This is my experience:
I am an Ilustrator and a writer. I make drawings and write books. Primarly of the fantasy genre.
When I work I try to make art. For me, art is when you study your craft with hours of work and dedication to the point that you left something behind, impregnated in the things you do. You want to tell something to the world and behind every pharagraph or brushstroke there is an idea, something you want to transmit.
What is the problem with this? Most people today don´t value this. The majority of people don´t value and artist work because they can´t understand what they are seeing. And that is because no one puts effort, love or dedication in the things they do, so when they see the work of someone who did they just can´t understand it. People don´t see the hours of work, the time one spent studying. They just like it or not. And since they are majority they decide the value of your work (if it sells or don´t) They don´t want ideas. They want a show. A stupid charade that can entretain them and that is it.
I had this realization just a few days ago. Did a little research. Way more than 50% of the consumers of s~~~ in this planet are women. They read s~~~ty books, watch s~~~ty TV series, and buy stupid clothes everyf~~~ing day.
There are more women in this world than there are men. They are the majority of the consumers. S~~~ will sell. It is a fact. So I will produce s~~~ for them and use them to reach the life I want. There is no way that “people” like this can understand what I try to convey with my work, so I will make s~~~ for them.

The funny thing is that this expands to every other carreer or job. The world of today is ruled by consumism. So if you dont create crap or work for someone who makes crap, you can´t win.
For me there are 2 ways out of the rat race: Having tons of money or having very little. The middle is the life of the slave. If you have a lot of money you do what you want. If you have little you do what you want but without the luxury, and is a little more hard, but you are free.
Since I don´t think of having a family (because today that is another word for slavery) I will gladly live one of the two other ways I mentioned before. If I succeed, good. If I don´t, it is a shame, but I will not put anymore of my time or my work for people who don´t understand it. I will not be exploited anymore just to make someone rich.
Men should not TRY to live. Life is your right for being born. But even that has been made a living hell for us.

What do you think of this? Please, share. Share your view and experiences. We have to be free men.

PD: I am sure I am not saying a lot more of the things I want to say. But there is just too much.

You are a replaceable number and companies will show no loyalty to you or any older members.

My jobs:

Fast food and dishwasher in restaurant during college days.

Took care of county parks during summer.  College jobs where one literally just f~~~ed off the whole day.  Minimum wage but could do anything.

Intern at Sheriff’s department and County Jail.  Just sat at a desk all day.  No pay.  The only reason I stayed was that I was promised a job with the sheriff’s department after I graduated.  Waited for them to fulfill their word for several months.  They change their mind, because sheriff got arrested so they sent me to county jail instead.  I got p~~~ed so I didn’t take it up.  Didn’t miss anything, 12 dollar per hour and being stuck with inmates all day.

I worked on cleaning oil rigs for a few months only to leave because a lack of hours.  I would watch them burn out their employees with continual 100+ hour weeks for about 10 an hour.  Some guys would actually be unable to hold conversations after a while.  They just lost their mental faculties.  It was a company out of tenennessee so they hired all the local guys.  I had to drive 30-45 minutes just to get there.  They would tell you to arrive at the office at a specific time, only to show up 1.5-2 hours later.  I was not paid for those hours of waiting.  From there they would drive you to the site.  Would not get paid for trip back, which was 45-60 minutes.  The driver had to go to court one time, so he dragged everyone with him after work.  No pay.  He bought us a f~~~ing chicken sandwich from Mcdonald’s for the extra half hour we were stuck with him.

Next I did door to door advertising for a remodeling company.  Which wasn’t bad until the operation shutdown due to being illegal soliciting.  That and all the territory was used up.  They would lore potential workers with a promise of receiving a 2000 dollar bonus if they lasted a month along with a certain number of sales.  The shut down the operation 3 days prior to the month ending, so no one got the bonus.  That and they tried shorting some workers of their commissions.

Next job I applied for was for a door to door sales company selling a vacuum sweeper for $1500 a piece.  They required all future employees to bring in 9 family and friends as potential customers.  Which is why they hired the employees.  The employees would bring in the potential revenue through family and friends.  I didn’t want to screw my family or friends over with a s~~~ty product, so I left.

Worked security.  Pay sucked bad.  Would get a raise of 25-50 cents every year or two.  It was at a chemical plant so I could watch how the chemicals directly affected the environment.  Some employees discovered an odd snake, took it to a professor at local college to be analyzed.  He never seen the species before.  I seen an ant, not a spider, drop down on a spider web from the ceiling.  The deer were covered in blotches.  Etc.  Eventually got fired for using the gym.   They told me to stop.  I kept using it anyway. I didn’t care though, the pay sucked.

Worked in a warehouse.  S~~~ pay.  Blamed for everything.  Owner tried to get me to quit or get fired multiple times for various things.  Luckily I got along with the manager and he protected me by showing security tapes proving I had literally done nothing.  Was criticized for everything by owner.  But it wasn’t just me it was all the warehouse guys.  (all 3 of us.) Eventually left once I got into carpentry school.

Carpenter now.  Worked in nuclear power plants on top of the actual reactor.  Helped with skyscrapers.   Have to be cautious because I will get fired over any and everything.  Journeyman are not even allowed to criticize you, they just lay you off right there.  If you are doing something wrong,  they are not allowed to tell you.  Just lay you off right there.

Been layed off for misplacing a set of tools one day.  Switched between 9 different journeyman because I was an extra worker, all with different ways of doing things, only to be laid of for “attitude”.  Did not even know why I was laid off until several weeks later.  Ironically got along with everyone.  Except one asshole.

Get treated like a child by journeymen.  For examply, forgot to take off gloves when installing ceiling tile.  Some tiles got dirty.  Journeyman would not allow me to use razor the next day because he wasn’t sure he could “trust me” after I forgot to remove my gloves the day prior.  Etc.

Laid off last job because foreman blame apprentices for screw up in front of whole crew.  I said “Wait a minute, we did exactly as you said.”  Laid off week later.

So far, best paying job.  As long as I am working.

Is my generation equipped for the modern workforce?  No.  But at the same time we are barely given enough pay to get by and companies show no loyalty anymore.  Not even to the guys working 25+ years.  It breeds a “f~~~ it” type attitude.

This is just some of the stories.

One thing I found out over the years was that one can do good work, put in long hours, and still get sacked or laid off.  Why?  One wasn’t cozy with the boss.  Been there, suffered for it.

I do have customers who have to be satisfied with the quality of my work, but they can’t dictate to me how to do my job. One old woman was concerned about  how fast I was working on her patio. She asked when I was gonna be finished. The next day she asked again, and I told her if she likes I can pick up my tools and be finished right now. I finished four days later (two of those I went fishing).  she paid me up for my footage without speaking to me. Fine with me, as her husband was who hired me anyways. I would have been done two days earlier had she kept her mouth shut in the first place.

My time of life is the most valuable thing I own  and the older I get the more precious it becomes. When people sell things, you often see the price, then the word FIRM. That’s  how I feel about contracting my time.  FIRM.  I have done masonry for many years, I put my time in pushing wheelbarrows, mixing mortar and all the crappy parts of my trade. I know what I am doing. I can make a decent living at $5 a square foot + $1 for every scaffold high I go. That’s cheap for the quality I provide. I will walk off a job in a nanosecond if they don’t recognize this. I don’t need money only the people I owe need money.  I am debt free.

One thing I found out over the years was that one can do good work, put in long hours, and still get sacked or laid off. Why? One wasn’t cozy with the boss. Been there, suffered for it.

I would have to agree.  That is an important thing.  I was never good at being “cozy with the boss”.  However, I would be the first to show up, often times up to 45 minutes early.  When I finished a project, I would quickly report to my foreman in order to get on to the next one.  Never f~~~ed around.  I have followed directions to the best of my ability.  But when it came to being “buddies”……..   A worker is not supposed to be “buddies” with his boss.  And vice versa.  I am suppose to do what the boss tells me to do.  Do it well and on time.  Then go home.  That is it.  However, the world does not act rationally.

harpo-my-“SON” wrote:

I don’t need money only the people I owe need money. I am debt free.

That is one thing I learned quickly.  It is better to be free from debt, than to have money and be in debt.

Yeah I know something of that, working in placement, had 2 bosses. It was a medical center with many offices, alot of stupid stuff went on.

I’m glad I didn’t get hired there because that place would of sucked my soul out.

They were close friends, if I remember correctly.  The bulls~~~ is literally everywhere, no matter where you go.  It is about who you know to a large extent.

I had one job, just out of college, working for an small family owned air conditioning company. Anyhow, there was this angry short guy there. He would cuss me and everyone out over nothing. In turn I would be a wise ass to get under his skin. One day he drives the company vehicle at twenty miles per hour about 2 feet from me while I am cleaning something. Almost runs me over. Later that day he literally starts screaming at me, over nothing, in front of the boss. Full blown screaming. The boss does nothing. I go to the boss about it, he just says that they way the guy is. He does nothing because they “need” him. They were close friends, if I remember correctly. The bulls~~~ is literally everywhere, no matter where you go. It is about who you know to a large extent.

At my placement (during college), I often had to deal with the maintenance guys in their little shed out back, the one blamed us “kids” for scratching the LCD’s stacked up in the server room, the other decided he didn’t want to give me any tools (when sent to get them) because “he didn’t get them back”, but he did, they just came back in the toolbox with all the other tools, this guy also liked to make veiled insults at me. My first boss was ok, though he had a tendency to leave 30-45 minutes early and sometimes was kind of aloof. The second one he didn’t consider me an adult, usually gave me all the work he didn’t want to do (like moving heavy objects from building to building), while he watched cricket on the computer in the server room and gave off an air of not wanting me around. Under his rule, I was often relegated to basements doing mundane work like reconfiguring tons of old computers and boring office work. He ultimately ensured I never got hired when offered the opportunity by #1, acted like I was forcing their hands when I inquired. Screw that place.

Under his rule, I was often relegated to basements doing mundane work like reconfiguring tons of old computers and boring office work.

Last job I was on, renovating a hotel, I was stuck moving 80lb bundles of studs all day.  The foreman would tell the apprentices where to put them.  We would put them there.  The next day he would want it moved 30 ft over and blame us for putting them in the old spot to begin with.  There was no winning.

Rennie wrote:

Under his rule, I was often relegated to basements doing mundane work like reconfiguring tons of old computers and boring office work.

Last job I was on, renovating a hotel, I was stuck moving 80lb bundles of studs all day. The foreman would tell the apprentices where to put them. We would put them there. The next day he would want it moved 30 ft over and blame us for putting them in the old spot to begin with. There was no winning.

My belief was that if you did the crap work and proved yourself, they’d eventually give you something better. But that never happened.