RIP Pope Francis

[Dave Gray]

I haven't spoken much about this because I'm super conflicted.  I don't care for the Catholic Church, so it's hard for me to celebrate its leader.  But it's also the kind of situation where he's about a decent a guy as you could ask for to be in the position he is.  It's a weird way to feel.

[CF DolFan]

In our society, the people who make the least money almost always do the most labor, and the more money you make, the less you physically work.

All this "poor people just don't want to work" talk is not only wrong, it's the opposite of the truth: it is rich people who do not want to work.  They feel entitled to profit off of others' work.

So according to you, only manual labor constitutes work? Does that mean your lazy because I don't think your job requires manual labor?

I've been on both ends as I started as a laborer on a bridge crew in the late 80s. Fast forward to now and I only leave my house once or twice a week because most of my job is on Teams meetings or through email. I can assure you sometimes the "stress" of management is worse than just having to go out and do manual labor.

[Phishfan]

Is it wrong that I am completely indifferent to his death? I have no connection to the Pope or Catholicism. It's unfortunate that he died but we all will eventually. It really doesn't move me in any way.

[Spider-Dan]

So according to you, only manual labor constitutes work?

No, it's just more work than jobs that don't require manual labor.

I've been on both ends as I started as a laborer on a bridge crew in the late 80s. Fast forward to now and I only leave my house once or twice a week because most of my job is on Teams meetings or through email. I can assure you sometimes the "stress" of management is worse than just having to go out and do manual labor.

So if you could make the same amount of money swinging a hot tar mop up on a roof in the summer Florida sun, or perhaps out in strawberry patches picking knee-high berries all day, you would prefer that to the "high stress" of management?  Please.

It is exactly this kind of wealth worship that drives the spite towards the poor across this country.  It's not enough for you to make much more money doing an easier job; you also have to insist that your job is Actually Much Harder than literal back-breaking labor.

Pope Francis had his priorities correct: the poor deserve our respect, sympathy, and help, not our hatred and scorn.

[CF DolFan]

So if you could make the same amount of money swinging a hot tar mop up on a roof in the summer Florida sun

I've actually done that and it was the worst job I've ever had. Fun guys to work around but brutal work. I worked for a roofing company for a few weeks in the summer before I started building bridges. On the "hot tar" roofs, I was the one shoveling rock out of the back of the dump truck to be placed on the hot tar roof. The more I dug the lower it became and higher I had to throw it into wheelbarrows. It made me look forward to tearing off shingles which I had previously thought was the worst. hahaha

Making more money is the goal for all of us. Well, most of us anyway. I do know of people perfectly content with their minimal lives. If we are being honest ... it's the pursuit of women who motivate most of us. The drive to have one, or many, motivates guys to work hard to achieve financial goals. If that wasn't the case I think fewer guys would care to work hard.

[Sibster]

No, it's just more work than jobs that don't require manual labor.
So if you could make the same amount of money swinging a hot tar mop up on a roof in the summer Florida sun, or perhaps out in strawberry patches picking knee-high berries all day, you would prefer that to the "high stress" of management?  Please.

It is exactly this kind of wealth worship that drives the spite towards the poor across this country.  It's not enough for you to make much more money doing an easier job; you also have to insist that your job is Actually Much Harder than literal back-breaking labor.

Pope Francis had his priorities correct: the poor deserve our respect, sympathy, and help, not our hatred and scorn.

Nobody has a right to a management job or an office job or a job that is deemed easier than one that involves manual labor.   It's really simple.  If you want one of those types of jobs, get yourself the education, training and skills that will make you marketable to get one.   Don't sit around and complain about how rough your life is.

[Spider-Dan]

I'm not even talking about people having a "right" to an easy job, or a "right" to a higher-paying job.
What I'm talking about is people who are fortunate to have higher paying jobs that are far less labor intensive, yet feel the need to add insult to injury and insist that actually they are also Working Harder than the poors because of the "stress" or some other BS.  Like it's somehow stress-free to be at the bottom of the totem pole and treated like you are worthless & easily replaceable while you're also doing intense physical labor.

[Sibster]

I'm not even talking about people having a "right" to an easy job, or a "right" to a higher-paying job.
What I'm talking about is people who are fortunate to have higher paying jobs that are far less labor intensive, yet feel the need to add insult to injury and insist that actually they are also Working Harder than the poors because of the "stress" or some other BS.  Like it's somehow stress-free to be at the bottom of the totem pole and treated like you are worthless & easily replaceable while you're also doing intense physical labor.

Just because you are not doing intense physical labor doesn't mean you're not working hard.   If a job is mentally and emotionally taxing, it can be just as draining as physical labor.   I'm my own boss but to run my business, I need to do physical labor and mental labor as well.

[Spider-Dan]

If a job is mentally and emotionally taxing, it can be just as draining as physical labor.

Any person who says this is lying to you, and perhaps to themselves as well.

As I just said...

So if you could make the same amount of money swinging a hot tar mop up on a roof in the summer Florida sun, or perhaps out in strawberry patches picking knee-high berries all day, you would prefer that to the "high stress" of management?  Please.

And again:  jobs that are physically brutal can also be mentally exhausting at the same time.

[CF DolFan]

Any person who says this is lying to you, and perhaps to themselves as well.

As I just said...

And again:  jobs that are physically brutal can also be mentally exhausting at the same time.

I'm guessing you have no personal experience with this. It's much easier to recover from being physically tired than mentally tired. Many times the mental things are what carries over into your free time and even sleep. Most physical jobs are left at the door when you head home. Not so much for the ones having to play mental gymnastics all the time. This doesn't even account for the jobs where you're literally a phone call away at all times, yet only get paid for 40 hours a week. Not that it's a huge deal ... but I've had to deal with an emergency on a project while I was at a wedding, in the middle of the night, and on weekends. When I did manual labor I didn't have to to deal with any of that but now the buck stops with me.

[Spider-Dan]

CF, would you prefer to be back up on the roof for the same pay?
Back on "the worst job you ever had"?

[Fau Teixeira]

I've had to leave a superbowl party mid-way to go home and fix a server issue. but I'd rather do that than lay down a new roof somewhere.

[Sibster]

I've had to leave a superbowl party mid-way to go home and fix a server issue. but I'd rather do that than lay down a new roof somewhere.

Agreed.   Thats a very tough job.  My issue is that this Spider guy is shaming us for having jobs that are not as physically demanding as that one.   Just because you're not exerting yourself doesn't mean you're not working hard.

In my business, I have to constantly dust and straighten out shelves, not to mention carry whole cases of beer, wine, or liquor out onto the sales floor and either stretch up or down to put each bottle in its correct place.

[Spider-Dan]

My issue is that this Spider guy is shaming us for having jobs that are not as physically demanding as that one.   Just because you're not exerting yourself doesn't mean you're not working hard.

So when I say that people who have more labor intensive jobs are "working harder" I am shaming you, but when you say that your management jobs are "actually harder work" than the labor intensive jobs, you're not shaming them?

Snowflakes, as far as the eye can see.  Conservatives are such whiny babies; your feelings are always incredibly important and must be Protected At All Costs, but everyone else's feelings are meaningless.

[CF DolFan]

CF, would you prefer to be back up on the roof for the same pay?
Back on "the worst job you ever had"?

Obviously not but it doesn't' make me lazy. It' makes me someone who has earned something.