Salaryman
A common worker that goes through the 8–5 working hours, dedicated to his/her company and doesn’t mind being an underpaid worker. sometimes post his/her overtime work on social media with the caption “hustle hustle hustle”.
at least that's my interpretation of a salaryman
The very term salaryman breaks my heart. I was 26 when I started to work in a company (kinda late I know) it was the first professional and conventional working space I worked for. people have this sort of cubical space to separate one another. being 26 I was the youngest employee on the floor
I was excited, having a job, learning new skills, I want to see how people behave in a professional environment and felt like all the knowledge that I have would be useful in my job. and these are the thoughts of the common fresh graduate.
After six months working there, I felt useless, I felt empty, and the praises they threw at me felt like those white lies that are meant to make you feel better in the office. every lunchtime I always went alone thinking of how do I get out of this cycle?
I saw my seniors who worked there for more than 20 years. tackling the same problem of repetitive and unfulfilling tasks. but they mostly stayed because of stable income and having a family to feed. sacrificing themselves and their dream because moving into another company means losing their stable income. they have to pay their bills, and their children’s school tuition. they are trapped in the nuclear family they made.
Then again a question popped into my head. is it royalty or is it the financial problems that made them stay? does being a salaryman means that you have to sacrifice a lot of things to even have a family? should your work be fulfilling?
But seeing those examples made me realize that being in the workforce means that there are certain things that you have to do over and over again, to master certain skills. but there are tipping points to those skills. when you do reach that tipping point, it’s time to master other skills.
mastering your skills or learning new ones could potentially earn you more income by moving into a higher position or other high paying jobs by doing this then you could find those jobs that could fulfill you “emotionally”
but then there are those who are comfortable with their jobs they don't mind staying in the same position for 10 or even 15 years, whether its because of stability or they just want to stay in their comfort zone
for me being a middle-class worker means that you have to choose between those 2. growing your skills which means you have to invest a lot of your time or live in a comfortable life doing the same kind of work.
being at work is ridiculous but that ridiculousness is what we need to fill this empty life of us.
