Telecrastinating

Subject: Telecrastinating
From: Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 14:15:16 -0800 (PST)

> Andrew's statement that most people sit around and procrastinate is just
plain a
> lie.

It isn't a lie. Its human nature.

The majority of Americans are lazy, selfish, spiteful, and obsessive. They will
do the absolute bare minimum required to get their paycheck. If you run a
company and sign paychecks - you know this as fact. Finding good, motivated,
hard-working people is very hard. Most people simply do not want to work. And
to top it off, they think the universe owes them something for their laziness.

This mentality is undoubtly a factor of the times. Most people have lived for
5+ years in good times. Jobs are plentiful and pay is excellent. They forget
the days when you were lucky to have a job at all.

Another factor is the "Cult of Management" problem. Everybody wants to be the
big shot in charge, but they are not willing to do what it takes to get there.
Nobody has a good work ethic any more. They think putting in their 32.5 hours a
week and attending 3 meetings constitutes hard work.

There is a guy who owns a sub shop near my office. Best subs the world. He is
at that counter everyday from 9am until 10pm (that's 13 hours a day). I know he
gets there at 8am and stays until about 11pm (thats 15 hours!). He knows every
customer by name. I go in there and I always hear "Good day, Mr. Plato. How's
that big black Mercedes of yours!" (He has a 560SL) You can go in at 9am or
9:45 pm and he always has a smile, always says thank you, always says "have a
nice day."

That is real work. Attending meetings and telling people to proactively
leverage their gerunds - that isn't work. That's clerical masturbation. Any
moron with 1/10th of a brain stem can do that.

Telecommuting is great for people who work hard. For the rest of the populace
- its just another form of avoiding work. Everybody wants to do it, but few
are willing to do what it takes to earn such a perk.

Sure, some people do work very productively at home. But for every one
productive telecommuter there are 10 to 20 bums who play Quake all day. Hell, I
couldn't work productively at home. There is just too many things to do at home
like sleep, eat, shave the cat, simionize the driveway, upholster the
toilet...and so forth.

There is also the factor of being part of a team. You cannot participate in a
team if you're holed away at home. One of the most serious problems among tech
writers today is isolation. Writers sit in their cubes (or at home) all day
theorizing how it all works. without constant connection to the real world,
tech writers get even more obsessive. This is about when people start thinking
they need some huge process to help them handle reality.

What is my point? I really don't have one. Just don't be a lazy bum and get
back to work. You're lucky we don't fire you.

Andrew Plato

"We were all raised to think we're all going to be rock stars and millionaires
- but it isn't true and we're slowly learning that."

- Tyler Durden

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