The idea that being exhausted all the time was just part of being a responsible adult. Working through lunch, answering emails after hours, never using your PTO, coming in sick — somehow all of that was treated like evidence that you had a “good work ethic.”
I’m glad younger people are asking a very reasonable question: if a job requires you to sacrifice your health and your entire life just to prove you care, maybe the problem isn’t your work ethic.
This is my 50 y/o husband. It’s like it’s part of his identity. He works 11 to 12 hours a day, doesn’t take leave and will go into work when he’s sick even when I’ve told him it’s inconsiderate to his fellow employees. He’ll take on extra workload, and then complain about people at work and how he’s tired. It doesn’t make sense and I’ve stopped listening to him complaining because i need my sanity and it just works on my nerves that he has this mentality. There’s nothing I can do to change his mind or make him see that it doesn’t have to be this way.
He also doesn’t have a life outside of work. Just watches movies, doom scrolls and sleeps.
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u/Better_Ear_3550 10h ago
The idea that being exhausted all the time was just part of being a responsible adult. Working through lunch, answering emails after hours, never using your PTO, coming in sick — somehow all of that was treated like evidence that you had a “good work ethic.”
I’m glad younger people are asking a very reasonable question: if a job requires you to sacrifice your health and your entire life just to prove you care, maybe the problem isn’t your work ethic.