I don’t like my job, but I don’t hate it most days. I’m only there because I need the money and conditions are decent. I clock in, do my thing, clock out and try to enjoy my hobbies and eat decently.
I don’t believe most people would disagree with what I just wrote.
Mine is a blue collar job, physically demanding. The last 2 weeks have been working non stop from the beginning till clocking out, sometimes doing overtime that my employer pays, but not at a different rate. Yesterday I didn’t do my pause. Today I barely did it.
One younger coworker asked me if I enjoy doing my job and I asked him if he’s here as a volunteer. Obviously he is not, but he kept pestering me about me liking my job. I told him I like my hobbies and I’m here to work because I need money.
His is an office position btw, he sits way longer than I do.
By the look of his face you could tell this wasn’t an answer he was ready to accept. To me however, this younger coworker is naive (and stupid).
I plan to keep my conversations with this person to a minimum and not disclosing personal information around him, and I really hope he doesn’t talk to me anymore.
How would you deal with such a character?
Now I wonder if my answer can be used to fire me for ‘lacking motivation’, which is something any employer would write to justify firing somebody they don’t like.
This person is not a manager and is not a close friend of any manager afaik.
First, stop referring to him as a ‘character’. Doing that makes you look insecure with your own situation. Next, understand his real question behind his words which is something more along the lines of “shouldn’t a career be more rewarding than just showing up?” Expecting that to be achievable for everyone in this day and age may be naive, but his idealism and wish for happiness is not a bad thing. He’s likely coming from a place of care rather than purposefully trying to antagonise you. I suspect you are mostly angry at his testing of your carefully built mental fortress, the one that insulates you from dwelling on the tedium and uninspired drudgery your future in that position offers.
You really sure you’re okay good buddy?
I don’t feel anger, he is however a nuisance I want to avoid.
I didn’t have to think much to build this fortress, as you call it. You are exaggerating.
let’s say you are right and my position is tedious and uninspiring (which sometimes it is). Why is that bad? it’s a job. Why are you looking for fulfillment in a job? Wouldn’t it be better to find meaning in a hobby or family? Maybe writing a book? Painting?
no. it’s still a job. they have to literally pay you for you to be there.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect some fulfillment from something you spend like 36% of your awake time doing.
As the other commenters stated, if you’re spending a significant portion of your life doing something, it makes sense to try to make it something you at least enjoy doing.
Yes that’s well and good but the options are not mutually exclusive. You can have a rewarding hobby life AND a job that offers some measure of satisfaction and enjoyment.
do you understand just how incredibly easy money is to get in a bull market/bubble? they print a literal infinite amount of the stuff, and the richest of our society gamble with it at digital casinos so they can watch lines go up instead of spending it in the real world.
if you learn the rules to that casino, you would never have to work another day in your life.
that is to say, there are only two types of jobs in this world…those you do for money, and those you do because you no longer need money. this “character” you speak off still believes they can find the latter…perhaps tell them, honestly, that…no, that job your working at now will not bring them any greater fulfillment.
if they are looking for fulfillment from their job they should look elsewhere as to not waste anymore time (the only real finite resource, on the time-scale of any singular human)