How do you feel about workaholics?

[CyberCubed]

These people are essentially, “married to their job.” They spend most of their lives working and often work overtime or on weekends. They are always on the call to come in even on their days off.

Most of these people don’t really have anything to do in their free time in their private lives so their entire life is essentially working. They barely watch TV, barely do anything besides maybe follow sports and have no leisure activities. Many of these people likely married young and are stuck in a marriage for decades while the wife takes care of the kids.

Sure these people are likely making good money, but what’s the point of making so much money if you don’t have anything to enjoy it on? Discuss and debate.

[Zulithe]

I work to live not live to work, but I can appreciate someone who is so highly dedicated to their job that it is most of their life. If their job is meaningful. Like doing important work that benefits humanity. If you're a fast food manager and your life is your job... then that's pretty sad.

[MrPliggins]

Some of the people you describe are the ones who win awards year after year for going "above and beyond". Personally, I think awarding workaholism is a bad thing. I think it's important to take a step back once in a while and realize work is not life.

[Leo656]

I both admire their drive and resent their demand for everyone to be at their level or else they lack value.

My last boss was definitely a "workaholic". He constantly ranted about how nobody worked as hard as him. If you had a grievance, he always had a comeback about how much more he did than anyone.

He once said if he didn't require sleep and could devote 24 hours a day to working and making money, he would. In that moment, I couldn't help but feel lousy for his wife and kids.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by MrPliggins

Some of the people you describe are the ones who win awards year after year for going "above and beyond". Personally, I think awarding workaholism is a bad thing. I think it's important to take a step back once in a while and realize work is not life.

The real truth is that they aren't rewarding the "workaholic". People's judgement at large isn't that sound. Usually the "employee of the month" or whatever other such nonsense is awarded for mental-judgement xyz by "the boss" that isn't really correlated to reality. Also, the direction of these "awards" are usually for the manipulation of the "sheep" in the room, although that would comes as a huge surprise to the sheep. And that's the point.

For example, the sheep will see that out of nowhere maybe "Employee XYZ" got an honorable mention by the boss in a meeting. And then three or four weeks later "Employee XYZ" also gets the "Employee of the Month" award. And then maybe three months or sooner after that, "Employee XYZ" is promoted or gets some other accolade - like "the" position that isn't on the front-line that everyone basically wants. The sheep maybe are mad that they themselves didn't get promoted, but many of those sheep will talk to the super-sheep and say "oh he deserves it - he got the mention and the award and he's been doing a great job!" Super-sheep are the people that absolutely buy-in to all of this or are the employees in despair who are awkwardly vocal about how great everything is - these are the people who will tell you out of nowhere and completely out of context to the current conversation how "great the job is" without that statement even truly fitting into the context of whatever is being discussed.

But the truth is that by whatever design, or interview or whatever, the boss and others had hired this guy for that promoted position or came to that conclusion however long ago and to justify their actions to the sheep, they give "Employee XYZ" the mention and the award and then the promotion to create the buy-in and not have a sheep revolt on their hands.

100% fact.

It's almost always bull$#!( for the show of it. The boss or the "elite" would call the show they put on "optics" in a business meeting with the sheep who would all pretend to know what's going on. It's disgusting, really.

[Papenbrook]

I personally don't think it's sustainable.

It's inherently unhealthy. It will take a toll on them, physically and mentally.

[Bahamut810]

I have been described as a workaholic. I don't do it for any reason then...I just sort of work. It does not stop me from my hobbies.

Here is a neat video that might explain it a bit better about it though.

[frank_one]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Sure these people are likely making good money

This is not always the case. If you are a minimum wage worker you will NEVER make good money, it doesn't matter how many hours you work. Donkeys are not gonna turn into horses for being donkeys 14 hours a day.

[Andrew NDB]

How do I feel about them? I don't.

[ProphetofGanja]

it's a great show, really wish Comedy Central would bring it back

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by frank_one

This is not always the case. If you are a minimum wage worker you will NEVER make good money, it doesn't matter how many hours you work. Donkeys are not gonna turn into horses for being donkeys 14 hours a day.

Yeah. That's a component of the truth bomb I outlined just above as well. But here's another truth - the same kinds of people I'm describing in the truth bomb above also wouldn't want to read that kind of thing in the first place.

It's a systemic irony about that kind of person, if that makes sense. It completes the "just stay toxically/phony positive" narrative in their heads which is how they cope with their life position.

[Leo656]

There were times in my life where I probably did a passable impression of a workaholic. Many stretches of working weeks at a time with no days off. I definitely had more money, and like anyone else I'd drop it into conversation as a brag-worthy accomplishment. But it sucked. I pretty quickly figured out that I am not cut out for that kinda thing.

Watching my bosses, I couldn't help but notice that for as much money as they had, and as proud as they were of their myriad accomplishments - I mean it's pretty admirable to own your own business and run it successfully - on the other side they were constantly tired, incredibly short-tempered, and over time had lost all empathy with anyone who wasn't "hustling" as hard as they were. This was a consistent trait in every single guy I ever worked for who was an owner. They just seemed all-around miserable. Once a year or so they'd take some kind of exotic vacation or something, and I guess that was their "enjoy life" quota for the year or whatever, but even then some of them worked the whole time. Like my last boss was still running classes and posting workout videos while he was on vacation in Brazil. That's insane, to me.

Way, way, WAY back in my youth, I had aspirations to maybe be a "boss" or own a business, but after over 20 years of working closely alongside those types of people, seeing what it actually takes and seeing what it does to you in the long run... I just don't have it in me. I'll die poor, and I know that, but at heart I'm just not a very motivated guy. I'm just way too laid-back to ever be Top Dog of anything. I can't ever see myself being the guy who like, tries to fight with their employees about taking a day off for a funeral or whatever. That's what it takes, and I just don't have it. Not sure I'd ever want to.

I guess it's like anything else, "If it came in a can we'd all have it."

[IndigoErth]

No opinion. Some people like working that much and more than most. Though a lot of those people are probably also working jobs they like or their own business, which makes so much more sense.

[CyberCubed]

The ironic thing is I'm the exact opposite of a workaholic. I basically try to do the least amount of actual "real" work I can get away with. I enjoy being a slacker, and made my life around it.

If a boss says I have to put in 110% effort, then I put in maybe 25% at most.

[IndigoErth]

Well at least you're honest.

Reminds me of young coworkers I've had in the past, but those kids were young 20s and seems common (albeit annoying if they aren't doing their fair share of the work) at that age, as a lot of them just don't seem to share the same priorities and work values yet of older workers.

I can say when I was that age I didn't care that much yet either, but by later 20s and esp into 30+ I started valuing being dependable and trustworthy to get my work taken care of.

I don't really feel that 110% should be necessary, not unless you really like the employer and your job enough to want to go that extra mile once in a while. But 25%? I don't know how you're still there.


What I'm doing these days may not be a big impressive job, but I enjoy the independence of it and the level of responsibly and trust of my company puts in me to be that person to deal with my armload of accounts. If I only gave it 25% I'd have never lasted a minute.

[Leo656]

I was running crews by the time I was 20, working at the moving job. Pretty much because I had no choice; anyone else under 25 had no work ethic whatsoever, and they only took the job as a cover for their drug dealing business. As in, they'd gotten arrested at some point and were living with their parents, and needed an explanation for the fancy cars they drove and all the expensive stuff they'd buy. So their idiot parents would leave them alone, believing that they somehow bought a BMW while working a $10/hour moving job. They'd come to work and be on the f*cking phone all day selling drugs. They never did any actual work at all. And anyone over 30 is only in the moving business because they have a terrible criminal record or can't pass a drug test.

I was in the unenviable position of actually needing the job. And if someone didn't take charge, best case is we'd be out on the job site until midnight or later. Worst case is, we'd lose clients. These were huge corporate accounts like AT&T, Loreal, one time we moved the entertainment offices for the NBA. You can't have 30 guys dicking around or you're not gonna keep the account. So SOMEONE had to pull rank and actually get sh*t done.

I quickly got a reputation as a bit of a hard-ass and most of the crew hated me, but I'd always be really blunt about it, like "You f*cking guys don't do anything. If I'm an asshole to you, it's because you personally are making my life infinitely more difficult than it has to be. So if you don't want me to talk to you like a moron, don't be a f*cking moron and actually do some goddamn work."

But the bosses all liked me. After only a year in the business I had people specifically requesting me to come run the crew on the job site, and we would have lost a lot of big accounts otherwise. So that made me feel pretty good.

I don't look back on those days too fondly, but being recognized for having a work ethic was nice. Took a few years before it paid off in any way financially, but generally speaking, your reputation precedes your paycheck. I haven't held a job for less than 8 years since I was 18, so I think I have a pretty solid track record. Far from a "model employee", don't get me wrong. But everywhere I've ever worked, if something needed to be done and done right, I'm always The Guy. And that leads people to overlook some of my other failings, such as constantly being late and refusing to shave or cut my hair.

After those early years, though, I have no patience whatsoever for being forced to work alongside people not pulling their weight. I saw firsthand how at some point someone else's life is miserable because of the work Person X just doesn't feel like doing.

I had to work way harder than most people just to barely scrape by. I can't entirely begrudge anyone for finding the loopholes to get through life with bare minimum effort, but I pray that I never cross paths with those people in Real Life. And if we're on the same team, I 100% am going to get that gravy train derailed if it's at all in my power to do so. I can be pretty petty like that.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I quickly got a reputation as a bit of a hard-ass and most of the crew hated me, but I'd always be really blunt about it, like "You f*cking guys don't do anything.

After those early years, though, I have no patience whatsoever for being forced to work alongside people not pulling their weight. I saw firsthand how at some point someone else's life is miserable because of the work Person X just doesn't feel like doing.

That's like some 22-year-old I worked with at my prior job. We got along fine enough, she was a nice person, but her worth ethic was crap and I knew her tricks. When she and I were the ONLY two people taking care of the 2nd floor ourselves, she loved to hide in the bathroom and play with her phone or disappear downstairs and hang out with another lazy one who was close to my age and old enough to know better. (They spoke the same language so they were slightly cliquish.)

The times she stayed upstairs or our manager sent her back up... When we had a lot of product to get out onto the floor and it was just the two of us to do the work, she wasn't happy about me insisting she grab her own cart, NOT work together off of the same one. I was fine with hanging together and chatting while we worked, but I damn well knew that if we worked off the same heavily loaded cart she'd be doing as little of it as possible. I rather she was accountable for her own, not leaving me to do 90% of it.


That 2nd floor more often got only two people working it at most. Sometimes just one. Often I was handling it alone, whether she was scheduled with me or not. I had no choice but to bust ass and get things done best I could, and sometimes have a hard time juggling customers solo. Kind of hated that and often complained about it at home, buuuuut... after that store closed, I was able to use the fact that I was working alone so much to get into the job I have now; work I had previously applied for, didn't get and ended up in that store instead, so it worked out in my favor eventually when I applied to this one again.

[Leo656]

Worst guy I ever, EVER worked with anywhere was this punk-ass black kid, who only got hired because he was the nephew of one of the head guys.

This guy was like something out of a cartoon. I sh*t you not, the guy did zero work, and if ever confronted he'd just go on a rant about how "I don't gotta do sh*t; it don't matter, White Man ain't never gonna let no black man get ahead anyways." And how all the stuff that happened to his ancestors meant that he had every right to come to work and get paid to do nothing. "That's called 'reparations', motherf*cker! Y'all gotta work, I don't. My great-granddaddy did plenty, now I got a lifetime pass." It never stopped. He'd also go on rants about how everything in the history books is false, and he'd brag about flunking out of school. "I don't need to learn nothing no white man put in some book, that's all bullsh*t. What you see on the streets, that's Real."

Imagine working with THAT every day for years. Everybody hated him, but he was "untouchable" because he was someone's nephew.

One thing that was funny, though, was one day a bunch of us were in the truck coming back from a job, and we were all bitching about that kid and how awful he was to be around and how we'd love to see him get fired or arrested or SOME thing, just so we wouldn't have to deal with him ever again. And the one black guy in the truck was like, "I'm sorry, that kid is a straight up (N-bomb with the hard R)."

And we all just kinda looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment, and the guy went on like "Yeah, I'm sayin' it. *I* can say it, and I'm sayin' it." He's like "F*cking guy like that makes ALL of us look bad, I can't stand people like that. Believe me, I hate him MORE than y'all do, because he acts like that."

You know you're a jagoff when you get the only other black guy on the crew to start using racial slurs against you. But yeah, I've worked with lots and lots of assholes but that one took the sh*t sandwich. I think eventually he got locked up and that was the end of that nightmare.

[Coola Yagami]

Eh to each their own I guess.

I know to let them be. At times I get hit by the workaholic bug to score some extra cash, but I don't envy them. I think the problem is when lazy people envy the money the workaholics make but like hey, if you want that green, you gotta put in the work.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Eh to each their own I guess.

I know to let them be. At times I get hit by the workaholic bug to score some extra cash, but I don't envy them. I think the problem is when lazy people envy the money the workaholics make but like hey, if you want that green, you gotta put in the work.

The problem is most of the time the workaholics don't even really need the extra money they're making. They just work all the time because they have nothing else to do or are obsessed with their job.