I'm a lurker on reddit across many subs, but I had an experience today that I feel compelled to share, I think many of you will enjoy it.
Some backstory: I'm 23m, married, and I graduated from college in 2020.
I have worked for a major lumber distributor as a stocker for about 4.5 years. I've had this position since my junior year in high school. A conservative average of the amount of lumber I stock each week would be 30,000 pounds. Multiply that by 4.5 years, and I've put away 7,020,000 of lumber, by hand, total. I should add that they offered me no health insurance, no disability, and no pto throughout my experience as an employee with them.
Two weeks ago, I experienced a major injury, I broke my right tibia in two locations, and my fibula in one, necessitating surgery and a very long recovery, which I've just begun. I made the decision that I'm no longer going to stock lumber as the wear and tear that has put on my body surely contributed to the factors that lead to the break.
So, naturally I called the company to resign. While on the phone with the regional manager of the company, I made him aware that, while working for his company, I've obtained my college degree. I made him aware that I would be open to other positions within the company that I may now be qualified for as a result of now having that degree.
What happened next completely solidified my anti-work sentiments.
In the interest of demonstrating experience, work ethic and commitment to the company, I shared the math above with him. His response was to rudely and defensively exclaim “AND YOU'VE MADE A LOT OF MONEY” Immediately after I shared the numbers with him. I was not posturing them in a woe is me type of frame, I was simply stating a fact for the purposes of showing him that I can work my ass off.
He would later say, of my calculation “that's a lot of thinking”. Throughout the conversation, he generally behaved as if I was not worth his time. What a wonderful reward for hard work and loyalty.
He also mentioned that “many people stock for 15 years and never experience a promotion”, as if to demonstrate that I was being bold in my suggestion that, because of my now higher educational level, there may be more fitting roles in the company for me. How does it not occur to him that what he's really revealing is that they don't care to promote within, and that they're proud of what is in my view, a kind of exploitation?
I share this story to provide primary evidence that corporations simply don't give a fuck about you. They tell you to work hard, and you'll be rewarded. This is not true in my experience. I worked hard, and it seems the only thing they care that I continue to do is work hard, indefinitely.
This experienced has saddened me. I'm in an incredibly painful, and somewhat stressful situation dealing with my injury, and all the company has done for me, is treat me like shit for making a suggestion.
Being anti-work does not make you lazy, it does not make you entitled, it very likely means that you just simply grasp the reality that employers, more often than not, are exclusively interested in taking, and resentful about giving.
Cheers