Nigel Oldfield wrote:
People can take a lot of pride and satisfaction in doing a job well,

Not if they hate it with a vengeance.

I have had several jobs that I hated with a vengeance. *The only way I
kept my sanity was to do them well and gain some pride and
satisfaction from doing that.

You see, *you* found a coping mechanism - excellent.

BTW, were you in tears, knocking your head against the wall
(literally), nearly every morning, IBS filling your loo a number of
times a day? that is hating your job.


If I hadn't found a way to cope, I feel sure I would have been. Yes,
I suffered from IBS and still do. Perhaps you have pointed out why!

By the way, added to your list was that the money they paid me wasn't
enough to live on at more than a subsistence level.

But 10 years before, people in my position actually paid their
"employers" for the privilege of doing what I did. At least I got a
salary, pittance though it was.


I repeat, the modern day intolerance of a job that is less than
'perfect' only makes people unhappier than they need to be. *In other
words, their pain is self inflicted.

But real. We respond in response to our environment (alongside our
genetics). Our present environment (and our principles) promotes your
'intolerance of a job' mindset; some would say this 'a good thing'


That is only 'a good thing' if you can actually do something to change
your situation for the better. If this is impracticable, the least
worst approach is almost certainly finding a coping mechanism.

What has changed between the generations is that young people are now
quite unprepared for any adversity, and even find boredom
unacceptable. When I were a lad, I would gladly have swapped my
ordeal for mere boredom!