Work Ethic in America

One of my biggest pet peeves is the lack of work ethic in many of today's workforce. I get frustrated with laziness, incompetence, and a general lack of concern about performing well on the job. A lot of this has to do with today's "I don't care" and "whatever" attitude that is so rampant among young Americans. Instead of hard-working and loyal employees being the norm, these exceptional employees are now the exception.

I'm posting about this societal problem today because I had several negative experiences yesterday:

1. When I went to the Disney store to present my receipt and pick up my pre-ordered copy of "Sleeping Beauty", I also purchased a cute shirt for Grace that was on the clearance rack for $2.79. The cashier unhappily bagged my purchase, then went back to gossiping with her co-worker after I turned to leave. I got about 20 feet out of the store before I started getting the feeling that the cashier hadn't given me my movie. Sure enough, the bag only had the shirt I bought. I turned around and walked straight back to the checkout counter. The same two girls were still talking and looked annoyed that I showed up again. I explained that I had given her my receipt for the movie, but had not received it in my bag. The girl that had just "helped" me less than one minute ago declared that I hadn't given her a receipt. Oh. yes. I. did. I reminded her that the receipt I gave her was stapled to a 15% coupon that I had used on my purchase. She reluctantly gave me a copy of the movie while the other employee glared at me like I was some kind of professional con artist.

2. From the Disney store, we went to Payless Shoes to find a pair of black Sunday shoes for Grace. I made my way to the "size 9" section to find that there were plenty of "8 1/2"s and "9 1/2"s, but no "9"s in the "size 9" section of the particular style I wanted. An employee was walking by, so I asked her if there were any more shoes in the back....the size I needed was not here. She quickly told me, "Nope, everything's out" and walked off. Since so many shoes were organized incorrectly on the shelf, I decided to search other sizes to see if a "9" was hiding somewhere. A different employee walked by and asked if she could help me. (There are excellent workers out there!) I explained that the size I needed was not available, and I was looking to see if it could be hiding in another area. She said, "We just got a new shipment in that's being unpacked in the back....let me go check for you!" I said, "Oh, another lady told me that everything was out." She replied, "Who said that? (I pointed) Oh, her! She just didn't want to go check." Thankfully, she found the exact pair of shoes I wanted in the back.

3. We ended up eating dinner last night at a McDonald's on the interstate next to where my husband's car broke down on his way home from work. (More on this story later). Anyway, I placed the order while Todd entertained Grace. I waited a few minutes, then received my tray of food. I noticed that they had put fries in Grace's Happy Meal instead of the apples I ordered. I asked the cashier to switch it out for me, and she did. I picked up the tray to walk off and realized that my chicken sandwish was missing. I asked for it and she added it to my tray. I picked up my tray to walk off again and realized that she hadn't given me my cups for our drinks. I had to wait another minute since she had wandered off from her station, but someone in the back asked me if I needed anything and got my cups for me.

4. I'm not going to even write a lot about my local post office....it would take much too long. Let's just say that if you need to mail a package, expect to stand in line for at LEAST 30 minutes because the service is so slow. I have never seen human beings move so slow and without concern for the customer in my life. And you'll wait even longer if there is a new Avon catalog out to distract them.

These are just a few examples....stuff like this happens all the time. I'm sure that you have had similar experiences. I don't THINK that things used to be this way, but correct me if I am wrong. Those of you who are more "mature", do you feel that the workforce is less caring/competent than, say, 25 years ago?

I'm not sure what the solution is....but, it scares me for our future. Paul warns against a poor work ethic and idleness in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15. Proverbs 6:6-11 addresses the same issue. As a Christian, one of the first ways we can witness for Christ is by being an honorable employee. It will be noticed by un-believers. They will wonder what motivates us to work hard and perform honestly in our business dealings. Often times, it is the way to open the door to share our faith.