Yesterday, I had to run out and pick up some things. While I was there, I decided to look for a 'Bluey' t-shirt to go with the Bluey sunglasses I got for the youngest granddaughter's Easter. While I was looking, there was a new grandma shopping there as well. She has a grandson, and she was looking for little outfits.
I smiled to myself, because I remember that. The 'new'. The joy of it.
Before too long, she was joined by a huge guy, tall and sturdy. "What are you going to get your new nephew?" she asked.
He answered that he did not know, and she urged him to pick something out for him and that she would pay for it.
I found Bluey and looked for the correct size, and headed off and somehow found myself in front of the pair of them. I listened to the son say tell his mother that he had called off work. His mother expressed some amount of concern, but the son said, "I was worried too, but it occurred to me that I am the only night cashier they got, so they're not going to fire me."
A person with any amount of common sense would see immediately that this is not true. The young man is not working 7 days a week, so presumably there is another night cashier. Most of these jobs (I've worked them) cut off hours below the 40 hour mark to avoid paying full time benefits. Normally they will cut you off just below 32 hours so that if someone calls off, they use you to fill in those hours while still keeping you from full time status. It's a racket. It is the racket of multimillion dollar companies who are more concerned with profits and shareholders than they are the people who work for them.
So...I get it.
But as they followed along, I listened to the guy bragging about his importance, about the fact that he has job security because it is a shit position that would be impossible to fill if it were not for him. He was doing the company a favor, and they would be desperate to keep him on, no matter what.
The young man is in for a rude awakening. I'm not sure where his job was, but I'm going to guess that it is some convenience store or gas station. They go through employees like toilet paper. No one is indispensable. There is no such thing as job security.
I stopped to look at zip up hooded sweatshirts. They were getting rid of winter stock and had them on sale for $5, an amazing deal. Tim has 4 of them that he wears all the time. One has a tear, one has a broken zipper, and all of them are spotted up with paint or grease or something. It was a good opportunity to replace them.
The little group walked past, the son still talking about how important he was to his company. I'm old enough to know better. So is his mom. Just seems like she had a duty to make sure that he knew how things work. He might not have paid one bit of attention, but it needed saying.
I wonder if this is a post-Millennial mindset. Despite the fact that job security is so terrible nowadays, a surprising number of young people seem quite confident in their value to their employers. I've read articles about this!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid he's in for a rude awakening.
ReplyDeleteHere, it seems that the mindset of far too many of that generation is "Can't be bothered. Working is boring. I can always claim benefits instead".
ReplyDeleteThere are, of course, many young people who are of the opposite mindset, but I seem to come into contact with too many of the former.
Sounds like a son a mother could be proud of. (That was sarcasm, BTW.)
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, Debby, about the son.
ReplyDeleteKyle is entering the work force this summer and I am curious to see how his mindset changes after working at a water park for 3 months.
Right now he is super excited but when he gets that first check and see all the taxes they take out or he has to work on holidays, he might feel a little differently.
Job security went away a very long time ago, if it ever existed. That guy probably voted for the felon, too.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. No one is indispensable, in any situation.
ReplyDeleteYou might be surprised - we are advertising for people at my work at the moment, and the quality of candidates is eye-openingly low! I can't believe I used to worry about getting employed - honestly, a little bit of common sense should be enough to get you employed if the bar is what we have seen.
ReplyDeleteSounds to me like that guy is telling himself what he wants to hear. That will not end well.
ReplyDeleteYup! He is in for a rude awakening. Surprised the mother didn't say anything, but she probably already well knows that it would fall on deaf ears. ;)
ReplyDeleteI suspect the mother knows full well what an idjit the son is, and that a public setting wasn't the place to have the type of conversation needed. I'm hopeful the mother gave him an earful once they were out of the store and on their way home.
ReplyDeleteThe naivety of the young. Some people can be sorely missed when they leave a job and things can turn bad, but indispensable? No.
ReplyDeleteToday, there are no guarantees in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteSome people have no work ethic.
That said, businesses want help but as low cost as possible.
It is a tough work environment.
Sadly there are people who are very much deluded.
ReplyDeleteI like the way that you shifted in and out between your shopping and those two.
ReplyDeleteIn my youth, (actually, all of my working life) a job was a literal privilege, as my parents didn't have the money (5 kids) nor the inclination to give us everything we wanted. If I wanted something "extra" I had to find a way to pay for it myself, so I've had a job since I was 14. I have friends with kids who live a privileged life of expensive vacations, designer clothing, cars, phones and computers; they are insufferable and unprepared for life, and their parents can't figure out why the kids don't have any drive or motivation. Um, DUH. Children learn what is modeled for them, rather than from lectures from parents. GEEZ I sound like an old woman, but I see what I see.
ReplyDeleteI had a Saturday job when I turned 15 and before that I had a paper route. That is the only way I was going to get the bike I really wanted. My family had enough money but my dad was an accountant and believed in working for what you wanted. My first husband started delivering for the drug store on his bike when he was 9 and was still doing it at sixteen when he bought his first car. Needless to say when we got our store our kids started working at a very young age, sweeping the floor, sorting pop bottles etc. and never needed another job as teenagers. They both ended up with secure jobs as they were so reliable. One is now doing the job that used to be done by three. They don’t want to lose her and she gets lots of raises and bonuses and can work from home when the others are required to go Downtown to work. I think we taught them well. Gigi
ReplyDeleteBut we really don't know their whole situation. We really don't know what is Mom has already told him or what his job really is. I can't judge this.
ReplyDelete