"Ah sure at least I have a job"

beks101

This just dawned on me after reading this exact quote in another thread.

It's become your standard employed person's new catchphrase, myself included. I think I used it three times today alone, making idle chit chat with clients on the phone. It's replaced 'shocking weather, isn't it?' and 'are things as chaotic in there as they are in here?' as the default small talk opener, and frankly, sometimes I wonder if I actually mean it.

My job is a bit **** at the best of times. I work 65+ hours a week barely scraping minimum wage and no overtime, have had 7% shaved off the nothing I already make, plus the likely tax hikes next week mean I'd probably be better off on the dole. And the stress of my job makes me physically sick sometimes.

I'm sure this won't win me any new fans, but there ya have it. Anyone else not afraid to say they're not always that grateful, despite the 'current climate'?

And no, I wouldn't rather join the breadline. I'm just saying...

K4t

beks101 wrote: »

And the stress of my job makes me physically sick sometimes....

There's your problem. I'd sort that out if I were you.

My name is URL

have had 7% shaved off the nothing I already make

7% of nothing is not a lot really

mukki

K4t wrote: »

There's your problem. I'd sort that out if I were you.

ah sure at least he has a job

MadgeBadge

Given the current climatic conditions I spent most the day saying 'Ahhh, at least I don't have a job'

nlgbbbblth

some of my unimaginative* colleagues constantly come out with

'aren't I lucky to still have a job?'

Actually luck has nothing do with it.

We were all hired / retained after probation based on our ability to do the job in hand. Those of us who were promoted into our existing roles were chosen because of past performance with the company.

i.e. luck has f*ckall to do with it.

no company chooses its employees by drawing names out of a hat.

*They've never heard of Kraftwerk, The Wire or Curb Your Enthusiasm

galwayrush

At least i don't have any stocks and shares, rentable property or a mistress.;)

O.A.P

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

some of my unimaginative* colleagues constantly come out with

'aren't I lucky to still have a job?'

Actually luck has nothing do with it.

We were all hired / retained after probation based on our ability to do the job in hand. Those of us who were promoted into our existing roles were chosen because of past performance with the company.

i.e. luck has f*ckall to do with it.

no company chooses its employees by drawing names out of a hat.

*They've never heard of Kraftwerk, The Wire or Curb Your Enthusiasm

So going by that if the firm you work for go under its the employees fault

K4t

galwayrush wrote: »

At least i don't have a mistress.;)

Ghey.

beks101

galwayrush wrote: »

...or a mistress.;)

Have mistresses depreciated in value too?

galwayrush

K4t wrote: »

Ghey.

Can't afford it.:D

ibarelycare

I started moaning to my friends the other day about my job. Mixed group of employed and unemployed friends. You'd swear I'd just shit on their Christmas dinner.

napapa

I'm with ya OP on the 'at least I have a job' criac....and that pension levy feels like a kick in the balls, next week they're going take our balls...

Dudess

beks101 wrote: »

My job is a bit **** at the best of times. I work 65+ hours a week barely scraping minimum wage and no overtime, have had 7% shaved off the nothing I already make, plus the likely tax hikes next week mean I'd probably be better off on the dole. And the stress of my job makes me physically sick sometimes.

I'm sure this won't win me any new fans, but there ya have it. Anyone else not afraid to say they're not always that grateful, despite the 'current climate'?

And no, I wouldn't rather join the breadline. I'm just saying...

Yeah, the stress of my job is ludicrous... contract up in May - but I'm just glad to be getting out of there.

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

Actually luck has nothing do with it.

We were all hired / retained after probation based on our ability to do the job in hand. Those of us who were promoted into our existing roles were chosen because of past performance with the company.

i.e. luck has f*ckall to do with it.

no company chooses its employees by drawing names out of a hat.

*They've never heard of Kraftwerk, The Wire or Curb Your Enthusiasm

Well I suppose they mean more that they're lucky the company hasn't gone under.

Mr Benevolent

I work 65+ hours a week barely scraping minimum wage and no overtime, have had 7% shaved off the nothing I already make, plus the likely tax hikes next week mean I'd probably be better off on the dole. And the stress of my job makes me physically sick sometimes.

Why oh why do people do jobs like this for almost no money? My brother's girlfriend has a job like that, but she does make €60k+

On the other hand, I have the world's easiest job and make just above €10 per hour. No stress, I can save half my wages and still have enough to live reasonably. That said, I don't have a mortgage, loans or credit cards (learned my lesson from being €25k in debt) and live at home.

Why make yourself sick for the same money?

K4t

galwayrush wrote: »

Can't afford it.:D

Things must be bad if you can't afford a Polish Irish mistress.

galwayrush

K4t wrote: »

Things must be bad if you can't afford a Polish Irish mistress.

it's all the Government's fault.:(

beks101

Confab wrote: »

Why oh why do people do jobs like this for almost no money?

'Experience', 'career ladder' and 'at least I have a job'. Basically I'm a walking cliche

deadhead13

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

some of my unimaginative* colleagues constantly come out with

'aren't I lucky to still have a job?'

Actually luck has nothing do with it.

We were all hired / retained after probation based on our ability to do the job in hand. Those of us who were promoted into our existing roles were chosen because of past performance with the company.

i.e. luck has f*ckall to do with it.

no company chooses its employees by drawing names out of a hat.

*They've never heard of Kraftwerk, The Wire or Curb Your Enthusiasm

Most of the 173,000 people who lost their jobs this year "were all/ retained after probation based on their ability to do your job". The reason they have lost is due to a downturn in the economy - not because they were all crap at their jobs. Your chances of joining them depends mainly on which industry your working in.

Last Angry Man

beks101 wrote: »

This just dawned on me after reading this exact quote in another thread.

It's become your standard employed person's new catchphrase, myself included. I think I used it three times today alone, making idle chit chat with clients on the phone. It's replaced 'shocking weather, isn't it?' and 'are things as chaotic in there as they are in here?' as the default small talk opener, and frankly, sometimes I wonder if I actually mean it.

My job is a bit **** at the best of times. I work 65+ hours a week barely scraping minimum wage and no overtime, have had 7% shaved off the nothing I already make, plus the likely tax hikes next week mean I'd probably be better off on the dole. And the stress of my job makes me physically sick sometimes.

I'm sure this won't win me any new fans, but there ya have it. Anyone else not afraid to say they're not always that grateful, despite the 'current climate'?

And no, I wouldn't rather join the breadline. I'm just saying...

Do you work for Enterprise Rent A Car? I ask because I used to and that sounds like my old life!

WhiskeyTangoFox

It is bad out there. As my Dad says, Hold your pants tight to your arse as you don't know what sh1t is coming"

Not sure how to take that as he is old and sh1ts his pants a lot

K4t

WhiskeyTangoFox wrote: »

It is bad out there. As my Dad says, Hold your pants tight to your arse as you don't know what sh1t is coming"

Not sure how to take that as he is old and sh1ts his pants a lot

Maybe he's gay?

Aidric

Confab wrote: »

(learned my lesson from being €25k in debt)

Hookers?

Cathy666

At 23 years of age, I have my dream job (which pays very well), my dream car and my own house. I don't consider myself 'lucky' to still have a job though. I worked hard at school and college to get where I am today. Whilst spending 40+ hours weekly in college doing a mechanical engineering degree, I also had a part-time job to pay for my college fees. This was in addition to study and projects that I had to do. My first two 'real' jobs were ok, I worked hard, but never really enjoyed them. Now however, I have the job that I always wanted. The same job that enticed me to study mechanical engineering in the first place. I work hard every day and do, on average, 55 hours per week. This is why I have a job. Not due to luck, but due to hard work and dedication. It is very unfortunate that there are so many people facing job losses every day, and I do symapthise with them. In that respect, I am grateful to still be employed.

I think this post hit the nail on the head:

nlgbbbblth wrote:

some of my unimaginative* colleagues constantly come out with

'aren't I lucky to still have a job?'

Actually luck has nothing do with it.

We were all hired / retained after probation based on our ability to do the job in hand. Those of us who were promoted into our existing roles were chosen because of past performance with the company.

i.e. luck has f*ckall to do with it.

no company chooses its employees by drawing names out of a hat.

*They've never heard of Kraftwerk, The Wire or Curb Your Enthusiasm

tribulus

Last Angry Man wrote: »

Do you work for Enterprise Rent A Car? I ask because I used to and that sounds like my old life!

Have you read Punching In by Alex Frankel? If by some chance you have, was his experience of working for Rent A Car similiar to yours?

dreamers75

oddly someone said this to me today, a waster who works for me.

Shame next week he wont be able to say it, another shame he doesnt know it yet.


odd how that works.

Dudess

How charming of you.

Cathy666 wrote: »

At 23 years of age, I have my dream job (which pays very well), my dream car and my own house. I don't consider myself 'lucky' to still have a job though. I worked hard at school and college to get where I am today. Whilst spending 40+ hours weekly in college doing a mechanical engineering degree, I also had a part-time job to pay for my college fees. This was in addition to study and projects that I had to do. My first two 'real' jobs were ok, I worked hard, but never really enjoyed them. Now however, I have the job that I always wanted. The same job that enticed me to study mechanical engineering in the first place. I work hard every day and do, on average, 55 hours per week. This is why I have a job. Not due to luck, but due to hard work and dedication. It is very unfortunate that there are so many people facing job losses every day, and I do symapthise with them. In that respect, I am grateful to still be employed.

I think this post hit the nail on the head:

But I think that's a misinterpretation of the phrase. Ok, it's not that you're lucky to have got the job in the first place - that was indeed down to the graft you put in (although to be fair, if it's a really great job and lots of others were going for it, there was a little bit of luck involved too)... what the phrase means is "you're lucky to still have a job", that the company hasn't gone under - which I think is true.

Senna

During the "celtic tiger":rolleyes: i didn´t go running to the boss every year for a pay rise, i didn´t indebt myself to try and accommodate a swanky lifestyle, i just worked hard. Now that the **** has hit the fan i still have a job and a few other that worked with me are all gone (redundent). They´re on the dole, yes because the economy when down the crapper but also because they were greedy.
Nearly everyone recently on the dole can say its because of the economy, but plenty could look back at the choices they made. I know a few mates who would leave a job for a slightly better paying job every few years, regardless of how good and stable the current employer was. Last in, first out and all that.

Cathy666

Dudess wrote: »

But I think that's a misinterpretation of the phrase. Ok, it's not that you're lucky to have got the job in the first place - that was indeed down to the graft you put in (although to be fair, if it's a really great job and lots of others were going for it, there was a little bit of luck involved too)... what the phrase means is "you're lucky to still have a job", that the company hasn't gone under - which I think is true.

I can see where you're coming from. Although the reason that the company that I work for hasn't 'gone under', is that we have expanded into new markets. The company I work for deals mainly with rallying, well we used to. Due to downturn in the construction industry, a lot of our previous customers cannot afford to continue rallying, as was evident in the WRC. We have now started working in other types of motorsport. We also have an engineering workshop, so we can manufacture a huge range of custom parts in-house for engineering and medical applications. These are just some examples, you can see what I mean though.

Fratton Fred

Cathy666 wrote: »

At 23 years of age, I have my dream job (which pays very well), my dream car and my own house. I don't consider myself 'lucky' to still have a job though. I worked hard at school and college to get where I am today. Whilst spending 40+ hours weekly in college doing a mechanical engineering degree, I also had a part-time job to pay for my college fees. This was in addition to study and projects that I had to do. My first two 'real' jobs were ok, I worked hard, but never really enjoyed them. Now however, I have the job that I always wanted. The same job that enticed me to study mechanical engineering in the first place. I work hard every day and do, on average, 55 hours per week. This is why I have a job. Not due to luck, but due to hard work and dedication. It is very unfortunate that there are so many people facing job losses every day, and I do symapthise with them. In that respect, I am grateful to still be employed.

I think this post hit the nail on the head:

If you have the dream car and the dream house at 23 years of age, lets hope you manage to keep your dream job, because if your employer decides to piss off to Poland you will add your big mortgage and your big car loan to the already large pile of toxic debt.

Dudess

Ah there's no need to piss on her parade Fred. She seems to have her head screwed on. Fair play to you Cathy!