Nah, listen, things can change. This may become a public transport commute, a walk, or you may not even go at all if you work from home. But what really sucks is when you are unemployed, and yes I speak from experience on all of these examples
I've been unemployed for two week and it doesn't suck. I can do what I want when I want. What really sucks is eventually being broke after running out of money.
Maybe it's because I lucked into a career that I can be content in but I would rather be employed than unemployed even if I was able to sustain myself through my unemployment. I'm happier if I have a job from which I can derive a sense of purpose and duty. If I was a multimillionaire, I would probably either volunteer or still be working.
It's fun for the first few months. Catch up on games movies etc. Gets boring after a few months, most people need goals in life and find it hard to set them for themselves...
I’ve had two multi-month stretches of unemployment since the start of covid, and before that I was employed for 15+ years straight.
The “not working” part never got old. I am a chill person and a homebody so it was wonderful sometimes.
The part about not earning money, yeah that sucked. Living below our means for years made sure that the financial side wasn’t life-shattering, but it was still a huge hit.
I assume different people have different needs, but I feel so much more content with life when I get up early and drive my bike to work/Uni. Having some structure forced onto me is just way easier than living from day to day. But I have also struggled with depression in the past, I may require it more than others do.
For me job security is somehow important. If I know I have employment after those 2 weeks, everything fine. I would even make a year free if I know I have something after that year. But I like my current job, it is in my dream location and I can go there by bike in 15 minutes. I would rather not risk losing that position.
Yeah I like my public transit commute with walk. Gives me a good 10 minute meditation time in the morning. Sure, I’d prefer to not have to go in, but it’s nice that it’s free for me to do that since the company has the unlimited pass.
Lol, joke's on you! With these meager wages, paltry living conditions, and body-destroying hours and tasks, I probably won't even survive 30 years of this! You don't have to save or invest for retirement if you expect to be dead before then 🫠
Unless the reason travel by car takes really long is because of traffic jams, it's actually rather hard to create public transit that actually wins out in time. Bus will be a lot slower, trains can only take you to so many places, and building a large metro system is prohibitively expensive.
I would like to use public transit, but when that would turn a 15 minute drive into a 55 minute trip, I'd rather not spend 27 hours a month extra going to work.
But you can do things while on the train like sleep or internet. It depends what that tradeoff is exactly, but I would still rather have a longer commute I can do things during.
I live in Seoul, which has superb public transit. It can work if designed well.
Busses have their own lanes to ensure traffic minimally affects them. Bus-train transfers are well managed. High density means that mass transit ends up being faster due to traffic concerns. Speed limits are quite low, which also makes vehicle accidents less lethal.
As for prohibitively expensive, that's only if you don't sufficiently tax your corporations ;)
So basically, vote for local and national government that will create an environment where public transit works
Bus or car to work takes at least 40 minutes. When there's a morning and evening rush, the bus wins easily because it has dedicated lanes and can go where cars are not allowed. Biking takes me 20 minutes no matter the time of day - even when it snows and it is black ice
Yeah these people think getting screamed at and not being able to use earbuds for fear of some maniac sitting behind you is some sort of virtuous affair that should be experienced by all.
As an adult who had to sit with a first grader to make sure they stayed in their zoom classes, I couldn't agree more. I don't hold a grudge against her teacher, we were all doing our best. It was just impossible to keep a first grader focused on her laptop for more than 20 min at best.
In all seriousness, some jobs cannot be done remotely. Schools are a prime example of this. That should mean that those jobs should cover expenses for travel and have some sort of tax for offsetting their carbon footprint.
As someone that used to be a blue collar worker but now is a software developer, people like us REALLY need a reality check. Working from home is a privilege that most people will never experience, and I am forever grateful for having the opportunity.
How did you get into this ? I'm currently working as a plumber and have been thinking of getting into software development or some IT job so I have more time to be home with my family. Do you have any tips ?
Try forty or fifty years, unless you got your first job at 40. Unless you're a boomer, you aren't even getting full social security until 67 and unless you saved like a motherfucker you probably won't retire till your 70s.
Although not very realistic for most people in most countries. In my social reality, buying land and conditions to homestead depends on having a fat inheritance or having an exceptionally good salary.
It's much better than going to school every day from 7:45 am to 7 pm and maybe even paying for it. Also school consists of more than half a dozen different subjects, of which you probably don't even like half (PE, Art, German (native language), Social studies), and others are annoying to be relevant for your grades and therefore your life, such as Biology and Chemistry. Just Maths, Physics, English and History are somewhat good, because they're easy and enjoyable (controversial take with Maths in there, ik).
I would be more upset that we have to eat for the next 30-40 years... work is just the symptom of this fact. To get food you have to either produce it or barter it for some other service.
Eating is a fundamental physiological need. Making money from selling food isn't. We have the means to feed everyone but it's nor profitable. The ecomomy is a human fabrication.
Forget the evil economy. Why would anyone producing food give it to you for free while you sit on your ass all day and they worked hard to produce it, even if they have enough?
I don't get it. You do the same job for 40 years? Or is the issue having something to do for 40 years? I would be so bored without a job - actually I still get bored with a job and can't imagine what I would do with even less on my plate.
I get that, I used to work with an old timer +65 and their job made them feel useful. They told me that otherwise they'd be drinking beers and cruising on demand media. I hope he's still out there doing exactly that. Personally I'd rather be murdered than work until I'm dead.
Covid quarantines and stuff were so boring that everything I normally enjoyed became boring also. I learned that if I don't have something to break up time between leisure activities I'll get tired of them. I work, and it isn't the pinnacle of existence, but what I like to do when I am not working feels better or atleast stays as good.
We don't need a paid job to in order to work and be productive. We can volunteer to make a better society or do something creative. We need to stop making the equivalence between free time=mindless media consumption. Also,
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs
The problem is we need the job money and getting it leaves us so exhausted we restore to lay down and watch a screen. But this is a situation created by the job-centric culture, not solved by it.