I work near a Super-Wal-Mart, so I do a bit of shopping there when needed. If you don’t have one near you, it’s a Wal-Mart with a full-size grocery store inside. Another thing you might not have is unemployed panhandlers holding cardboard signs looking for work or money.
It’s been a fixture of late and not just near Wal-Mart.
Mostly men, but occasionally women. Lots of self-identified vets. Some say they are homeless. Others are just asking for a handout. Will work for food is a common theme.
Will work for food.
He’s standing outside for hours at a time. In front of a Wal-Mart that his hiring. A Wal-Mart that sells food. Does that strike anyone else as odd?
I’d rather work at Wal-Mart than stand in front of it. I’d work two jobs. Whatever it took, assuming I could get there or find a way, and these folks have that. They are there.
Granted, I can’t know all their circumstances or what forces are at work in their lives, but I’ve lived with tumultuous circumstances, and working was the thing that added stability. Making money and building experience to increase that income was more important than whatever else, and it typically helped move me away from the tumult and toward something more stable.
And we’re talking about starting hourly wage jobs that lead to other jobs.
Job one was to have resources to improve my options, and I was brought up to believe that whatever job you are doing that you should do the best you can. And sometimes, even if the job is not a career move, it’s work, and you do it, and work towards something better, if and when you can.
And not everyone works for money. Some people work to keep busy. Others choose jobs where they get to be with people and the public because they love that interaction – others are the opposite. Sometimes it’s just about having something to do and doing it well that makes you feel fulfilled. You see these people in every sort of job in every profession.
They are good at it and pleasant to be around.
So, is this a culture shift thing? I think it is.
The culture has increasingly shied away from that sort of thinking. Your employer owes you not the other way around. The class war “they are robbing you” rhetoric is popular, especially among younger generations. Super rich CEOs make x bazillion times more than you. That it is their privilege to have you, not the other way around, and when all else fails, the State will prop you up.
That’s never been a ladder to success for anyone looking to live their life their way. In fact, the more dependent you are on others, the less chance you’ll have of finding any life over which you have control.
And maybe you don’t want that. But that choice means someone else has to work to support you, and I’ve never been that guy.
Am I a dying breed, or are there pieces here I’m missing?
Note: an earlier version had a typo – it said CES instead of CEO. This has been corrected.
