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https://bsky.app/profile/brenthor.bsky.social/post/3krzc7fs77k2i

Best job i ever had was maintenance guy at a nursing home. Loved it. Rewarding. Fulfilling. Paid only $10.75/hr so i left it and 'developed my career' and now im 'successful' but at least once a week i have dreams where im back in the home hanging pictures, flirtin with the ol gals, being useful.

So when people ask 'who fixes toilets under communism?' my answer is a resounding 'me. I will fix the toilets.'

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[-] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 103 points 6 months ago

Happiest I've ever been at work has been fixing and cleaning things that needed it.

The thing that always stopped it was the inhumane work conditions and lack of respect. If you're happy to treat me as an equal, and make me a cup of tea when I take a break to stretch my back and knees I'll do the dirty shitty work for you.

If you want me to work to the point of damaging my body and then raise your voice at me if you see me taking a damn breather then we're gonna have a problem.

[-] clearedtoland@lemmy.world 47 points 6 months ago

I’m damn near 40 in a great career and I still miss my old McDonald’s days that paid peanuts. It was a weird mix of monotony, spontaneity and genuine friendships.

[-] bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 6 months ago

Big mood.

Befriending my coworkers is more fun and genuine when dicking around in the kitchen when the manager is out on a smoke compared to sending sfw memes in slack.

Like, I’m great friends with one of my coworkers. I knew him for years before work, but talking with him on slack feels so much more sterile compared to when I see him in the office, which is much more sterile than when I’d grab dinner with him a few years back.

It’s kinda saddening knowing that the environment of a hybrid job will make it so much harder to have genuine friendships with coworkers.

Now, if I stay at my job for a few years and get promoted to leadership, it will be worse knowing that my hierarchy will taint whatever hope I have at forming genuine friendships.

Fuck work

[-] Bo7a@lemmy.ca 41 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

And so you're asking me, who does the dishes after the revolution?

Well, I do my own dishes now, I'll do our own dishes then

You know it's always the ones who don't who ask that fucking question

-Wingnut dishwashers union - Jesus does the dishes

[-] lorty@lemmy.ml 39 points 6 months ago

Yes, there are people who enjoy doing a simple job well. Capitalism is what makes it miserable by making you poor for doing it (despite society needing it)

[-] MercurySunrise@slrpnk.net 26 points 6 months ago

Whoever is going to be using it. It's not fucking complicated. Under (actual) communism the populace is educated to take care of themselves, unlike in capitalism, which purposefully perpetuates the class divide through lack of education to preserve hierarchy.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 18 points 6 months ago

That works for stuff like "how do I connect two pipes", but not so much for more complex matters like planning out a bathroom, or wiring a house. Or worse, things that actually require practice, like plastering a wall or bricklaying.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

So skilled workers? You're afraid people will stop learning trades?

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 11 points 6 months ago

No, I'm saying that's smarter than doing everything yourself

[-] MercurySunrise@slrpnk.net 5 points 6 months ago

These things can be learned, so they can be taught. Don't use the lack of education we've experienced as an excuse for further lack of education. That's super weak.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 12 points 6 months ago

Of course you can learn them, you can learn anything.

But are you really going to learn every single skill you might one day need? Does this apply to everything, will you, for example, develop your own engine oil from the fractional distiller you hand-welded, with the metals you alloyed at home out of the ore you smelted yourself, just so you can lubricate the electric razor you assembled by hand?

No? Is that perhaps a bit inefficient? Of course it is, because no single human being can learn every skill we have available in society, and that's been true since we invented agriculture.

There is no shame in not knowing how to plaster a wall, because that's hard. Just like there is no shame in not being able to hand-weld and operate a fractional distiller. Now, not being able to unclog your toilet, or paint a wall, is up for discussion.

[-] MercurySunrise@slrpnk.net 5 points 6 months ago

I actually do have to learn to plaster a wall, to fix my house. People should be taught everything they need to know to live on their own, sustainably. I can't believe you're trying to argue against that. Capitalism makes everyone weaker, top to bottom. Wake up.

[-] sudneo@lemm.ee 6 points 6 months ago

You won't learn complex skills if you don't have a chance to exercise them often. In 10 years, you probably won't be in condition to plaster another wall, if the only time you have done it is now. So you need to continuously relearn stuff, if you can.

I don't see the problem if people specialize in certain trades and can contribute to the community with them.

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[-] Tryptaminev@lemm.ee 4 points 6 months ago

Those are all things where you can learn to do them under the supervision of an expert. And given the productivity we achieved with automation we could have a 20 hour "efficient" work week and use the other 20 hours for our "inefficient" shenanigans.

[-] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago

The job I have, I would do even if I was rich. Well, that's only partly true.

I work in aviation in the military, and my job previously consisted of being a flight mechanic doing Search and Rescue, maintaining aircraft, and fixing electronics/avionics on aircraft, and it was awesome, and I'd have done it for free if I could maintain my lifestyle without that paycheck.

The only reason I stopped that stuff and started supervising was because I got too old and broken to continue doing the job I loved, but if you had told me doing this job now (supervising people doing the fun work, occasionally helping them with my arthritis-ridden hands, etc) would be the cost of doing the job I did, I would have accepted it hands down (though in fairness I am looking longingly forward to retirement). And when I do retire, I'll have to find something else to do for work, because I'll probably just die of boredom if I don't.

All that to say, there are plenty of people who don't work just out of necessity. And like the person in the post, just feeling productive and appreciated does wonders to make it worth more than just the paycheck.

[-] Zoboomafoo@slrpnk.net 18 points 6 months ago

I used to work in programming, I hated being so mentally exhausted at the end of the day that I couldn't do anything more taxing than watching TV or playing a mindless videogame

Give me a simple physical job that I leave at work any day

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

God this is me. I've got deadline coming up so I've been tearing my guts out every day trying to finish up a project. I don't even play videogames, or watch shows anymore; just scratch out some notes in diary, then read in bed.

I wish I was like a letter carrier and got to clock out with a clear conscience. No waking up in the middle of the night thinking about nonsense programming problems for a bullshit domain that doesn't need to exist.

[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 17 points 6 months ago

Mopping floors and peeling potatoes was less tiring than carrying a quota staring at these screens.

[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 12 points 6 months ago

a clean floor and peeled potatoes ready to be cooked versus more TPS reports, higher KPIs, more semicolons …

[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Seems like a no brainer. This stupid fucking late stage capitalism money problem Thing...

[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 7 points 6 months ago

not just money, but controlling our time – no time left to do anything for ourselves or too burnt out to do anything during those precious spare minutes …

[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Do you know the song Working Class The Hero?

[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 3 points 6 months ago

time to roll out the Green Day cover to save Darfur again …

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[-] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 16 points 6 months ago

So when people ask ‘who fixes toilets under communism?’ my answer is a resounding ‘me. I will fix the toilets.’

It's true, it took ages for the plumber to come so you were the one who had to fix it.

[-] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago

Communism would just end up with everyone being brain surgeons and rocket scientists with nobody filling potholes.

[-] PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world 19 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I'm from the middle of nowhere West Virginia where a lot of the times you can't get the county to fill in potholes. Lots of people manually fill them in themselves with gravel. If the tools were readily available to borrow, then there would absolutely be somebody that would fix their own road.

We act like there was no infrastructure before capitalism, and that's just not the case. If a village needed a bridge, they built a bridge together.

[-] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 6 months ago

This is a joke right? Like those jobs are grueling as fuck and require very particular people to be interested/capable.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 months ago

Not to say standing on the back of an asphalt machine is easy. Roadwork is pretty hard, not just physically and logistically, but making a nice even layer out rocks and oil-residue is actually not simple at all.

[-] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 6 months ago

Everything is hard but very few people have still enough hands to even be considered neurosurgeons or an interest in using meth in order to perform the insane surgeries (need to stay awake and concentrate). Further few are capable of dehumanising people enough in order to be able to cut into them.

Plenty of people are interested in enough things to cover them but neurosurgery at least is almost life destroying in what it demands. I've never met anyone entirely whole that's a neurosurgeon, so it's kinda weird to imagine people would want to flock to it and we wouldn't have enough people happy to do other work.

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[-] daltotron@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago

who needs to repair potholes if the rocket surgeon general puts in streetcars

[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 9 points 6 months ago

that’s what the automation is for

[-] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

But who automates the automatons?

[-] Garbanzo@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago

Sounds fun to me, but let's keep it to like three days a week, six hours per day

[-] cm0002@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago
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[-] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 8 points 6 months ago

There's a Youtube channel out there called Post 10.

This guy drives around looking for culverts to unclog. Has a day job in lawn care, decides to spend his free time recording himself raking leaf litter off of storm drain grates and pulling beaver dams out of drain pipes.

He has over 2 million active and engaged subscribers and his videos routinely pull in millions of views.

Given their needs are met and they have the time and energy, people will do the job they see needs doing. Just because you're too precious to fill potholes doesn't mean everyone is.

[-] oldfemboy@lemmy.ml 12 points 6 months ago

I like handling bureaucracy so I can handle that. Currently trying to get a public office job. I'm bringing it up because I'm aware most people don't.

Many "undesirable" jobs are undesirable because they're below living wage and/or may be long-term unsustainable physically (or mentally) with the 40(+)h/week standard.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 10 points 6 months ago

I have a similar experience but I was driving a cargo van around delivering boxes of office paper. Didn't even have a cellphone in those days, just a big list of deliveries and a map. I delivered to all kinds of cool places and learned a ton about the city.

I imagine that job is totally fucked up now. Twice as many deliveries on half the time, eye tracking cameras, and the driver is responsible for paying for gas and maintenance. But man, for that one summer in 2001 it was glorious.

[-] janus2@lemmy.zip 10 points 6 months ago

My job involves handling dangerous materials. Given how much some of my coworkers stress me the fuck out by being walking safety hazards, I often and happily volunteer to shift the more dangerous tasks to myself.

I'd be snagging post-revolution hazmat volunteer shifts like a fiend just trying to keep less careful people from getting them...

[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 10 points 6 months ago

remind coworkers: “Safety regulations are written in blood.”

[-] luciferofastora@lemmy.zip 5 points 6 months ago

Obviously the blood of morons who didn't know what they're doing. I know what I'm doing, so I'll be fine.

(Until they get an unforgettable live demonstration on optimism bias and cumulative probability)

[-] LoamImprovement@beehaw.org 8 points 6 months ago

Yeah, I think that's something worth expanding on - lots of people actually like work. Nobody likes working 40+ hours a week and still not being able to pay the bills.

I really enjoyed the actual work I did at Subway. The only things I didn't like about it were the rude-ass customers, the fact that I was getting paid shit.50 an hour and the manager was a creep and a prick who was constantly late with checks. Two of those things go away if everyone's paid enough to live no matter what they do.

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[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Reminds me from my own history: the most satisfying job I ever had was cleaning floors and bathrooms at grocery stores at nights.

It didn't even pay minimum wage, so it was under the table. If I didn't have to earn 6 figures just to survive I would for sure be in cleaning: I love tidying up dirty areas and then fussing over them, keeping them spic and span.

If I had a job that was cleaning a circuit of 5 grocery stores in my area, and I could survive on that, I would be so happy.

[-] Nomecks@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 months ago

Sounds like you need to start a company

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 6 points 6 months ago

Then I'd be competing against the other cleaning companies, and no grocery stores would hire us if I insisted on paying me and the other workers a fair wage.

And given how grocery store owners have been caught profiteering and price fixing, I doubt the leadership would make the right choice for the good of the some workers that they don't even control.

Capitalism make the good choice the wrong one.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 5 points 6 months ago

Whoever's G.O.A.T. test comes back as "plumber".

[-] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 3 points 6 months ago

I'd go back into restaurants in a heartbeat if it paid the bills, then I'd come home and build software on my own time.

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this post was submitted on 09 May 2024
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Antiwork

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For the abolition of work. Yes really, abolish work! Not "reform work" but the destruction of work as a separate field of human activity.

To save the world, we're going to have to stop working! — David Graeber

A strange delusion possesses the working classes of the nations where capitalist civilization holds its sway. ...the love of work... Instead of opposing this mental aberration, the priests, the economists, and the moralists have cast a sacred halo over work. — Paul Lafargue

In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic. — Karl Marx

In the glorification of 'work', in the unwearied talk of the 'blessing of work', I see the same covert idea as in the praise of useful impersonal actions: that of fear of everything individual. — Friedrich Nietzsche

If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves. — Lane Kirkland

The bottom line is simple: all of us deserve to make the most of our potential as we see fit, to be the masters of our own destinies. Being forced to sell these things away to survive is tragic and humiliating. We don’t have to live like this. ― CrimethInc

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