Last year, my job started a contest that awarded the top 3 performers from each department with an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. That, in and of itself, isn't bad. As far as some of the “rewards” I've seen given out on this subreddit, this is actually a pretty good incentive and reward for working hard. Furthermore, they made good on their promise, and the winners got to go on their trip earlier this week.
Here's the depressing part.
Someone on my team was one of the winners. There was a lot of excitement for him and the day before he was to leave for the trip, my supervisor asked if he was excited.
His response: “I just can't wait to get it over with.”
Obviously, we were confused on why he'd enter a free trip to Hawaii with the same enthusiasm as going to the dentist and his response was, “I just want to get it over with so I can return to work.”
Okay, now I understand there are some people that genuinely enjoy the grind. They love their jobs and they're thrilled to death to clock in every day. That's not me, it will never be me, but I understand people are different.
But the fact that this man is so addicted to working that he wants to get an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii over with so he can get back to work is just depressing. Would it be much to consider this an addiction tantamount to a drug or alcohol dependence? There's just something wrong about someone being unable to enjoy life because it takes them away from work. This can't be healthy.
I'm not a therapist – fuck, I need a therapist myself – but I genuinely believe this man is not well.
Of course, this is the kind of worker that our capitalist hellscape drools over and I blame society for putting him in this unhealthy headspace.