A man had two dogs: a hound, to assist him in hunting, and a housedog, who simply laid around the house. After a good day’s hunt, he always gave the housedog a large share of his spoil. One day the hound, feeling much aggrieved at this, reproached his companion, saying, “It’s tough working so hard, while you, who never assists in the chase, luxuriates on the fruits of my exertions.” The housedog replied, “Don’t blame me, friend; it’s our master’s fault. For rather than teach me to labor, he taught me to depend for subsistence on the labor of others.” — Aesop
Photo Credit: M Yashna
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Definitely a lot of that going around these days. A strong work ethic must be taught from a early age. I think technology has made life so much easier today than our ancestors had it, that it often suppresses people’s drive to actually work hard.
No doubt technology has made things easier for everyone. Interesting theory that it may, in general, be responsible for dulling some people’s work ethic. I’m not sure I agree though, NIck. I do agree though that one’s work ethic is instilled at an early age.
This is a good one! Aesop is known for fables but this could easily be nonfiction – if dogs could talk or if these dogs were the people they actually represent…
Who says dogs can’t talk?! I used to have a Siberian Husky that I taught to say “Oreo.” He got one every night before bed time — assuming he asked for it. Which, of course, he always did without fail!
good post. very true that most people who are lazy are that way because someone else will enable them.
Aesop was no fool, pen!
Many children say they are lazy because that is their excuse. Laziness is an excuse for not being interested enough in something to get it done. If you are interested in something the energy is usually boundless.
I agree, KC. Which is why it is important to do what you love for a living. If you don’t enjoy what you do for a living, odds are you won’t put the work in that is required to make you successful.
Another thing I’ve noticed is the fact for many people, below-average credit is the response to circumstances above their control. For example they may be really saddled with illness and as a consequence they have large bills for collections. Maybe it’s due to a occupation loss or even the inability to work. Sometimes breakup can send the finances in a downward direction. Thanks sharing your notions on this weblog.
Agreed. However, I think in many cases such a fate can be avoided when folks make sure they have a sufficient emergency fund in place. Especially when it comes to job loss — not so much, maybe, for catastrophic illnesses.
Why is the working dog so jealous of what the other dog is doing? Why doesn’t he just worry about himself? Obviously the man of the house values the house dog enough to give him food so why get so uptight about it?
Boggles my mind that people worry so much about what everyone else is doing, earning, whatever.
An example is I have a friend who is an Executive Assistant for a Vice President at her company. However, the VP is the CEO/Founder’s Brother-In-Law. She claims he is terrible, can’t do anything correctly, and pretty much shows up for a few hours a day and plays games on the computer. She ends up doing almost all his work yet he makes 250k and she makes a bit over 35k. I tell her to stop worrying about what other people are making, be happy to have what you do, and if you don’t like where you work leave. But she is so hung up on how she is doing his work and not making the same amount of money.
Just don’t understand.