Technically, I'm retired. Keep that in mind.

On the cooking forum they have started a thread about the horrors of lousy jobs and their treatment by some bosses. I wrote:

Yikes! I didn't know how bad I had it until I read your posts!I haven't had a raise in over 15 years. I work nights, weekends and holidays. I even have to be on 24/7 call to some of the restaurants and better clients who cannot come to me--I have to go to them.I can keep my tips, but I have to provide my own car, my own insurance and many of my own meals. On top of that the owner of my company is a first-class, gold-plated a-hole.

One member responded that I should quit that lousy job, but I responded that I am self-employed.

Working can be hard or tedious or thankless. Not all owners have Lear Jets, however, and 80% of the companies in America are classified as "small buisnesses. In the majority of cases the owners work longer, harder hours than many of their employees.

I hear the complaints all of the time, and the griping comes out of both sides of their mouths. They complain, but they do nothing about the issue. They describe employers as money grubbing, and yet complain further that jobs are going to China or that illegal aliens "do the work that Americans refuse."

Yesterday my wife and I went to a coffee shop, and one of the managers was interviewing a potential employee at the next table. Not only were some of the questions illegal under Wisconsin statutes, but openly insulting to older Americans. Neither of them were dressed appropriately for an interview (the interviewer was in short shorts), and since I had been a manager I found I didn't know anything about the potential employee at the end of the interview. I wouldn't have hired that woman, however I would never have promoted the interviewer to an administrative position.

I'm glad I'm retired. This new breed is worthless, and my "employee" always shows up, and actually works.

Self Employed = pay for the food + pay for the diaper + 24/7 change the diaper + deal with the contents of the diaper + pay for the powder + pay for the wet wipes + never get a thank you.

I've been self employed my whole life, Summer is my busy season, instead of one job I do three...

Sorry I never go back to ya, this is why.

I also am the proud father of 3 businesses that keep me fed and able to do have the "finer" things in life... like a 17 year old motorcycle... it was a fine year LOL

Yeah, working for yourself is tough, but you know the old adage, "Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven."

BTW, we always toss around the phrase, "Ride the wheels off." Hey, being your own boss allows me to do just that. Next week Spinner gets new progressive shocks, a new rear tire and maybe new rear spokes. I did, in fact, ride the wheels off of her.

But I didn't get to do things like that from whining. You have to show up for work, get your fingers dirty, perhaps unplug a few toilets. I'm seeing those values less and less in society.

"I love the smell of swarf in the morning--it smells like Harley parts..."

Pretty much the reason I've never been an "Employee"...
or asked to join many different organizations... LOL

Believe it or not, my opinion on self-employment stems from working at jobs where the vast majority was women. If I started a company I would find out from the government on how many females I was required to carry by law, and comply only at the minimum legal rate.

You cannot believe the vast amount of time and administrative resources it took just to maintain order. If you had a team of plumbers, and they were not working, a foreman could come out and say, "Guys, get back to work, you're wasting time and money." That's it. Now, women complain, they want closed door meetings because it always someone else's fault. Or my favorite--"we need to create a committee task force to air differences..."

As part of my financial assignments I was made purchasing agent for a dental clinic. They were to be re-stocked on Tuesdays, but got on the PA system all day long to have me paged for 'emergency supplies.' If I was not prompt, they went to their boss who in turn went to my boss. If I would not comply, they held a meeting after hours to get my job description altered. I refused to adhere to any meeting where I was not present and I locked down the supply closets. They could never get it that wasting time and supplies would result in lay-offs and cutbacks.

Ultimately the dentists who wanted fiscal restraint broke off and formed their own corporation. However, I was left with the bozos and one of the founders daughters, who was now in charge. You can imagine how that went.

When I worked for my last 'adult assignment' it was for a company facing bankruptcy. They went under for the same reason. They valued biitching more than sound business principles. I then became a self-employed knife sharpener.