What this kid's rant about her 9-5 life in the office gave me food for thought. We live in a time where a young lady such as herself should consider herself lucky she even has a job - there is a terrible unfairness to that and it speaks to how badly we are failing our children. If all a young person can do is commute, work and come home to sleep they cannot grow to their full potential as human beings - there is no time to think about what is next, planning and preparing to seize a bigger, better opportunity. It is also true, time moves at a different pace when you are that young - the days all blur into one infinite stretch of quiet, sad desperation - when will I cook, clean, care for me, meet friends or date. J's life is a lot like this kid's life.
Just because our generation and perhaps those before us had no option but to work in this manner, does not mean that our kids and their kids have to continue to follow a the same soul-crushing pattern. When I started at my first job out of college, having a laptop was a big deal and those that did were considered very special. It was not an option for anyone to work remotely - you had to be tethered to your desk where your computer sat if you job required the use of one. Cellphones started to pop-up a bit later but that did not help untether people from their office desk.
All that has long changed, the barriers no longer exist and yet we want to drain the soul out of person forcing them to commute like the young lady in the video does. Something feels wrong about this desire to regress the workforce to a more primitive time just to keep tabs on them, better control their lives. I hope such inhospitable workplaces act as a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship among young people - a way for them to build a workplace of their dreams and do truly meaningful work along the way.
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