Work

Simon thought of the news story he heard. Pandemic economics still an influence, employers are bribing workers to return to their jobs. Seems many folks learned to like staying home for fat gov't checks, and so much free stuff. "Who would have ever thought that?", Simon wryly chuckled.

Then, his thoughts wandered- as they often did- to his father, also to an earlier America, maybe gone now. Simon learned about work from his father, but that's for another story, deserving its own time and length.

Simon thought of how attitudes regarding work- particularly among many young folks today- have simply changed. Work, no work, no big deal to some- forget tomorrow. Other ways to survive.

Authority in every form is challenged, no one wants to be told anything, which can make workplace a battleground. Simon wondered if America has lost both love of country, and the basic work ethic, each so vital.

He recalled the rare times his father was briefly unemployed, how profoundly sad he was, and apologetic to the family. Back then, even as a boy, Simon well understood his father's distress: it was both embarrassing and intolerable to be without work. Not so, today, when the gov't (I.e. taxes, you and me) will pay.