Laborious Non-glorious? Essentials of our World Of Work

U still working? As in "for a living"...or have you been replaced after being, in your first annual review, rated as an "efficient"..."effective" and even "essential" employee (as in the ones, the "only essential employees need report...") If I'm not essential why did they offer me a contract...?  Don’t ask me; I’m just a robot. 

Where's the glory...? As in repeating what others have done..."I'm getting bored, as in it's so #%*@ repetitive..." 

Wages and rages: Or perhaps I have the wrong order, as first we raged against the so-called "machine" and then struck for better wages...a bare minimum, on to a living age and finally, what everyone else seems to be getting these daze..."a fair wage for an honest day’s work"😕😖 -- the latter condition giving rise to what's frequently called, a condition affecting workers and employers alike...a list of grievances...that add up to a state of mutual disgruntlement😠...

"We can work it out" Words that back in the day (1964) meant something quite different -- as did a "Hard Day's Night" the following year, as in the perks that come with hard labor, whatever the hour ("I work hard so she can buy..."). Whereas hard-ly a day (more like one shift) goes by these days that we don't hear ("so, when's my next break?"). What happened to that good, old fashioned (what Gen Z's call me whenever I ask the question) "work ethic"? 

Under the Influencers: As overheard in the modern day HR department, job interview: "I already have three followers I can draw on for this marketing position...my parents and my baby brother count, right? And Oh, did I tell you I'm also going to have my own YouTube channel -- my parents told me I could as soon as I landed my first job..."

Meaning fullness: Used to be that all one expected from a week's worth of wages was to be able to put food on the table and fill the fridge, let alone the freezer, but these new generation of workers, according to those seeking employees, come "so full of themselves..."

Coming to terms: As I have now been so-called practicing for almost five decades, it's about time to revisit my employee contract -- at a time when most workers are seeing their energy and zest for work to be contracting a bit. But instead of saying "It's quitting time!" I'm prepping to get "re-deployed" Sure sounds better than the alternative, don't it? 

Happy Be-laboring Day 2024.