Work Ethic

What does work ethic mean to my generation? I have a decent job with the federal government in Canada, I have good job security, I'm adequately paid and I have lots of benefits. However, my job is unionized which means it's darned hard to get fired (not that I'm trying). My job is in a call center (although I'm not a phone operator, I'm a paper pusher), and the vast majority of people who work the phones are young (20-30 range) and have only a high school education. In Canada, to be making nearly $40,000 (which is what the phone people make) at 20, right out of highschool is unbelievable. Yet most of these people have no clue how lucky they are. They are chronically late and chronically absent. They come to the office dressed in tank tops and short skirts. They wander around to other people's desks chatting and complaining. There's an attitude of carelessness. They make glaringly obvious errors (that often fall to me to fix) because they take no pride in their work. And there is nothing anyone can do about it because it's nearly impossible to get fired!

I sit in my little office in the morning at 20 to 9, in my sensible business casual wear, with my endless casepile beside me, and I think about what a blessing a job like that would have been when I was young and struggling. And wondering when work ethic and pride in what you do became so unfashionable.