Laziness ... at home and at work

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September 27, 2008

By Fredie Carmichael / editor The Meridian Star Sat Sep 27, 2008, 10:27 PM CDT

Did strong, healthy work ethics drop from our fabric the same way real writing was discarded for text messaging (in case you've missed this phenomenon, check your child's cell phone and it won't take long to figure it out)?

And I'm not simply referring to the workplace — it seems this ME-first generation of entitlement and laziness has infiltrated the home as well.

Think about it, we have become a society in which the vast majority would rather plop in front of a television set — a nice, flat-screen plasma to be exact — all day rather than do something more productive and contributory.

Come on, are we really that much more over-worked than our parents' generation? I doubt it, but we sure do act like it at times.

Now, I'm not saying that televisions are evil. I'm the first to enjoy a good television show or sporting event. But look around most homes today and you'll quickly see how god-like some television sets have become.

It seems we've forgotten how to enjoy the outdoors and enjoy each other. If we can't plug it in or charge it up, we don't want to use it. I remember my boss, Crystal Dupré telling a story about how she and her family lived in a small storage shed for about 9 months while their house in Clarkdale was being built and their home in Laurel had yet to sell. She said those months — where they had no television, few appliances and no technology to speak of — were some of the best they've had as a family. I love hearing her tell that story about how, with three kids and a dog, they would cook out, work in the yard, play by the lake — all together. It's a great example.

In the workplace, the laziness seems to come straight from college.

I remember a few months after I began my job as editor we had a reporter position open that we needed to fill quickly. After receiving about 50 applications from a nationwide search, I narrowed it down to three candidates through looking over clips and phoning references. As I began to call the top three candidates, something strange happened. The first person I called — a recent master's degree graduate from a well-known southern university — answered the phone after about 10 rings.

It was only about 10 a.m., but the sound of the person's voice let me know that I had woken them from their sleep. I gave them a moment to compose and proceeded with the telephone call.

"This is who," the reporter candidate said, still sounding half-asleep.

"This is the editor of The Meridian Star calling about the reporter position you applied for," I said.

"Oh, tell me again how much that position pays ... I don't want to waste my time if it doesn't pay good. And I don't want to work weekends, either," the person said.

It didn't take long for me to hang up the phone and scratch that person from the list. It did, however, remind me of an intern who once proclaimed: "I want to be a sports writer, but I just want to cover college football and nothing else."

"Well, as intern your job will be to go to the jail and get the police reports and transcribe them from the docket ," the editor at the time explained.

"But do I have to?" the intern said.

Needless to say that intern didn't last too long.

Those are just two of the many examples of laziness that permeates our society today. People don't want to work for anything. And they believe they're entitled to prestigious jobs with great salaries, no weekends, long paid vacations, ... and they don't think it's something they have to earn; they think they deserve it.

I'm pretty laid back for the most part, but nothing gets under my skin worse than laziness. I guess I get it pretty honest. I remember my grandfather telling me: "you don't get anything in life, you earn it — whether it's respect or a dollar."

My father used to say: "No one should ever be able to outwork you. They may be smarter, faster, stronger or better — but they should never be able to outwork you."

Those are things that still stick with me today. My hope is that I never forget those profound statements, and always work harder the next day than I did the day before — at work and at home.

Fredie Carmichael is editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at

editor@themeridianstar.com.

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