Counting down the minutes

There's a funny thing that happens in modern business. People show up for work at earlier and earlier hours every year. They stay later and later. And larger and larger portions of time spent at work is time spent staring at the clock, counting down until they can finally leave.

Of course, sitting around not doing work, waiting for you chance to go home, decreases productivity. So what do the companies do? Require people to stay even longer, or work from home in their off-hours (and if you work for salary, you don't get extra pay for that).

What. The. Hell.

How did it come to this? We all realize that the boss is one dude, right? I mean, he can't take all of us! Okay, so that's a bit extremist, but the idea still applies. If you put in your 8 hours and go home, why should you be afraid of losing your job? If things get so bad that you want to scream, and so instead of screaming you pick up and take the afternoon for yourself, why is that such a bad thing? Would your boss really prefer that you sit and boil and stew in your anger until you blow up at someone, or give yourself cancer?

The other day my boss said he wanted me to start checking my email from home in the evening so that I can be available to fix a problem if it comes up. I said no. My argument is that if there is a problem at 3 in the morning, no-one will care about it anyway, and anyone who does I don't want to do business with. My home life is separate from my work life, and I intend to keep it that way.

He tried to be all boss-like (talking about towing the company line, blah blah). I was resolute.

Want to know how many people died? None. How many servers burst into flames at the mere insinuation of having personal time? Zero. How many co-workers were effected? Zilch. How much money the company lost? Not a cent.

What are we working for? Are we working to fill every moment we aren't asleep? "But you have weekends off". Not if I start letting my employer dictate my off time to me, I don't. Not for long, anyway. Besides, if the only time I have is the weekends, that leaves 48 hours, minus sleep, to get every single chore done that I have around the house. 48 hours, minus sleep, to spend time with my loved-ones. 48 hours, minus sleep, out of 168.

What are you working for? Is what you're getting payed worth 72% of your adult life?

What is worth that much time? What could you spend every waking moment doing, and be happy as a clam? Why not do that? Why not be supported, and support others in the process,
for doing the only thing that makes any damned sense.

Propits. Live your life. Not your boss'.