# Stupid, non-serious people in the workplace



## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

If there is one thing that boils my blood it's these stupid clowns who don't take work seriously.

It absolutely makes me puke the type of guys who think it's 'ok' to joke around during work hours. No, that is not ok. Work is serious business. I come from a culture where you respect everyone around you. This includes: no jokes, seriousness during your job, full dedication. There is this guy I know working as a software engineer and he sends me stupid memes/jokes all the time. I get angered by his clownish work ethos and I tell him: "Every time you are being unproductive you are wasting money"; it's true. Work is to be serious. You do your job, you work hard and you get home. Home is the space for private matters (jokes and what not). Work is the space for being serious and being an adult for crying out loud. Then he tells me: "Haha, our workplace doesn't block links here. Even if we send a porn link as a joke it's ok. The company trusts us". It is never ok. In my culture we have respect for the human body (no piercings, no jokes about porn, no porn, nothing of that sort). I think his culture is bloody stupid (stupid Western civilization). 

I worked for a year at a hard labor job. Oh, it was not pleasant, no, it was serious business. I was constantly told by my boss to work harder and faster and I was not allowed to talk to my colleagues. Work, work, work, time is money! That's what real work is, not these disrespectful stupid pansy-*** office clerks who have not grown up yet. While they are in the office telling their stupid jokes, they should know that every second spent doing that is a great disrespect for us truly hard workers who take their job seriously.


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## JamesM2 (Aug 29, 2012)

I think there's something to be said for a bit of a balance, to be honest. A work place where everyone is goofing off all the time is unproductive and unprofessional, but a super-serious workplace where any form of joking and lightheartedness is frowned upon would be terrible for staff morale and also end up having a negative impact on productivity. I wouldn't want to work somewhere where I had to be absolutely serious every second of the working day - I'm a human, not a robot.


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

JamesM2 said:


> I think there's something to be said for a bit of a balance, to be honest. A work place where everyone is goofing off all the time is unproductive and unprofessional, but a super-serious workplace where any form of joking and lightheartedness is frowned upon would be terrible for staff morale and also end up having a negative impact on productivity. I wouldn't want to work somewhere where I had to be absolutely serious every second of the working day - I'm a human, not a robot.


So you're saying government institution workplaces are bad for morale? That is odd, since they perform so well.


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## JamesM2 (Aug 29, 2012)

s12345 said:


> So you're saying government institution workplaces are bad for morale? That is odd, since they perform so well.


 There was no ban on jokes or lighthearted conversation at the government department I worked in for 3 and a half years.


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## Shameful (Sep 5, 2014)

I would much rather work in the environment your coworker likes, than the work environment you seem to like. You're stuck there all day, why don't you want to have some fun?


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## diamondheart89 (Mar 21, 2011)

So you hate fun?


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## AussiePea (Mar 27, 2007)

A healthy workplace culture is critical to a successful business. If people feel like they are in a jail where smiling and enjoying themselves is forbidden then they will probably enjoy going to work less and the quality of their product will suffer. A balance has to exist and that's up to management to...well, manage.


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## TenYears (Jan 15, 2010)

For God's sake don't be such a stick in the mud. Or get the stick out of your butt. Or...can't think of anymore stick analogies. Don't you think a little sense of humor, a little joking around for a minute makes the work day go by a little faster, and a little more tolerable?

I used to work for Satan himself, the worst boss ever, and even he tolerated some of that. Nobody can be dead serious, all work all the time. At least I don't think so. Maybe you can? Idk.


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

AussiePea said:


> A healthy workplace culture is critical to a successful business. If people feel like they are in a jail where smiling and enjoying themselves is forbidden then they will probably enjoy going to work less and the quality of their product will suffer. A balance has to exist and that's up to management to...well, manage.


You never actually read a book on management or took a management course, have you? Well, I did. I took up management at university and I know how it works. It does not work how you think it does. The quality of the product does not suffer because of morale. If you employ the right strategy, your product will be better than one where people slack off. Reality is much more different than you think it is.


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

TenYears said:


> For God's sake don't be such a stick in the mud. Or get the stick out of your butt. Or...can't think of anymore stick analogies. Don't you think a little sense of humor, a little joking around for a minute makes the work day go by a little faster, and a little more tolerable?
> 
> I used to work for Satan himself, the worst boss ever, and even he tolerated some of that. Nobody can be dead serious, all work all the time. At least I don't think so. Maybe you can? Idk.


Yes, I can. It is called being a grownup.


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## AussiePea (Mar 27, 2007)

Difference between "slacking off" and having a happy, casual workplace. 

If I had to work somewhere where I couldn't ever have a laugh with a colleague or spend 5 minutes here and there having a chat I think I'd fall to pieces. They quality of what I produce is very much related to how I feel, and environments like that would be utterly depressing.


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

AussiePea said:


> Difference between "slacking off" and having a happy, casual workplace.
> 
> If I had to work somewhere where I couldn't ever have a laugh with a colleague or spend 5 minutes here and there having a chat I think I'd fall to pieces. They quality of what I produce is very much related to how I feel, and environments like that would be utterly depressing.


You would fall to pieces? I should warn you how tough the real working world is..


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## Shameful (Sep 5, 2014)

Cool, you answered them but ignored the most important question - why don't you want to have some fun, at the place you're stuck all day?


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

Shameful said:


> Cool, you answered them but ignored the most important question - why don't you want to have some fun, at the place you're stuck all day?


It is a matter of principles - a question which I already answered. I think you should have read between the lines.


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

shiori said:


> Just... wow.
> 
> Please don't ever become a manager.


You can say what you want girl, but I can become what I want.  Don't you worry - I have plenty of manager knowledge.


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## illage2 (Sep 27, 2014)

s12345 said:


> If there is one thing that boils my blood it's these stupid clowns who don't take work seriously.
> 
> It absolutely makes me puke the type of guys who think it's 'ok' to joke around during work hours. No, that is not ok. Work is serious business. I come from a culture where you respect everyone around you. This includes: no jokes, seriousness during your job, full dedication. There is this guy I know working as a software engineer and he sends me stupid memes/jokes all the time. I get angered by his clownish work ethos and I tell him: "Every time you are being unproductive you are wasting money"; it's true. Work is to be serious. You do your job, you work hard and you get home. Home is the space for private matters (jokes and what not). Work is the space for being serious and being an adult for crying out loud. Then he tells me: "Haha, our workplace doesn't block links here. Even if we send a porn link as a joke it's ok. The company trusts us". It is never ok. In my culture we have respect for the human body (no piercings, no jokes about porn, no porn, nothing of that sort). I think his culture is bloody stupid (stupid Western civilization).
> 
> I worked for a year at a hard labor job. Oh, it was not pleasant, no, it was serious business. I was constantly told by my boss to work harder and faster and I was not allowed to talk to my colleagues. Work, work, work, time is money! That's what real work is, not these disrespectful stupid pansy-*** office clerks who have not grown up yet. While they are in the office telling their stupid jokes, they should know that every second spent doing that is a great disrespect for us truly hard workers who take their job seriously.


I get where your coming from. I have to put up with people sending cat pictures in work all day, but its never killed productivity. I think there's always room for a laugh and a joke in the work place.


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## East (Jul 22, 2013)




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## Antigrav01 (Oct 11, 2010)

A happy workplace is a productive workplace. Yes, slacking off will lead to a lower quality product (whether that's customer service, an actual item product, whatever), but having fun and enjoying each other's company doesn't have to mean slacking off. I can still be productive and do my job while joking with coworkers. When i'm watching self-checkouts, why cant I have a conversation with my manager who is standing next to me? When i'm taking the trash from each of the registers, why cant I smile at the cashier and exchange a couple lines of friendly chatting as i'm taking their trash can? 

I mean...seriously? Is this that horrible? You honestly think that a workplace where the employees are enjoying themselves would be a bad thing? What kind of horribly depressing, robotic world do you live in? I mean, Equilibrium is a good movie, but its just a movie. No need to take it as a personal philosophy. I'm not suggesting that people should be joking constantly and carrying on like children all the time. Where fun takes priority to the actual job. If that's what you mean, then I understand where you're coming from. But no fun...at all...?

Honestly, the reason I haven't quit my job yet LONG ago is because of my coworkers. They kept me sane. I've made friends there and I feel blessed that they consider me a friend as well. Some of them I feel like I can talk with about real issues i'm having. In this world, friends like that are invaluable and are FAR more important than whatever sense of productivity you're imagining. As stressed and depressed being a cashier makes me, I can't imagine how id feel if I wasn't allowed to have friendly conversations or if those coworkers where all miserable *******s void of any sense of happiness. You realize that in Japan, for example, killing oneself due to workplace stress is quite common? I don't care how many management classes you've taken or how amazing a manager you think you are, employees need a way to unwind both on and off the clock. To be a good manager means more than increasing productivity and efficiency. You need to have good people skills and understand how they may be feeling, because once again, happy coworkers are productive coworkers. Just because they are happy doesn't mean they are slacking off and you need to understand that. If you disagree, then i'm sorry, but you are NOT a good manger. That kind of arrogance really gets under my skin. You'd be the type of manager that everyone complains about and people quit their jobs over.

Its true I don't take my job as a cashier seriously. Yeah, I do what is required of me, but nothing more. If I get fired someday, it'll be a good thing because my job SUCKS. If I had a different job I actually enjoyed and felt like I was impacting the world in some way (or at the very least, not making me feel like a replaceable grocery scanning machine), then id take it more seriously. But id still have fun. My happiness comes first. Life is too short not to by happy and just because we all have to have jobs in society doesn't mean we cant be happy while doing those jobs. If I have to dedicate 30-50 hours of my week to being at this place, I darn well better be happy while i'm there.


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## jesse93 (Jun 10, 2012)

Wow man, if there was 0 fun at my work, It'd be so much more terrible.


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## CowGoMoo (Apr 14, 2013)

Pshh whatever this is America, not a sweat shop in China. 
I probably work 50% of the time and slack off 50% of the time. Still get the same paycheck so why stress my life out to make some old fat guy richer than he already is?
You are not your job. You don't need to act like an automaton. That's what robots are for


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

Antigrav01 said:


> ---


You never actually have been threatened to get fired if you don't work faster, right? You never have been told to work work work and keep your mouth shut, right? Well, I have. Welcome to the hard laborer's world, where the world is a real ****hole. By the way, it was a trucker's job, carrying out bags into a truck and moving around merchandise into a store, together with real men. I am glad I only did it for a short while, but that is the situation I am referring to.

I am talking about the situation you referred to there, the one where the fun seems to be taking priority over actual work. Having been a hard laborer angers me to no end seeing office workers slack and 'have fun', joking around like stupid little charlatans, while us hard laborers are working hard in the snow outside, without sweaters, biting our teeth and not being allowed to speak one word. The real hard world is one for real men.


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

CowGoMoo said:


> Pshh whatever this is America, not a sweat shop in China.
> I probably work 50% of the time and slack off 50% of the time. Still get the same paycheck so why stress my life out to make some old fat guy richer than he already is?
> You are not your job. You don't need to act like an automaton. That's what robots are for


I don't live in America buddy and the world is not America.


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## CowGoMoo (Apr 14, 2013)

s12345 said:


> I don't live in America buddy and the world is not America.


England, America, Australia, Korea etc.. Same crap. First world countries with luxuries that permit us to not have overlords as bosses! Be grateful!


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

CowGoMoo said:


> England, America, Australia, Korea etc.. Same crap. First world countries with luxuries that permit us to not have overlords as bosses! Be grateful!


I don't live where you mentioned. You don't know half of real life. Put this in your head: luxuries only exist to those who are privileged, spoiled and corrupt. Once you worked in the ditch, then you come and speak to me. Other than that, you are just spoiled.


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## CowGoMoo (Apr 14, 2013)

s12345 said:


> I don't live where you mentioned. You don't know half of real life. Put this in your head: luxuries only exist to those who are privileged, spoiled and corrupt. Once you worked in the ditch, then you come and speak to me. Other than that, you are just spoiled.


LOL I'm from Guatemala, and I drive a ****ing truck in America and I am the happiest guy on earth. Tell me how I'm spoiled? 
Luxuries exist to those who are privileged , spoiled, and corrupt? Seems like you don't know half of real life. You're on a computer! That's a luxury! Enjoy it and be grateful for the awesome life you have! Stop being so hateful and negative


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## Chippy D (Aug 6, 2014)

I work at a grocery store. 
We have to bulls**t with each other to get through the monotony of work.
I still get my work done, but i crack jokes all the time.
↑But, I could see your point in a professional setting...kind of see your point.


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## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but you really need to get laid. There is nothing wrong with trying to have fun at work.


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## Antigrav01 (Oct 11, 2010)

s12345 said:


> The real hard world is one for real men.


Wow, you must be fun at parties. Whats with all the anger? A job where your boss is telling you to work harder and faster even though you're already busting your *** is obviously a tough job, I get it. But there's no need for that kind of sexist crap. REAL men? Wow. And all this time I thought I was a real man. Im going to have to have a long discussion with my parents tomorrow since they must have been lying to me this whole time.

Seriously though, just chill out a bit. The jobs you worked sucked, sure, and we all can see how it has affected you from working them. You cant bring that kind of attitude with you while you are doing less physically intensive jobs, because its just going to make you look like an arrogant, overly macho douche bag which will surely distance yourself from people. Unless that's what you want since your co-workers are just strictly co-workers...apparently. Its like you're a soldier suffering from severe PTSD thinking you're still on the battlefield or something. Just relax.

You talk about the real world. Well the "real" world isnt all rock hard, machine-like, bust ***, hairy chest and hard beer in a 2 liter stainless steel mug. The real world can actually be kinda nice if you look for it. If thats the kind of life you want to live, you're more than welcome to live it that way. But acting like other people have to and those that chose not to are delusional is not the right way to be.


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## RelinquishedHell (Apr 10, 2012)

This is how my workplace is everyday. I was supposed to leave on time Friday and not do overtime. That was until my coworkers ( Including my team lead ) decided to go get drunk in the parking lot. My team lead tied his shirt around his head and started pretending he was a terrorist, then him and another guy decided to race the forklifts. We have really fast forklifts too, so to no surprise my team lead knocked over a pallet with 50 pound bags of oatmeal on it. We ended up staying late cleaning up his mess.


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

Imbored21 said:


> I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but you really need to get laid. There is nothing wrong with trying to have fun at work.


Sounds like you are the one having a lack of sex.


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

Just to mention: people who use the words 'chill' or 'relax' are automatically scrapped off my list.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Chilax dude 

Work hard play harder .

And I agree with others. I hope you don't ever become a manager
unfortunately the mean nazi people usually do until they end up being hated and their minions don't respect them and go out of their way to sabotage them and will not do any extra to help them and then they get fired or demoted and have to quit because of the shame of failure . 

You spend more time at work than any where else so don't you want to have a little fun and get on with the people you spent the most time with .


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## s12345 (Jul 11, 2011)

Grog said:


> Chilax dude
> 
> Work hard play harder .
> 
> ...


How can you be 38 years old and write like a teenager? You should be ashamed.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Yes I am so ashamed to use the word chilax but come on you left your self open to that one . 
But seriously please chilax life is to short to be serious all the time . You'll never say " I regret all the fun I had " but you will probably one day say " I wish I had more fun and didn't spent my whole life at work with a stick in my *** " . 
Although your boss may appreciate your robotic work ethic at the end of the day he doesn't give two ****s about you and will easily replace you when your gone , no one cares so long as the work gets done so might as we'll have a little fun .


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## pbjsamm (Jul 16, 2013)

I think you need to lighten up a bit and stop taking your job so seriously. Some of the most successful people wouldn't be as successful as they are if they didn't have fun while doing their work.


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## CowGoMoo (Apr 14, 2013)

s12345 said:


> Just to mention: people who use the words 'chill' or 'relax' are automatically scrapped off my list.


Chill man you need to like totally relax dude


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## mike91 (Sep 23, 2012)

s12345 said:


> If there is one thing that boils my blood it's these stupid clowns who don't take work seriously.
> 
> It absolutely makes me puke the type of guys who think it's 'ok' to joke around during work hours. No, that is not ok. Work is serious business. I come from a culture where you respect everyone around you. This includes: no jokes, seriousness during your job, full dedication. There is this guy I know working as a software engineer and he sends me stupid memes/jokes all the time. I get angered by his clownish work ethos and I tell him: "Every time you are being unproductive you are wasting money"; it's true. Work is to be serious. You do your job, you work hard and you get home. Home is the space for private matters (jokes and what not). Work is the space for being serious and being an adult for crying out loud. Then he tells me: "Haha, our workplace doesn't block links here. Even if we send a porn link as a joke it's ok. The company trusts us". It is never ok. In my culture we have respect for the human body (no piercings, no jokes about porn, no porn, nothing of that sort). I think his culture is bloody stupid (stupid Western civilization).
> 
> I worked for a year at a hard labor job. Oh, it was not pleasant, no, it was serious business. I was constantly told by my boss to work harder and faster and I was not allowed to talk to my colleagues. Work, work, work, time is money! That's what real work is, not these disrespectful stupid pansy-*** office clerks who have not grown up yet. While they are in the office telling their stupid jokes, they should know that every second spent doing that is a great disrespect for us truly hard workers who take their job seriously.


where are you from im guessing china or some where like that and it very different here a happy work place is a good work place at my work the boss thinks it great if we work and joke around as long as the work is done who cares losen up a bit work is not serious all the time


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## visualkeirockstar (Aug 5, 2012)

I feel you on this one. I dealt with many people like that before.


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## Chippy D (Aug 6, 2014)

RelinquishedHell said:


> This is how my workplace is everyday. I was supposed to leave on time Friday and not do overtime. That was until my coworkers ( Including my team lead ) decided to go get drunk in the parking lot. My team lead tied his shirt around his head and started pretending he was a terrorist, then him and another guy decided to race the forklifts. We have really fast forklifts too, so to no surprise my team lead knocked over a pallet with 50 pound bags of oatmeal on it. We ended up staying late cleaning up his mess.


hahaha. 
Is this at a warehouse? Are there cameras in the parking lot?


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## xlavenderx (Feb 23, 2014)

s12345 said:


> If there is one thing that boils my blood it's these stupid clowns who don't take work seriously.
> 
> It absolutely makes me puke the type of guys who think it's 'ok' to joke around during work hours. No, that is not ok. Work is serious business. I come from a culture where you respect everyone around you. This includes: no jokes, seriousness during your job, full dedication. There is this guy I know working as a software engineer and he sends me stupid memes/jokes all the time. I get angered by his clownish work ethos and I tell him: "Every time you are being unproductive you are wasting money"; it's true. Work is to be serious. You do your job, you work hard and you get home. Home is the space for private matters (jokes and what not). Work is the space for being serious and being an adult for crying out loud. Then he tells me: "Haha, our workplace doesn't block links here. Even if we send a porn link as a joke it's ok. The company trusts us". It is never ok. In my culture we have respect for the human body (no piercings, no jokes about porn, no porn, nothing of that sort). I think his culture is bloody stupid (stupid Western civilization).
> 
> I worked for a year at a hard labor job. Oh, it was not pleasant, no, it was serious business. I was constantly told by my boss to work harder and faster and I was not allowed to talk to my colleagues. Work, work, work, time is money! That's what real work is, not these disrespectful stupid pansy-*** office clerks who have not grown up yet. While they are in the office telling their stupid jokes, they should know that every second spent doing that is a great disrespect for us truly hard workers who take their job seriously.


I get where you're coming from about people maybe slacking in their work because that definitely pisses me off too but... really... it's a job. Maybe you could benefit from relaxing a little. Work is basically a second home for people, you spend a lot of your life at work, so maybe changing your mindset could help you... I think taking your job seriously and taking yourself seriously is good, but it sounds like maybe these guys aren't being serious enough, but you're also definitely being too serious. If you worked at a retail job, even as a manager, and took your job that seriously... I'm sorry, but I would have to laugh at you. Maybe try and lighten up just a little.


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*the key to my finished career*

no time for giggling fools

getting the job done
is what I did

I was obsessed with my jobs. not with people
some seem to exist in a bubble dimension where there are people and nothing else

no groping out for the end-of-day and the weekend

I couldn't accept school playground games in an office


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