Bang! You’ve slammed your laptop shut and already grabbed your bag. You are shutting off your work phone as you make your way out the office. This afternoon, you might beat your personal record, and be in your car just two minutes after your day ended. You had a full day of doing the bare minimum, stifling any inclination to do a hair more. You leave content knowing that your employers will never mistake you for having ambition.
Protesting horrible working conditions, malevolent employers, or illegal business practices certainly has its place. But protesting work in general? Completely absurd. Especially in this country, where we all have the freedom to make a job change. The majority of people I see encouraging “quiet quitting” are generally young folks with out families. Definitely a minority among us. But these are folks who are in the prime position in their life to make a change if they are unhappy.
Showing detachment to employers to that degree is a little strange and a red flag. It’s okay to care even a little about your job. It’s okay to help out employers or customers reasonably outside the 9-5 hours. It’s okay to enjoy the company of coworkers, even if that compels you to pull a little more weight or stay a little bit later.
Whenever I hear “quiet quitting” I envision someone who will not be a good part of the team, someone who is extremely selfish, and who should not be trusted. I see someone who has lost motivation to improve their own life, and so makes their life a problem to others. The same type of people who think Communism and Socialism are good ideas. Folks who think a 40 hour work week is too much already.
No one has to be married to their job at all. Unless you own your own business, it probably would not be healthy. The “quiet quitting” is probably driven by a real emotion which, if re-directed, could be used to start a new business, or find a new hobby, or generally improve the life of the person. If you find yourself on the receiving end of that emotion, you should actually quit and change your employment scenery. Don’t bouder so much that you sour yourself and those around you.
Bayou Observant 