I remember as a kid, in elementary school, when I finished my class work as fast as I could, the teacher came by and asked why I was “joking around with the other kids” and I said I was done. The teacher replied with “look busy, or I'll give you more work”
For the longest time I applied this to my life, always in a hustle from one place to another, and I finally realized what they were REALLY telling me:
“Look miserable or else I'll punish you.
Simply doing the work wasn't enough, I had to look miserable to let them know I was working adequately.
Anyone else get told a version of this growing up?