February 15, 2008

Lifestylist

Yesterday at work I was derogatorily referred to as a "lifestylist". Having a hunch but still curious as to what exactly was meant by this, I inquired as to the precise meaning of the term "lifestylist".

The answer I got was pretty much what I expected based on the intonation of the original statement. A lifestylist, in this context, is someone who places a high value on their quality of life. So much value, in fact, that they consider their personal life more important than their job. The result of this is that the lifestylist enjoys time off of work and, given the choice, would choose to be enjoying themselves rather than working in a cubicle.

I completely understand why the management of a company would look down on such an individual. It is an advantage for the company to have employees content with working all the time with no desire to be elsewhere. When this perspective of management is combined with the fact that they chronically underpay all their staff while expecting them to work over 40 hours a week for no additional pay, my tolerance grows quite short.

Why people subject themselves to this for 40 years of their life before retiring is beyond me. I am saddened by the fact that so many people become drones for the betterment of "the man". If the quality of one's own life is not something to value, I'm not sure there is much else out there worth valuing, and I am now done ranting.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You go, Josh. It's all about hacking the system so you've got options for about 35 of those years.

~I said...

I think I might fit into that category