No Stupid Questions

You're not supposed to do anything other than generate value. Society doesn't care about your DMV needs. Just work and consume.

that's the point. the capitalists want every minute of your life they can get to work for them, then make you scramble to fit the rest of your life in the gaps. they make more profit and you have less time and energy to educate yourself, think, and organize

Jobs paid enough so one person could stay home is how it worked. Growing up, dad made all the money and mom stayed home to do chores and whatnot. It’s just how things worked. These days mom’s living off of dad’s retirement fund since he died early and she’s always surprised when I have to ask her for money even though its her generation that made the world what it is. Even when I am able to find work my wife and I are check to check. It’s stupid.

Where I work, they don't really give a shit if you have to go to an appointment or whatever. You just let people know you're going to be out at such and such time and that's it. No micromanaging of time since we're all adults and know what our deadlines and deliverables are. It's a salaried position, though.

If I had no flexibility at all that would definitely be pretty miserable.

Nice office jobs you can slip out for doctors appointments, but you kinda sorta still have to make up some of the time.

I think there was a time, maybe a few decades ago, when it was entirely acceptable and expected for a full time employee to say "I'm taking off early today, I've got a few errands to run." from time to time. I'm very lucky to be able to do that, but it sounds like it's getting less common.

Honestly? It's hard. I'd literally kill for a 4 day work week. It's become ridiculous.

My gf and I don't even have kids. I can't even imagine having kids to manage on top.

My weekends I barely have time to socialize or engage in my hobbies or leisure. When I do, my weekend chores overflow on my Monday evening. I'm tired all the fucking time.

It feels like a god damn cage.

The concept of burning vacation / sick time for a doctor's appointment is weird to me (canada). I just say "hey boss, doc appointment this day" and he says "okay".

I feel like it depends on the company here, but I don't think I'd stay long if they made me use my time off for that.

That's the neat part. You don't.

Okay but really, you have to take time off.

Thats the neat part, we dont.

This is why the rich don't understand how the poor "can't work". They have kids yo. And lower end jobs oftenhave very strict hours. But the upper end jobs have lots of flexibility. And the rich of course just don't volunteer at their kids school, or they have a parent home with the kids to do all those things.

As someone who also does "8-5" (can't believe we still call it that), I don't get any life done. I get home, get dinner done and then I doom scroll until I pass out from the exhaustion.

Given my commute is longer than most, I just don't have the time or energy to commit to other things I would otherwise be willing to get into. Drives me nuts when I see others being able to get their shit done seemingly whenever they want. With traffic being shit here, no idea how anyone can realistically get to the gym and still make themselves dinner afterwards without going past 10. It's crazy out here.

I have flexible time fortunately, which means I can start later if I have a doctors appointment. I make over hours most of the time so I can use those for these kind of events. Also I reduced my weekly working time to 80%

It's a privileged situation, but it is the only way to keep me sane. I can go shopping groceries at 3:30 instead of 5 or go to the gym earlier, it makes huge differences.

I had a boss tell us we should forget about work-life balance.

Burn PTO. Already get up at 6 to get the kids off to school, straight to work, straight to dinner, pick one chore until i pass out, get up at 6

How tf do people who work 8-5 M-F get any life done?

Ha ha. Ahhhh ...

sob

When I tell people I work 3 days, 12 hour shifts. They say something like "That's way too long I could never do that."
They don't think about the fact that I get a 4 day long weekend... EVERY WEEK!
I could never go back to a 5 day schedule.

I’m too European to get it

It doesn't work for anyone. People use up their vacation days.

I haven't got a fucking clue. I always hated normal jobs, but I do enjoy having both food and shelter (how decadent of me, I know), so I did what I could to scrape by. And what I "could" usually translated to "could find".

Then my proper career started in 2008, and it was an offshore rotation. Give weeks offshore in various corners of the world, followed by five weeks at home. It paid well, and I got to see the world. I worked my ass off for five weeks straight, 12 hour shifts every day, and when I was home I was free ro do whatever.

Then came 2011: The company wasn't doing too well, and I had contracted a family. I wanted to spend more time at home, and while I wasn't completely prepared to change careers just yet, I was mentally toying with the idea.

In spring 2012 I decided it was time to find a "normal" job, so I could spend more time with my family. M through F, 0800-1600, mostly at a technical workshop, sometimes at clients' places, and once in a blue moon at an office.

It. Was. Miserable. But having a normal job was what I was supposed to do, right? Well, the money wasn't bad per se, but it was nowhere near what I used to earn. Plus, when I got home from work I was so exhausted I rarely had energy left over. The family life I was aiming for was severely limited by my stamina.

In 2019 I concluded that nor.al jobs are for normal people, so I reached out to some old colleagues of mine, and suddenly I found myself in a job interview. Got back offshore, and never regretted my change of heart.

It's worth noting that I don't really go offshore any.ore, as I have since ended up in a supporting role, where 90% of my job is done via email or VPN, from home, saving up energy for when my kids (now plural) get home.

You don't. That's why I am only working 4 days a week (with respectively reduced pay). But it's worth it, I much rather reduce the money I have available for my free time, but have a much more relaxed work week.

I work from home, and I'm paid based on various billable tasks. I work up to three times as fast as they think those tasks should take, and I only really work from 11am-3pm most days.

A 9.5 hour work day is insaaane

Use up vacation days. Yes, really.

As someone who had to take tomorrow off to visit the vehicle inspection place, I'm getting a kick...

We don't. We come home around 7 and start doing the bare minimum to keep up the household letting daycares and schools raise our kids.

We clean and cook and pay our bills then we go to sleep irritated and tired and sick of the rat race.

We have sex once or twice a month and go to fucking florida once a year. That's it.

I am sorry you don’t want to burn up sick time or PTO… you have no choice, or find a care giver that works on weekends.

It really sucks.

We don't. We just exist. And then we die. It's monstrous.

I hate it.

Luckily I work a 4x10 right now. But I'm sure somebody somewhere in my company's management has noticed I am just slightly less miserable than I could be.

I would legitimately work a 2x20 if I could.

Privileged to have flexible time, WFH, paid OT.

Trusted professional career where as long as you get the work done, then if you start later, have a longer lunch or finish earlier every now and then no one bats an eye.

Chores during work hours

Sometimes it’s using PTO or sick time (normally I’ve been able to take the time in 2 hour blocks), sometimes I’ve just been able to arrange with my supervisor for an extended lunch break, or just taking an unpaid break during the day and making up the hours later in the day or the week so that I’m not hitting my income or not completing my work.

Also, there’s reasons dentist offices often open early, or work on the weekends. Other necessary services like that may offer extended hours on certain days of the week.

EDIT: And things like chaperoning the kid’s field trip? Yeah, you’ll just have to use PTO or not do it. There’s a reason schools usually don’t have many parents volunteer for field trips; most parents can’t get the time off work.

Doctor's appointments are considered as showing up to work in my country so people don't go undiagnosed for years before it gets worse. Anyways I don't have a life as well. I just do things that are possible to do in the evening (gym, studying, meeting friends). Weekends are for errands. Fuck life