Why do some people get so offended when people say they have free time to do whatever

[Deathknightish]

I work as a project manager with translations. That means that there will be a lot of dead hours, as our work is based on how many quotes and orders we get. Some days, like in february and march when everyone and their mother wants their yearly report translated to English I barely have time to go for lunch, but days like june and july, the classic holiday months, my effective work hours in one day can be as low as 30 minutes, I basically have to just handle one order, send it out to translators and be the middle hand between client and translator.

During these hours we are free to do whatever we want, but as we already sit by computers it's common to watch youtube, facebook, netflix or maybe even play some games like Hearthstone or Counter-Strike.

This... has offended quite a lot of people. "If I was your employer I would fire you right at the spot" (You can't fire someone easily in my country, only if they refuse to work or do sabotage, basically), "Why aren't you learning skills connected to work?!?" (Who says I'm not doing this as well?), "You're compromising the work systems" and "If you have that little to do, you will go under as a business" (even though we've been going for 30 years, growing each year) are common things people have said.

Why does it offend some people that you actually have the possibility to relax at work?

[Milchshake]

It's a very simple social skill. Dont brag in mixed company.

The whole point of bragging out loud is to trigger people. If you cant handle the mixed repsoneses, thats on you habbibi.

Same goes for shitposting.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

Why do you care if people get upset?

Do you not understand social cues, or do you not have basic interpersonal skills?

Because I don’t understand why you don’t understand why other people would get (according to you, constantly) offended/upset about you communicating this.

It could be a case of people being jealous of not having the same privileges in the workplace as you, but the lack of context in your post does not indicate that. Don’t be vague now. How are you communicating this? Why do you keep communicating is this keeps happening?

Why do you keep communicating it if people keep getting offended/upset? Do you know recognize these patterns of behavior?

Being that I’m well aware of your posting/thread history I think I already know the answer. You’re not curious about this at all.

[Adamas102]

Why does it offend some people that you actually have the possibility to relax at work?

Just use your brain for a second and think "why would most people who spend the majority of their workday actually working find it frustrating to hear about you spending large chunks of your workday goofing off on the company dime?" It's not a difficult question to answer.

I mean, it's great that you have a job that affords you that relaxation time while on the clock, but it's definitely not something you'd want to go bragging about. And while your employer might not fire you for it, if they knew what you were doing then it would probably be a good reason for them to reassess how they compensate that position. Or maybe they don't care because whatever margin they're making thanks to your work offsets the mismanagement of company resources, in which case you're probably being underpaid to underachieve (which you might be perfectly happy with).

[KOUNTERPARTS]

Just use your brain for a second and think

Something OP did not do at work and did not do posting this here.

[The Stormbringer]

It's all about phrasing and how you approach it. If you say, "Yeah, it's great! We have so much free time part of the year. I can do whatever I want!" with examples of things you do, then people are going to get jealous and upset, or side with the employer argument of "grrr lazy workers stealing from employers by doing nothing".

But instead, if you say something like, "Yeah, it sucks. Sometimes it's just so slow, you know? Absolutely dead. Coming in with nothing to do really bothers me, I wish they had something for us to do, but instead we just have to drive in and hang around just in case a call comes in, even though it probably won't." THEN people will commiserate with you, as people can empathize with a job sucking far more than a job being awesome.

[PC2]

Why does it offend some people that you actually have the possibility to relax at work?

I think it's great when people can make money without exerting a lot of effort. Some people have character flaws that make them jealous and unable to be happy for other people.

I would describe our current culture in 2023 as being a kind of "anti-success culture". A lot of people won't celebrate other people's good fortunes and just always choose to focus on how something is unfair.

[Captain N]

We used to have a poster on these forums rage about the starting wages paid for by the railroad. Of course he/she/they were one of those anti labor folks who wanted their own rules to decide what wages people got paid while banging on and on about the free market. Bottom line is people will complain about anything....instead of actually showing support for fellow laborers.

[Endus]

Just use your brain for a second and think "why would most people who spend the majority of their workday actually working find it frustrating to hear about you spending large chunks of your workday goofing off on the company dime?" It's not a difficult question to answer.

A rational person would realize their frustration and anger is actually aimed at their employer, not the person they're envious of. Your employer's the one exploiting you and making your work life discomforting, not the person who's got some free time they're still getting paid for. You just fear your employer too much to ever do anything about that exploitation, so you lash out at those who aren't being harmed as much as you are, because you're a crab in a bucket who's desperate to drag everyone down to your level so you can blind yourself to the injustices you're made to put up with, rather than contesting them

I mean, it's great that you have a job that affords you that relaxation time while on the clock, but it's definitely not something you'd want to go bragging about. And while your employer might not fire you for it, if they knew what you were doing then it would probably be a good reason for them to reassess how they compensate that position. Or maybe they don't care because whatever margin they're making thanks to your work offsets the mismanagement of company resources, in which case you're probably being underpaid to underachieve (which you might be perfectly happy with).

Jobs I've had where there was "free time";

Heritage interpretation in costume, where there were plenty of "jobs" I could not do in costume for various reasons and no current visitors to interact with. I was paid so when visitors did show up, I was there to create an experience for them.

Call center work on the overnight for an online bank. Call volumes dropped pretty low past 2am EST. We still had staff on hand because the selling point was 24/7 phone teller service, and things picked back up by 7am, so we staffed the overnight for the busy bookend times since everyone was full-time and nobody would take a part-time overnight job.

Academic work were "free time" isn't really "free time", it's "recharging/thinking time". Though to be fair, this was mostly contract work where I was paid for product rather than on an hourly basis.

[Adamas102]

A rational person would realize their frustration and anger is actually aimed at their employer, not the person they're envious of. Your employer's the one exploiting you and making your work life discomforting, not the person who's got some free time they're still getting paid for. You just fear your employer too much to ever do anything about that exploitation, so you lash out at those who aren't being harmed as much as you are, because you're a crab in a bucket who's desperate to drag everyone down to your level so you can blind yourself to the injustices you're made to put up with, rather than contesting them

Big eye roll here, buddy.

To be clear, I'M not offended. Now, I don't know who the OP is talking to about his job outside these forums, but odds are they're overworked, underpaid, and probably don't have the opportunity to find jobs with better work/life balance. Even if they SHOULD be more angry with their employer, from a social interaction perspective OP shouldn't be befuddled by their reaction.

I'm all for transparency and honesty when talking with people about jobs, careers, compensation, benefits, etc. but I also know that this comes from a position of privilege and not everyone is going to be happy hearing how my job compares to theirs.

[unfilteredJW]

I think it's great when people can make money without exerting a lot of effort. Some people have character flaws that make them jealous and unable to be happy for other people.

I would describe our current culture in 2023 as being a kind of "anti-success culture". A lot of people won't celebrate other people's good fortunes and just always choose to focus on how something is unfair.

You are so fucking removed from reality.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

It's generally a pretty bad idea to announce exactly how little work you do on a day to day basis. Just keep that little bit of information to yourself as much as possible.

[PC2]

It's generally a pretty bad idea to announce exactly how little work you do on a day to day basis. Just keep that little bit of information to yourself as much as possible.

Why? If a person pays for all of their bills and hobbies while only working 10 hours a month then there's nothing wrong with that, it's okay for people to share their info if they want to.

[Elegiac]

Why? If a person pays for all of their bills and hobbies while only working 10 hours a month then there's nothing wrong with that, it's okay for people to share their info if they want to.

Context is important, and in most contexts bragging about your privileges is in poor taste and is not a way to win friends or relate to people. It presents a massive social liability - this is why most cultures have superstitions like the evil eye which stems from an awareness of the damage that ostentatious displays of privilege do in a community.

[Fencers]

Jealousy and envy. Same as if you mention what you do with your excess money.

Fuck 'em. Life is to be enjoyed an savored.

[Lynarii]

Jealousy and envy. Same as if you mention what you do with your excess money.

Fuck 'em. Life is to be enjoyed an savored.

Nah. The whole "They're just jealous" thing is mostly a thing made up and pushed by people who are assholes, want to keep being assholes to everyone else, but they still want to whine and complain about how unfair it is that nobody actually likes them.

People don't think you're an awful person because they're jealous of you, they think you're an awful person because that's how you behave. There are plenty of people in positions of privilege that act like decent human beings and are respected and loved.

[Doctor Amadeus]

People in general tend to hate others not doing what they think they ought to. That said jealousy could be a factor, although personally, as long as what makes someone else happy doesn't harm me or the others I love, I honestly don't care.

If someone has more than me or something I don't I assume they generally worked for that and to that end so God bless em. Same for those that do just about anything else under the conditions I mentioned.

At the end of the day, I don't honestly give a shit about other people who's lives don't directly impact mine as long as they are doing what they want and it doesn't effect me in a negative way or hurt those I love.

[Endus]

Nah. The whole "They're just jealous" thing is mostly a thing made up and pushed by people who are assholes, want to keep being assholes to everyone else, but they still want to whine and complain about how unfair it is that nobody actually likes them.

What possible other reason could you have to be angry at someone else for having a job with downtime included?

[Deathknightish]

Big eye roll here, buddy.

To be clear, I'M not offended. Now, I don't know who the OP is talking to about his job outside these forums, but odds are they're overworked, underpaid, and probably don't have the opportunity to find jobs with better work/life balance. Even if they SHOULD be more angry with their employer, from a social interaction perspective OP shouldn't be befuddled by their reaction.

I'm all for transparency and honesty when talking with people about jobs, careers, compensation, benefits, etc. but I also know that this comes from a position of privilege and not everyone is going to be happy hearing how my job compares to theirs.

It's not like I brag about it. It's been in situations like when I've asked online how the new Netflix policy with non-home devices will affect me as I like to watch movies at work, of if I discuss Hearthstone and have maybe just said that HS is the perfect work game because you can turn it off the moment duty calls, and the games are generally quick.

I don't go "haha, look at how little I work per day while you wageslave the entire day!".

[LilSaihah]

i only understand why they'd get mad in the context of a coworker bragging about how little work they're doing but you either know they're not doing their job properly, or they aren't paying that time forward to help the next shift

personally if someone tells me their job is to do nothing, i kinda feel a bit bad for them because that shit's fucking boring as hell. i'd rather clean toilets than sit there twiddling my thumbs

Why? If a person pays for all of their bills and hobbies while only working 10 hours a month then there's nothing wrong with that, it's okay for people to share their info if they want to.

honestly the only reason i can think of is because your boss'll give you more work