Sloth nation: America has taken laziness to new lows

NY Post ^ | January 29, 2011 | Leslie Gornstein

[lowbridge]

“I’m ready to offer my services for ur project. Contact me at ur earliest convenience 2 arrange for interview. Thanks in advance for ur consideration.”

That’s a real cover letter from a real person claiming to be a real professional, who thinks she can get a real job. The letter was fielded by publicist and trend-spotter Richard Laermer, who gets so many of these he collects them and, when asked, forwards them to reporters for fun.

The letter “just made me shake my head till it nearly fell off.” But it isn’t rare. In fact, Laermer says, it’s typical.

“Lazy is the new professionalism,” he says.

[mountn man]

None of my three sisters, who are all in their fifties or sixties, know how to cook. Reason: my mother refused to teach them how to cook. And there was no home econ course in the parochial high school they attended. By the way, their husbands are all excellent cooks.

I can cook, and my mom didn't "teach" me. Oh sure, she showed me just a few basics. But I can cook because I DECIDED I wanted to know how to.

Two words that ABSOLUTELY infuriate me are "I CAAAAAAN'T".

The Eagles-Get Over It

[trisham]

I fear for R future

*****************************

LOL!

[Soothesayer]

Why did you think I was not being sarcastic? Now THAT’S stupid!

[freedumb2003]

>>” I even see that on this board.<<

Don’t you mean “you c it on this bored”?

[arjay]

Bells “peal”, fruit is “peeled”

[Soothesayer]

I would have replied to her:

“Well we can’t offer you that job but would you be interested in being a Janitor’s assistant? Pay is one slice of bread and cup of ice water every four hours. Benefits include a toilet brush and a mattress. Interested?”

[dfwgator]

The triumph of Idiocracy.

[TheWriterTX]

Back in college, I saw a guest speaker talk about success in the future. He said that contrary to the push to specialize in an area, it would eventually be those who had a broad, nimble, readily transferable skill set that would find, and keep, gainful employment.

Obviously, there are some areas where specialization is a must, or leads tp increased prominence. But those who aren't constantly adapting or looking for avenues to grow not just themselves - but the companies they work for - almost always find themselves out of work and out of options much sooner than they thought.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

I make my own point—too lazy to think about word use before I type.

[WVKayaker]

I make my own point—too lazy to think about word use before I type.

Type? Not since Dragons started speaking!

[Opinionated Blowhard]

I agree that hiring a cleaning lady isn’t, per se, laziness. I know professional couples—doctors in particular—who literally work around the clock. Hiring people to take care of the house is justifiable there. And as I said about the peeled fruit, I have no problem with market solutions that make certain tasks easier. The issue is a lot of people who have the time to clean their own houses and do their own simple repairs don’t because they are lazy. Its almost a character issue for me. If you have the time, why not fix your own toilet or clean your own house? It generates pride of accomplishment. Anything—repeat, anything—is better than sitting in front of the TV.

[trisham]

As a newlywed, I taught myself to cook with the aid of The Joy of Cooking.**************************

I received the paperback version as a wedding present. About ten or so years ago, we found a hardcover version on sale. My original Joy of Cooking was in tatters. :)

[Fred Hayek]

What you describe is an extreme lack of curiosity in our culture. Of course the left likes to paint the conservatives of having a lack of curiosity, but that is projection.
I see it in the engineering profession, and not just the newbies. The biggest line is not having a formal course on a certain subject matter. Everything has to be spoon fed. So one “engineer” complains that he can not do a task because he never was trained on it, even though he has been doing other tasks that are related or similar. I even find this line of thinking pushed by HR departments. According to one company’s HR way of thinking, I am not able to do stuff that I do every day on the job since I have not been formally “trained” on the specific task. The line “I CAAAAAAN’T” is more like some crappy excuse “I DON’T WANNA”.

[trisham]

I thought that what he meant made sense.

[trisham]

Please allow me to rephrase that. I thought that what he said made sense. Imho, what he meant was that to save a few seconds of time, which would have cost the job seeker next to nothing, he may have lost his chance at a job.

[trisham]

You sound like a great guy, with a wonderful attitude.

[Richard Kimball]

Lazy? I haven't seen any signs of it.

[mountn man]

Thankyou very much. :)

[trisham]

You’re quite welcome. :)

[DrC]

“Anything—repeat, anything—is better than sitting in front of the TV.”

No quarrel there. If people are paying people for such chores to free up more time for TV-watching, that’s a whole different matter. If people value their TV watching time at more than the cost of a maid, a yard man, gutter cleaner etc., I’d argue such people are not just lazy, but stupid to boot.