As part of the
Soc101 class, the students and I delve into very interesting, very
controversial and, at times, very unsettling issues. I encourage an open
dialogue, and generally, that�s what happens. The dialogue and openness contributes
greatly to the learning experiences of all in the class and I am privileged
to be a part of some wonderfully enlightening commentary that results from my
�lecture� questions. Sometimes, I am absolutely stunned, as I was with the
following, which comes from a student in one of my UOP Online Campus classes:
Response to Lecture Comments-
Week Four
David Jerome Smith
SOC101
I think that there is a growing strain between employer and employees. More
and more, customers are expecting companies to provide their services and
products faster and with higher quality. This puts a demand on the company to
work their employees harder and longer, usually without an equal increase in
compensation. As employees work more and have less free time, they become resentful.
But managers don’t see it. They wonder why they keep getting irate looks when
they ask (or tell) their employees to work on Christmas Day (myself
included). Ironically, as much as I praise (company name), there are a lot of
malcontents here.
I also think that with the growing amount of family problems that a lot of
people bring their troubles with them to work. It is hard to be productive
everyday when you are going through a divorce or dealing with an abusive
mate. I’ve heard a lot of people say that you should leave your problems at
home, at home. But, that’s easier said than done. Even normal things that
everyone has to deal with are becoming more stressful, like dealing with
teenage kids, getting older, staying healthy, paying bills. Everything is
important and everything has to be done now. I believe that a certain
amount of stress is good, but I think that American society has reached the
stress point where some people just stay in an irate mood. I was looking at
an online poll on our (company) intranet. The poll asked how often do you
have a positive attitude. Out of 18,000 votes (And I’m not making these
numbers up) 23% said rarely, and 32% said never. I had to read the question
again to make sure I read it right the first time. By that poll, over 50% of
the people I work with start out being negative without me saying a word to
them. What happens when I say something they don’t like? What happens when
their supervisor asks them to increase their workload, work a few hours of
OT, and cancel a vacation day?
Now, on to Ron’s question about �entitlements� and the value of work. It made
me think about an article I read about the programmers at Electronic Arts. I
don’t remember exactly what the figure was but their starting salaries were
somewhere in the six-digit range. That is a lot of money for making a video
game in an air-conditioned office. Should they make more than a roofer who
works in 100-degree heat 10-12 hours a day? Probably not. But you cannot deny
the skill level of a video game programmer. Being an amateur programmer
myself, I know how complex computer algorithms and code can get. But, should
a job’s skill level alone determine its value? What about a job’s importance?
Think what would happen if jobs were paid based on their importance. Plastic
surgeons would make minimum wage. Teachers would be considerably wealthy.
Housewives and mothers would be billionaires and athletes would work for
donations. But, as things are, I see no logic to why people make what they
do.
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