliberate attempt to get pregnant at the right time) will ensure that they aren't born in December. And being slightly older than your peers has a number of measurable lifetime benefits as shown by the data on ADD meds.

If they're coming out at <8 months, you have bigger things to worry about than the exact month they are born. They should probably start school a year later if they were premature.