Contrast Essay

I have worked in a high volume machine shop for over five years. In my line of work I encounter all kinds of people. I am the trainer, the one who teaches how it’s done and I have perfected this black art, at least in my own arena. The text book from which I teach is nonexistent. My course is all in my mind somewhere and catered to the individual student. I have been the voice of guidance, and judgment for all that have been set before me, pass or fail. I won’t lie, more have failed to live up to my high expectations than those who have succeeded. But the handful of people who have passed are more than capable to take over for me when the torch is passed. As for the failures, I’m often the last person they work with within my companies walls. The few failures that eek past me end up in some monotonous job doing the same thing day in and day out. The one thing that keeps them there is that they show up almost every day. The few that can do my job are the hard workers. The ones who can’t compare are the lazy.

Hard workers are my kind of people, they know what it takes to earn money, not just make it. Hard work was pressed into me by my parents as a child and taking the easy way out was unheard of. A lazy man makes money by showing up for work and making it until the end of the day, not “earning” a dime of their pay check. Looking busy when the boss man comes around is the only thing they have perfected. The sad part is that some lazy ones put more effort into getting out of working than if they had just done their job. Not the case with a hard worker, they will give all day in and day out never uttering a complaint. People who work hard take pride in their job, a far cry from just showing up every day.

A prime example of one vs. the other can be seen in attendance alone. In my opinion the hardest worker there has been with the company for twelve years, let’s call him ‘Mr. B’. In the last ten he has had perfect attendance, I mean perfect, no lateness or leaving early not even a miss punch. At the other end of the spectrum is ‘Mr. K’. Mr. K has been with the company a little over a year and has missed fourteen days! How can he still be employed here? The company only allows nine absences a year, after that you’re gone. Mr. K is a person who puts more effort in getting out of work than actually working. He has found loop holes in the company hand/rule book and has pushed them to the limit. If he misses one more day, is late or leaves early, or simply forgets to punch in or out he is done. Why would you put yourself in that position? But Mr. B doesn’t even take his two paid personal days that he has earned for his years of service. Instead the company pays him for the two days at the end of the year because our personal days do not roll over to the next year.

Aside from training people I also am responsible for production requirements for my designated area. This means that if a piece of equipment breaks down or has a malfunction of some kind I fix it. I depend on the operator to tell me when a problem has occurred. The hard worker notifies me immediately when a problem arises. While I fix the machine they find ways to keep busy. Double checking the quality of the product or grabbing a broom and dust pan, anything to contribute to the job. Mr. K or anyone of his followers will deliberately waste time trying to fix something they know they can’t. When they finally decide to call for help and I arrive they say something like “I’m gonna go use the bathroom” or “I’ll be right back”. Fifteen minutes later they show up with cheeto residue on their face saying “Is it fixed yet?” Most of the time it’s a quick fix that takes five minutes and I’ve been doing their job for ten minutes waiting them to return. They also are the first people to go to lunch and the last ones to return. But a hard worker will return from break early just to get a jump start on the last half of the shift.

In the end I’ve learned that it is no use complaining to the higher up big wigs. Sometimes they turn things around and make sound like I’m not doing my job. I’m letting them ‘get away with it’ but yet I have no authoritative power. I’ve come to the conclusion that most of the bosses are just as lazy as Mr. K and they stick together like a lazy mans workers union. Instead of taking responsibility and whipping them into shape or firing them, the extra work load is simply piled onto the next guy who’s trying to earn his pay.