Time is Limited. Keep Small Things Small.

I was brought up that Sundays were a day of worship or rest. We would not even mow the lawn. I’m old enough to remember when many places were closed on Sunday and God forbid if you wanted to go fishing or buy a beer. Where I grew up, Walmart played a significant role in challenging the “blue laws” as they were called. Such laws prohibited certain activities on Sundays, “immoral” activities like picking up a six-pack of Hamm’s. Walmart was smart about it and didn’t touch the historical religious overtones of the laws but championed giving people more choices and more hours of work. In many cases they won and Sundays can now be used to shop and sin like any other day.

Whatever the roots of the reasoning, it is not a bad idea to have a day, a few hours, some bit of time set aside to contemplate things; a moment sacred to deeper thought and meaning other than cash and profit. Especially here in the United States.

Americans work. I know everyone is hearing the stories of can’t find enough workers or people not doing their job, but the data is particularly clear.

In comparison to other countries, Americans are putting plenty of time on the clock, and with inflation adjustment, we’re neither making as much nor living as long as we used to. Notably, the U.S. has the lowest life expectancy among large, wealthy countries, despite outspending its peers on healthcare¹. What we are making is being spent on purposefully more expensive healthcare, and we’re not even living longer for it.

That statistic alone should give us some pause in banging each other over the head about work. If we had a better work-life balance, including a universal right to healthcare, I think we would not be taking some of the actions we do against each other.

We are too quick to judge, and we do it over the tiniest of issues. How important is posting that bad review of a local restaurant? Or complaining about a piece of mail or a meal delivery? In our house, we use the term “first-world problems” to ensure we’re not putting too much energy into things that really don’t deserve it.

Where should we put our time?

Into making our lives better. All of our lives. We the People.

I was reading a commentary about how we have come to expect layoffs, job changes, poor management, and plenty of paperwork during our working years. Though the “reward” of working has not adjusted inflation-wise (the federal minimum wage still sits at $7.25), the expectations of dysfunctional management and legally-induced paperwork have greatly increased.

Surveys show that many workers spend at least one day a week on paperwork and administrative tasks, and the average worker in the United States will end up changing jobs approximately 5 to 7 times. According to the US Department of Labor, roughly 30% of the total workforce switches jobs every 12 months!

I don’t think this is sustainable.

I don’t even think it is healthy.

And I think it is the main reason we are freely expressing our opinions to cancel each other out. We simply don’t have as much control over things as we wish or thought we had, and we vent our frustrations against each other. While we waste time on small things, it is these bigger things like job security, good wages, and the pursuit of happiness that are getting more arbitrary and difficult.

If you’ve been in one of these situations before, where you did your part and didn’t receive what you felt was fair or expected, you know what it feels like. It is especially difficult if you have championed the mission, vision, and values of a place only to become persona non grata. Though consultants and managers have made billions off of moving companies to using a “total quality management” framework, the underlying problems have remained, and in many cases, gotten worse. But here’s the biggest problem.

We just don’t care.

A recent article from The Hustle discussed how some businesses such as Nestle, Walmart, Starbucks, and Delta Air Lines have started using software to monitor worker interactions, essentially spying on their people. The turnover rate at Amazon, the second largest employer in the U.S., is approximately 150% per year. Morale among teachers is at an all-time low. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for U.S. children aged 10 to 14.² A quick read of X(Twitter), magazine covers, and business books will show not only a myriad of frustrations with currently acceptable workplace standards but paradoxically how much we are worshipping the ground of those who actively throw people out of work.

While we are distracted by small things, big things are happening. More effort to take the human out of being human is well underway, and I can’t comprehend anything good coming out of this. We have become accustomed to putting people out of work, putting more policies in place to suffocate independent thinking, and purchasing goods from companies without considering how staff are treated.

That’s why we need time off. We didn’t progress to 2024 to work or amuse ourselves to death.

We need to be able to contemplate what it is we’re doing. We are more than consumers and we’re accepting too many things for the sake of small conveniences.

This is why I talk about being a good human. We have to be better than this.

• Don’t do things only because you can, do it because you must.

• Though you should not accept your work life as your only life, neither should there be no solidarity with those you work with. There’s a duality to life that must be balanced and I’ll talk about that more in a future issue.

• And for God’s sake, stop wasting so much time on petty things. Spend time, little by little, making a difference on big things.

We owe it to future Americans.

I was asked recently about returning to the classroom. If you’ve followed any of my writings, you know the esteem to which I regard teachers. We take for granted these individuals who want to be with kids all day long to get them ready for life and individual pursuits. The power of adult peers like teachers may not be seen or known for several years, but all of us can look back and remember those teachers that made a difference in our lives.

I’ve often said that decision-makers should have to spend a few days in classrooms to get a better appreciation for the job. The current trend of shackling teachers to specific lessons and using only certain words or books is either a) the beginning of a madrasas type of educational initiative, or b) the last gasp of controlling the narrative when the World is shrinking. You who are out there reading this will be the ones that make the difference in the outcome. What will you expect, and what will you settle for.

If you are on Facebook, I would strongly encourage you to see this video from middle school English teacher Harrington Day. Not only was she exceptional for our kids, I had the honor of subbing her class on several occasions. When we lose dedicated teachers, something is wrong.

This is a real first-world problem.

The luster of Elon wore off for me about three years ago when I read reports of bullying Steve Jobs-like behavior of his staff and subordinates. I’ve always thought that there are enough brilliant people out there that childish behavior from an adult in charge is simply not acceptable. I am especially torqued because at one time I championed Musk for everything he’s done in the ways of alternative energy (and my sons tend to follow what he says).

Instead of staying on his meds and acting like a responsible adult, his narcissistic tendencies have taken over and allowed him to do bad things to others without pause. If X ultimately fails, one can only hope it will teach Musk some lessons in human frailty and a bit more humility. Steve Jobs underwent the same sort of transformation when fired from the company he helped to build! We need brilliant people like Musk to succeed, but not on the backs of others.

Unfortunately, our local Macy’s is one of those that has taken the hit and will be closed very soon. I grew up with department stores and I’ve watched over time as many of them have been bought up or bankrupted. I wish this new CEO all the success possible. The vultures are ready to buy it and pick the flesh from the bone, but the loss in local jobs and places to go doesn’t usually get counted in with these kinds of transactions. I visited Belk’s last week with my wife, still a beautiful two-story department store, but it was a ghost town on a Saturday evening.

Twenty years ago, our Belks was a bustling place and the mall was thriving. Now, all that remains is this one wing of a mall that has been mostly repurposed. There were very few workers and even fewer customers, though the layout remains attractive and the amount of products considerable. To survive, these stores are going to need some investment in extra incentives to entice visitors to come back and stay. I would dedicate a space to a coffee shop and maybe local music. Make it a cool place to hang out. Diversify a bit more for a one-stop shop, not quite the Target model but something parallel.

We humans need places to go, to be inspired, to be with others, and to be safe. Be mindful of these things, and these stores will make it.

This is a phenomenal piece from an English professor at PACE University. My family knows the value of education. We come from the working class, and education has been the piece that has helped us forward. In the last twenty years, the type of educational pursuits such as English has been on shaky ground. Instead of viewing English, humanities, music, and social studies as a necessity for democracy and civic involvement, education is becoming more and more defined by ultimate economic purpose. Why read or study English, or paint, or teach the roots of the nation, when we need programmers or businessmen or sales agents?

This kind of thinking should have never been given the legs it has gotten, and I think it is part of the reason we have become so undereducated, less appreciative of each other, and frankly much more gullible to follow bad actors.

This is a great story of perseverance. I know this feeling of working and building up something, only to have it yanked. There is nothing one can control except your mindset, your view of the challenge, and Terry Crews speaks volumes here. It is a long video so just start watching it and stop where you wish. It is chock full of stories and introspection. I think it helps to know that you are not alone when working to get and stay ahead.

In closing, treat the people you work with like family members, as best you can. It’s not just a job, it’s your time on Earth. It’s theirs as well. I recently finished reading Jennette Mccurdy’s book, I’m Glad My Mom Died. My kids grew up watching her on iCarly and I was sorry to read about the troubles she has gone through. Though this is not the central part of her story, I liked this one piece she wrote, reflecting upon leaving her cast and crew at the end of the show. It’s how I’ve felt when leaving a position:

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this issue, let others know and ask them to subscribe. Now, until next time, go be a good human.

1  How does U.S. life expectancy compare to other countries? - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker

2  Mental Health Statistics (2024) – Forbes Health