Monday, April 13, 2009

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

I went to bed last night around 10:00. I was resigned to the fact my long weekend was over. The last thing I said before I got into bed was, "I have to go to work tomorrow."

I used to feel sorry for people that lived for the weekend. This was before I had a 9-5 (or in my case a 7-4) job. There will be people who say, "Get used to it." I'm 35 years old and I have at least 35 more years of the same type feeling. Let's do the math.



35 X 365 = 12,775. That is how many days in 35 years.

Now let's factor in 8 holidays. Only 8 you may say. Yes 8. Most people do not work for the government or banks.

35 X 8 = 280. 280 holidays in the 35 working years I have left.

Vacation. 10 vacation days per year

35 X 10 = 350.

Now factor in weekends.

52 X 2 = 104. That is 104 Saturdays and Sundays in a year

35 X 104 = 3,640 Saturdays and Sundays in the 35 years I have left to work.

Let's add those days up shall we. Or I'll do it for you.

280 (holidays) + 350 (vacation days) + 3,640 (Saturdays and Sundays) = 4,170 days not spent at work.

12,775 - 4,170 = 8,605 days spent at work.

8,605 (days at work) vs. 4,170 (days not at work).

Here is the part that makes me want to run and hide. Unless something changes I will spend 67% of the working years left dreading 8 hours of the day. This should not be like this.

Something has got to change.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I did the same type of figuring last week except I was figuring hours spent with my kids vs hours spent with people at work/church.

Considering I'm at work or church approx 60 hrs a week, those results caused me to "facepalm" as well.

Joseph said...

I wish I could say this was about spending time with the kids. This is more about spending time not liking work.

Lance said...

S&J: I have thought some of the same things recently. How do you find a balance between work, fam, and life?

Joseph said...

I think I would just like to get paid for something I like to do. Or that feels meaningful. Or Maybe it is just that Mondays suck.

Lance said...

J: Not necessarily. M-F can suck. The reason sometimes I want a "meaningful" job is because I am not content. What I find difficult to do is as Pastor Steve said, find contentment in God and not in our works. The dilemma is differentiating between what God wants us to do and where we want to be.

Jamie said...

I really love my job.

Joseph said...

J. Bite me.

Randy said...

Yeah, my job pretty much rocks as well. Three improvements would be:

1. If I was getting paid more.

2. If I was working from home.

3. If the work was directly for God instead of convincing older people to buy meds.

Still though... I love my job. There are plenty of days that I don't want to go, and would rather sleep, but the days go quickly for me now.

Anonymous said...

I love my jo.... Oh. Wait.

Lance said...

Jamie: Don't ruin the comment train with that hogwash. :)