purealpha Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Here is an example, I wander in today in a daze of > bliss, and the following event combined with > Economist article triggers my AF post. > > My manager friend comes to talk to me. She tells > me she was glued to her Blackberry all vacation, > even though she just told me she is getting > burnout and needed vacation, she works 8-8 > usually, and she goes home and answers emails to > midnight. I said “why?”. She said, “because she > doesn’t want to miss a thing”. I said “is it > expected” (cause I’m thinking of taking a job with > her portfolio)? She said “no not really, I’m just > type A”. All the time there is this subtle > bragging from her about how her life voluntarily > sucks. > > Observation - gradually these people become fatter > and more stressed and eat more fast food and more > pills…GDP benefits from their cycle of > stupidity, but how do they benefit. I would question whether or not GDP benefits. The reality the people who are gifted enough to generate ideas / products / whatever focus on what they are doing because they love it. Everyone else is pretending. I’ve worked with plenty of people who had a ton of work ethic but weren’t exceptional at what they did. They weren’t generating excess GDP for their efforts, but they got to pretend they were someone important. Don’t get me wrong, they achieved high relative to peers but let’s not pretend they are Steve Jobs.
My reasoning for “retarded crazy work ethic = increased GDP” comes about as follows. Okay so they are glued to their blackberry and working 24/7 although not really productive at doing much of anything as I think you see. What happens next is they eat out all the time, they spend a lot on gas, they pay for Match.com cause they are too busy to meet people, they hire a baby sitter, they get stressed, their spouse works too and nobody has any sex, they pay for crap like jet ski which they will never use cause they are too busy, they get sick and pay for pills, the drs get rich, etc. GDP explodes due to what I’m gonna call the circle of stupidity. Note: the majority of the people here are way above average (except for Kkent) so it probably doesn’t apply to us so much.
You have nothing intelligent to say except to attack me personally. You can’t deny any points I’ve made, just brush them off as “stupid.” The irony is not lost.
I’m still bitter about you getting our awesome “p$orn China” post nuked.
JOE2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > cloudstrife Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > ive just seen the hours you people work… it’s > > crazy! i work as a credit officer in Kenya. we > > work 40hrs a week (8-5 with a 1hr lunch break). > on > > a very busy week it’ll push to about 45. and > you > > people work 80+. its crazy. if you work every > day > > of the week thats 12hours a day! how do you do > > it? > > > > given im from a 3rd world country, i know a few > > people are gonna come out and say the fact we > work > > so little is the reason we’re under > developed… > > but still 80 hours is extreme! totally > different > > culture that i’m having difficulties > > comprehending… > > > I have a friend who worked with PwC in Nairobi, in > their Corporate Advisory services(I think during > KenGen IPO) and the team used to work more than > 100 hours a week. Same for Safaricom Listing. > > Stop making generalizations here. What generalizations? during those two listings i also worked over 80hrs. i’m talking about working those hours consistently. i could see myself working 80+ for a few weeks but not for the majority of my working life.
The thing is that human beings are just like any other living organism. We are all passing time. Some of us do that glued to a blackberry, while others spend it on the beach. When the time comes to hit the grave, neither would be superior to the other. Just that I want to be the beach bum rather than the blackberry addict.
JOE2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > cloudstrife Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > ive just seen the hours you people work… it’s > > crazy! i work as a credit officer in Kenya. we > > work 40hrs a week (8-5 with a 1hr lunch break). > on > > a very busy week it’ll push to about 45. and > you > > people work 80+. its crazy. if you work every > day > > of the week thats 12hours a day! how do you do > > it? > > > > given im from a 3rd world country, i know a few > > people are gonna come out and say the fact we > work > > so little is the reason we’re under > developed… > > but still 80 hours is extreme! totally > different > > culture that i’m having difficulties > > comprehending… > > > I have a friend who worked with PwC in Nairobi, in > their Corporate Advisory services(I think during > KenGen IPO) and the team used to work more than > 100 hours a week. Same for Safaricom Listing. > > Stop making generalizations here. What generalizations? during those two listings i also worked over 80hrs. i’m talking about working those hours consistently. i could see myself working 80+ for a few weeks but not for the majority of my working life.
Bottom line, American kicks a$$! If you don’t like it, then get out…rabble, rabble, rabble.
JOE2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > cloudstrife Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > ive just seen the hours you people work… it’s > > crazy! i work as a credit officer in Kenya. we > > work 40hrs a week (8-5 with a 1hr lunch break). > on > > a very busy week it’ll push to about 45. and > you > > people work 80+. its crazy. if you work every > day > > of the week thats 12hours a day! how do you do > > it? > > > > given im from a 3rd world country, i know a few > > people are gonna come out and say the fact we > work > > so little is the reason we’re under > developed… > > but still 80 hours is extreme! totally > different > > culture that i’m having difficulties > > comprehending… > > > I have a friend who worked with PwC in Nairobi, in > their Corporate Advisory services(I think during > KenGen IPO) and the team used to work more than > 100 hours a week. Same for Safaricom Listing. > > Stop making generalizations here. What generalizations? during those two listings i also worked over 80hrs. i’m talking about working those hours consistently. i could see myself working 80+ for a few weeks but not for the majority of my working life.
Regarding a$$, please let me introduce exhibit A. http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/07/worlds-fattest-countries-forbeslife-cx_ls_0208worldfat_2.html
Yeah, whatever. America is just fat because we are so much more deep and less image conscious than the rest of the world.
Sarah palin sucks.
joemontana Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You don’t get it > > Right now, everyone in my shop has left. Its just > me working on an some excel models. I could have > left long ago to pursue other interests. Why do I > stay? Because I like the feeling of > accomplishment more than I like pursuing idle > activities. I also genuinely like what I do. I > also have an incentive to work. Unlike the french > who have no shot of being anything but mediocre, I > have a shot at maximizing my God-given potential, > running my own shop and making a lot of money. It is the “pursuing idle activities” piece that is the point here. If one counts the minuted idly at the office to get home and sit on their arse and watch 5 hours of TV its one thing (I know many who do this) and I def don’t agree with that, but I do believe that the general population has a deficit in terms of outside activities. I wonder if its the fact that all of youth is spent so planned and regimented between school and sports that once one gets into the corporate world they have difficulties finding worthwhile pursuits outside of the office. I totally agree that if one finds themselves in that allusive idea position of working in a job that they honestly enjoy, with goals that they hope to achieve and co-workers who are a pleasure than I see nothing wrong with 12 hour days. One of my biggest pet peeves are ppl who spend all this ‘facetime’ that doesn’t get anything done and than complain about it- like they are fishing for compliments. Another pet peeve I have is how whenever I want to have a little get together, a meal with friends, whatever- everyone is ALWAYS to busy. Its like you have to call everyone’s secretary 4 months in advanced!! Thats one of the great things about the European culture- human interaction and social events are the norm and ppl will ‘make it happen’ instead of making excuses.
needhelp Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sarah palin sucks. Most likely, but that’s not really taboo for most couples nowadays, especially in a liberated country.
akanska Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > joemontana Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > You don’t get it > > > > Right now, everyone in my shop has left. Its > just > > me working on an some excel models. I could > have > > left long ago to pursue other interests. Why do > I > > stay? Because I like the feeling of > > accomplishment more than I like pursuing idle > > activities. I also genuinely like what I do. I > > also have an incentive to work. Unlike the > french > > who have no shot of being anything but mediocre, > I > > have a shot at maximizing my God-given > potential, > > running my own shop and making a lot of money. > > It is the “pursuing idle activities” piece that is > the point here. If one counts the minuted idly at > the office to get home and sit on their arse and > watch 5 hours of TV its one thing (I know many who > do this) and I def don’t agree with that, but I do > believe that the general population has a deficit > in terms of outside activities. I wonder if its > the fact that all of youth is spent so planned and > regimented between school and sports that once one > gets into the corporate world they have > difficulties finding worthwhile pursuits outside > of the office. I totally agree that if one finds > themselves in that allusive idea position of > working in a job that they honestly enjoy, with > goals that they hope to achieve and co-workers who > are a pleasure than I see nothing wrong with 12 > hour days. One of my biggest pet peeves are ppl > who spend all this ‘facetime’ that doesn’t get > anything done and than complain about it- like > they are fishing for compliments. Another pet > peeve I have is how whenever I want to have a > little get together, a meal with friends, > whatever- everyone is ALWAYS to busy. Its like > you have to call everyone’s secretary 4 months in > advanced!! Thats one of the great things about > the European culture- human interaction and social > events are the norm and ppl will ‘make it happen’ > instead of making excuses. well said. we all wasted time and akanska comes in and explains it all in a few sentences. bravo!
It is all about priorities. Therefore, it’s nonsensical to be judgemental about people based upon the numbers of hours they work. On a philosphical note, no human being has the right to be judgemental about anyone else, because in absence of GOD, “Man is a measure of all things.”
while on the venting wagon- let me get on with my issues with SOME US parents and kids. Can we please be a little less anal?!?! Yes you have a kid, but guess what, it they get to bed after 8pm on one Friday night a week they will survive. Also moms, the kid can ride in the back alone, you husband actually speaks- sit in the front and carry a conversation with him. They can also play in dirt without fear of death and sleep on a stranger’s couch, and travel to places more exotic than the Honolulu Hilton. Stop using them as excuses!
Okay, new CFA format style: Honestly, I think people that say they work a lot (like the people who tell you all they did on vacation was work) are: a) terrible at time management b) looking for some kind of false sympathy c) soulless shells of people who must keep busy for fear of an introspective moment I know it is not quite this simple, but generally the people who are talking to you about how much they work are actually doing less than their share.
akanska Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Can we > please be a little less anal!!! You just broke every AFers heart.
akanska Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > moms, the kid can ride in the back alone, you > husband actually speaks- sit in the front and > carry a conversation with him. They can also play > in dirt without fear of death and sleep on a > stranger’s couch, and travel to places more exotic > than the Honolulu Hilton. Stop using them as > excuses! Thank you, you may continue venting if you like, we approve.