Full Time Work...What a load

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

I teach English to adults in Madrid and I have a couple of high-achieving friends who have a (gentle) go at me sometimes for not doing more with my life. I work about 25 hours a week from Monday to Thursday (3 day weekend) and on a good month, I earn 1500 after tax, which is a very decent salarly for Spain (bank employees earn less than I do, for example. Most of my students earn less than that.). Unfortunately most months are not that good and I´m unemployed in the Summer for about a month and a half (although this is going to change next year as I´m doing another teaching qualification soon) but I still have enough money to do everything I want, pay bills, rent, buy food and not scrimp. I´d say I come out with about 13,500 a year after tax and bar the Summer, I do grand.

Work-related stress is not something I´ve ever experienced, no pain-in-the-arse colleagues, no staring at a computer all day, no boss looking over my shoulder and my job involves talking to nice people in my native tongue and getting paid for it. I´m currently sitting in my flat drinking tea till my next class at 2pm. I might even take a little nap.

My friend who sometimes says things like, "You´re not going to teach English forever, are you?" has lost hair from stress although is probably more challenged in her job and earn a lot more than I do. This lifestye suits me and since starting, I told myself it was only temporary until very recently when I had a think about it and decided I´d be stupid to give this up. This job suits me perfectly. I´m living the easy life but still supporting myself. What´s not to love?

If you can survive on a part-time salary and you have no dependents, all that spare time is well worth it imo.

that's not bad money at all for spain

yup I used to do this, same country actually.. it was great.. complete freedom, and suited my lifestyle down to the ground

I got by on even less than you do, but felt I lived like a king, the cafe con leche's, meeting so many people, relaxed, free time, lollygagging around museums, meeting so many travellers who were green with envy at my apparent permanent holiday

If someone is stuck in a dead-end job over here, it really is the most refreshing thing to do, it's not all easy street.. i went hungry a few times.. that was an, interesting, experience. I had absolutely no security whatsoever, i could literally up sticks and move on to the next place in a day.. but i enjoyed every moment of it, it's a total clean-slate.. and you are really surviving, not just existing.. rollercoaster

All that said, i am working in a well paid solid job now.. but i got here because I've done that

Salma Embarrassed Bullfighter wrote: »

I met one of these 'dole is a lifestyle choice' idiots in the pub last night. He said there was nothing wrong with opting out of working and getting a council house and the dole instead of being an 'automaton' who has been 'brainwashed' into thinking you have to work...of course when I asked what would happen if everyone in the country thought like that, he went very quiet, as they always do. It takes a special kind of thick person not to understand that dole as a lifestyle choice only exists because of the 'automatons' who take responsibility for themselves and don't just take, take, take.

You just happened to meet a life-long dole recipient in the pub, and press him to explain himself, right on time to chime in with your findings on a thread about the subject... right yeah.

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Ooooh lollygagging! Nice word. It´s only when I hear other people´s stories of stress and putting up with arseholes in their work place do I realise how lucky I have it. A little goes along way in a cheap, hot country. Next year I should get a contract and holiday pay, so my situation will only improve. I think it´s gas how that people would look down their noses at me in their high-status, high-stress jobs (not to say everyone is in that position but some people are and they scoff the loudest, it seems). I wouldn´t swap places for the world tbh. There´s a lot to be said for lacking any career ambition.

I never gave a crap what people thought, I loved it and was proud of it, my friends were jealous as heck.. people are taking their precious 2 weeks of the year just to go to that place.. I lived there!

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

I teach English to adults in Madrid and I have a couple of high-achieving friends who have a (gentle) go at me sometimes for not doing more with my life. I work about 25 hours a week from Monday to Thursday (3 day weekend) and on a good month, I earn 1500 after tax, which is a very decent salarly for Spain (bank employees earn less than I do, for example. Most of my students earn less than that.). Unfortunately most months are not that good and I´m unemployed in the Summer for about a month and a half (although this is going to change next year as I´m doing another teaching qualification soon) but I still have enough money to do everything I want, pay bills, rent, buy food and not scrimp. I´d say I come out with about 13,500 a year after tax and bar the Summer, I do grand.

Work-related stress is not something I´ve ever experienced, no pain-in-the-arse colleagues, no staring at a computer all day, no boss looking over my shoulder and my job involves talking to nice people in my native tongue and getting paid for it. I´m currently sitting in my flat drinking tea till my next class at 2pm. I might even take a little nap.

My friend who sometimes says things like, "You´re not going to teach English forever, are you?" has lost hair from stress although is probably more challenged in her job and earn a lot more than I do. This lifestye suits me and since starting, I told myself it was only temporary until very recently when I had a think about it and decided I´d be stupid to give this up. This job suits me perfectly. I´m living the easy life but still supporting myself. What´s not to love?

If you can survive on a part-time salary and you have no dependents, all that spare time is well worth it imo.

Great post, I'm not sure why people think it's some sort of badge of honour to be stressed out of their eyeballs struggling in a job they hate trying to hold bills and expenses at bay, if I could work someplace I was happy out in and just got by I'd take that over mountains of work and stress. This working flat out until your 60's then living out your days on a pension thing just seems horrible.

coolemon wrote: »

The problem is capitalism.

Hunter-gatherer societies, despite not having any great productive capacity or technology, spent something like five times less time working to produce their requirements and needs.

Here today, with robots, mass production and advanced agricultural methods, we not only have people working longer than they have done so for much of human history, but we have people starving to death and living in grinding poverty.

Capitalism needs people to constantly work, spend, work, spend, work, spend, work. Otherwise the wheels of profit would come off the cart. And this is one reason why rather than the working day decreasing in accordance with the ever growing productive capacity, that they have been steady or increasing.

This poster was much traduced but I think he has a point. All this technological and sociological advancement and people are working more and more, not less and less. Long hours, being 'on call', ridiculous commutes, constant travelling.....is it worth it? It's different if you love your job, but most people really, really don't. Some philosopher once suggested that everyone should work 3 days a week and have 5 days off for leisure and educational pursuits, an opinion I would agree with.

And remember, if you can't explain your job to a five year old, it's not important

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

This poster was much traduced but I think he has a point. All this technological and sociological advancement and people are working more and more, not less and less. Long hours, being 'on call', ridiculous commutes, constant travelling.....is it worth it? It's different if you love your job, but most people really, really don't. Some philosopher once suggested that everyone should work 3 days a week and have 5 days off for leisure and educational pursuits, an opinion I would agree with.

And remember, if you can't explain your job to a five year old, it's not important

Big time, whoever decided on a 5 day working week is a knob, I work different shifts so thankfully avoid the 9-5 Mon-Fri routine, that'd bore me senseless, traffic to work, traffic from work, everyone on the same lunch times cramming into shops for food, hanging for the weekend, never having a midweek day off to do anything, bleh.

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

This poster was much traduced but I think he has a point. All this technological and sociological advancement and people are working more and more, not less and less. Long hours, being 'on call', ridiculous commutes, constant travelling.....is it worth it? It's different if you love your job, but most people really, really don't. Some philosopher once suggested that everyone should work 3 days a week and have 5 days off for leisure and educational pursuits, an opinion I would agree with.

And remember, if you can't explain your job to a five year old, it's not important

Are we working more and more, though?
People are living longer and longer, thanks to the advances and progress we've made. And many if not most people will have stopped working pretty much altogether by the time they reach 65 or so.
In essence, most of us don't start working until we reach our early twenties, and will then have a decade or more at the end of our lives where we don't work.

Add to that holidays and weekends (something entirely unknown until very, very recently in our history), and I would propose we actually work less than we ever did before.

And I find it interesting that you would assume that researching the potential of stem cell therapy as treatment for people incapacitated by stroke for example is not an important job.

As a successful and professional landlord with over 35 properties to my portfolio, I think people who do not work are nothing but spongers. This is the main reason why I do not even accept rent allowance. I see it as money for nothing.

I made 489600 euro last year before tax.

I PAY for peoples social welfare from my hard earned money. I work a full 30 hours per week from my office where I mostly browse the internet and scout for the cheapest plumber or electrician in the event that something goes wrong with one of my properties. Im getting fat so I sometims take a few days off work at my discretion to go for a jog or a cycle.

I worked my way up from relative nothingness. I inherited a measely five properties from my parents, and worked hard renting them out and taking out loans to invest in more properties. Some of my peers went belly up taking out too many risks. Some call it gambling, but I, my fellow millionaires in the media and politicians call it entrepreuneurship. But they declared bankrupt and got to keep their family homes thank God.

If nobody worked I wouldnt be able to spend my hard earned money. If nobody worked I myself would be out of a job. People should EARN their money, and they will earn their money where I spend it. Like on my two domestic servents who, unintelligent, un hard working and as talentless as they are, earn only a fraction of what I get.

These people, you got to believe it, are just total wasters. We do have a laugh about them down in the county club with tales of their ineptness.

But anyway, I have to go back to work. Its a hot day out there so I might turn on the Aircon in the office and see if I can find any electricians or plumbers cheaper than the ones I have on the books at the moment. Business stuff, you know. Some of you with high intelligence and who are hard working would know what im talking about.

Moral of the story is: Work hard and you can all make it to where I am now.

bluewolf wrote: »

Do you want to go back to the old 6-7 days a week one

Shhh don't give them ideas.