Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Does Anyone Care About Doing A Good Job?

I casually told someone I was going to be waiting on an installation of a TV service the other day. They said "I hope it goes well." Then we both laughed and admitted that we neither one thought there was much chance of that happening.

It's terrible to expect problems with everything.

But that's the way it is now I think. I do not think it always was this way.

Part of the problem is that so much of what we do now is so complex while the tools we have to apply are so fast. For instance my iPhone tries to figure out what I am trying to type as I do it and substitutes words that I sometimes did not intend. Or the spelling checker for this blog entry for that matter does something similar. Both things happen fast, too!

Beyond that though I just get the feeling sometimes that people don't care much about the quality of the work they produce.

Probably more of my "old fogey" syndrome.

*The AT&T guy came and did a really good job as far as I can tell. I was pleasantly surprised. But that surprise shows that my expectations were so low.*

6 comments:

¸.•*´)ღ¸.•*´Chris said...

I was just thinking about this as I am preparing to go to a dr. appt for a respiratory problem I have been dealing with for a few months.

I have been to one dr. and that didn't go well. I don't get to excited about today's visit. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

susie mccoll said...

Interesting. I really do try and do a good job at whatever it is I'm doing, but that is INTENTIONAL. I've always kind of been that way...you know the type A, overachiever, wanted all A's in school, etc. But, in the past couple of years alot of my behavior has to do with hearing the story of Joseph and how EVEN while he was locked away in prison for a crime he didn't commit, he still worked hard and gained alot of responsibility (Gen. 39:20-23). That is pretty amazing that he didn't just become bitter after ALL that had happened to him. I think that would be most of our reaction. So, we talked about this in our Bible study and the point was made that no matter what we are doing (a door-to-door DOORKNOB salesman was the example), we should do it to the best of our ability FOR THE LORD. Because most likely God has put us in that position for a reason. And when you know that God is your ULTIMATE BOSS, you should do everything to the best of your ability to GLORIFY HIM!!!

dave said...

This is not to scold you Terry, but how I see it.
I spent my life "working."
If you are going to make an even poor living you have to hustle. People talk about wanting a wonderful job, but few are ready to pay for it, it seems.
Hustle means get it done and get going.
If you find really wonderful craftsman, either his children are hungry or he is very spendy.
Sorry, I wish it were otherwise.
We had a $35 minimum charge 50 years ago. Today that would be closer to $250, but no one will pay that.

rilera said...

When the guy came to remove the ramp from our garage that I had had installed for Mom, he called me at work to tell me he was stopping by that day to do it. I told him I hadn't had time to prepare but he said that was OK. He not only removed the ramp, he also reinstalled the handrails on the existing stairs and swept up the garage. I was so please that I called and told his boss so. It's such a rare occurrence that someone does a good job that I had to acknowledge it.

~Betsy said...

We recently upgraded our internet to a faster speed. The company said it could be done remotely - all we had to do was switch the old router for the new one. Sounds easy enough, but of course it didn't go as planned. Someone didn't do the remote switch over properly and it wouldn't communicate with our router. Turned out we had to have the tech guy out after all.
The tech guy who came to the house did a great job. He checked the connections thoroughly and I felt very satisfied with his work. He was prompt and courteous. He was also middle aged. I think that has a lot to do with work ethic. Just my opinion.

Lori1955 said...

I used to work with a guy who had the attitude that all he needed to do was put in his 40 hour week. There was no pride in what he did, no concern about doing anything well. I think I have come to expect this from most of the world too.

I think maybe it has a lot to do with how we were raised. Maybe now that jobs are scarce, people will be more concerned about doing a good job. Let's hope anyway.