As employers push efficiency, the daily grind wears down workers

[heavenlyboy34]

If you consider that hard labor, you haven't worked in jobs that actually require it. I know because I've done it.

By the way, constantly saying "you don't know what you're talking about" is hardly making a case for yourself.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to amy31416 again.

Sorry, babe.

 

[Mike4Freedom]

Why don't you take asprin? When I get aches, strains, etc from my workouts I use it, even though other guys I know use stronger anti-inflamation stuff like ibuprofen. Combined with an ice pack regamine, asprin works fine for me.

I do not take any pharmaceuticals whatsoever.

 

[Origanalist]

Lol. You need the /s though. Subtle humor is difficult to relay on the intertubes.

I have a bad habit of forgetting that.....

 

[Mike4Freedom]

I have a bad habit of forgetting that.....

Oh, haha. Yeah the /s would of been helpful, lol

 

[amy31416]

No, sometimes there aren't enough of them to go around. Sometimes things are late and we have to catch up. Sometimes the crew is lazy, incompetent, or can't speak the language. Sometimes I just don't have time to wait on them. Sometimes I have to do things myself because there is no crew, especially on the small gigs.

In the real world, often times a good crew is rare, which means I have to pitch in on the labor on top of the real engineering stuff.

So you're calling occasionally having to carry an amp on stage hard labor? I did this early on in college and helped set up and break down the entire set--never once did I consider it "hard labor." And that's just once or 3x a week, max. People who work truly difficult jobs are there practically 24/7--and you compare your bullshit to genuine hard work?

Seriously? I have a pretty tiara for you, princess.

You are warped and mushy.

 

[Origanalist]

So you're calling occasionally having to carry an amp on stage hard labor? I did this early on in college and helped set up and break down the entire set--never once did I consider it "hard labor." And that's just once or 3x a week, max. People who work truly difficult jobs are there practically 24/7--and you compare your bullshit to genuine hard work?

Seriously? I have a pretty tiara for you, princess.

You are warped and mushy.

I'm warped, but not mushy.

 

[MelissaWV]

Using a whole lot of aspirin on a regular basis is really godawful. It is likely to catch up to you.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Using a whole lot of aspirin on a regular basis is really godawful. It is likely to catch up to you.

True. Всё в меру (everything in moderation).

 

[heavenlyboy34]

So you're calling occasionally having to carry an amp on stage hard labor? I did this early on in college and helped set up and break down the entire set--never once did I consider it "hard labor." And that's just once or 3x a week, max. People who work truly difficult jobs are there practically 24/7--and you compare your bullshit to genuine hard work?

Seriously? I have a pretty tiara for you, princess.

You are warped and mushy.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to amy31416 again.

I need a rep raise!

You gave me the giggles with those last few lines.

 

[Origanalist]

Using a whole lot of aspirin on a regular basis is really godawful. It is likely to catch up to you.

This is true, and constantly thin blood isn't always a good thing. But upon occasion I will use it.

 

[oyarde]

This is true, and constantly thin blood isn't always a good thing. But upon occasion I will use it.

Now you tell me , I probably could have used that info 35 years ago ...

 

[MRK]

This is true, and constantly thin blood isn't always a good thing. But upon occasion I will use it.

Yeah, I think NSAIDs would be a class of drugs that have a list of side effects so long that a voice couldn't list all of them in a 30 second commercial.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Yeah, I think NSAIDs would be a class of drugs that have a list of side effects so long that a voice couldn't list all of them in a 30 second commercial.

True. That is why I reach for ice before asprin for typical pains and aches like muscle/joint injury after vigorous exercise.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

I have been an employee at UPS for 13 years. I load trucks at night full time. It does beat you up. You are right about recovery, the problem is if you get tendinitus or something along those lines, you cannot get the time off to heal. Also, the company always says "Wear and tear" does not exist. I eat extremely healthy. I drink raw milk, mostly raw foods (except raw meat) I get plenty of the good fats (coconut, olive oil, hemp oil) and whatnot. I still have aches and pains that can get pretty bad sometimes and I am only 32. Granted, I do not take aspirin or anything and will refuse to do so but getting time off to heal is not an option. I usually notice after a vacation that my pains go away and return again after a few weeks. I have tendinitus in my elbows and a decent amount of lower back pain. Our pension plan is going into the shitter and we have no 401k matching. We have great medical benefits that I do not use because standard medicine is aweful. So that 32 dollar hour wage is what I need so I can retire younger my investing on my own and hopefully all my body can fully heal if I retire young enough.

Also, around 6 years ago before the 08 crash happened on average an employee would load 3 - 4 trucks a night, now you are working up front for around an hour then you go back to your area and have to load 6 trucks and each truck has 50% more stops on them. So we are doing twice as much work and I tell you what when top rate was 24 dollars an hour and we did 3 - 4 trucks, that 24 dollars back then bought a lot more stuff then 32 dollars does today doing twice as much work as well.

I could show you ways to heal that tendonitis without taking loads of time off. If your plan is simply to rest and recover, it's going to take forever. The blastocytes need to be stimulated to heal the tendon. Over the long term, however, it's sort of a myth that "overuse" will give you bad joints. Improper recovery will give you bad joints.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

You've said it yourself: given a perfect recovery period, appropriate medical care, a healthy lifestyle (which also includes getting enough rest, proper diet, a good amount of motion besides the ones you repeat all day at work, and a means to resolve stress), you can recover from joint issues.

And injuries that go largely undiagnosed (my wrist hurts but I don't know why) tend to just get worse over time, especially if the action that contributed to the original injury is repeated over and over and over and over and over and over again.

So how many people do you think have access to appropriate medical care, are able to have a healthy lifestyle (if they are working as often as the examples in this thread suggest, plus a commute, for the amount of pay described), and despite being hourly are able to take off the days or weeks (or months depending on the joint) to heal properly, not to mention getting the physical therapy to assist with the healing process?

When I was a college runner, half of what I did consisted of keeping injuries at bay and healing them while still running or training in other ways. I could usually find out what an injury was in a few days and I had a plan to deal with each one, and I've done so quite effectively. You're right that it's a shame so many people are working long hours and not getting enough rest or finding the time to eat right, but my point was not to say that nobody should get injured. They're extremely hard to avoid even if you are taking every precaution. You may be able to prevent a lot of them, but not all of them. My point was more that people don't need to suffer in old age just because they worked and got injured. Many people used to tell me that I would have bad joints when I got older because of all the running I did, but I guarantee you I'll be better off than they will despite all that work. Work can be a good thing for your body and your body can handle a lot of work in less than ideal conditions as long as you make an effort to do the right things involved in health maintenance as well as injury recovery.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

Why don't you take asprin? When I get aches, strains, etc from my workouts I use it, even though other guys I know use stronger anti-inflamation stuff like ibuprofen. Combined with an ice pack regamine, asprin works fine for me.

It masks pain. It doesn't heal. If you are sore or hurting, your body is trying to tell you something, and taking aspirin or other pain killers is like telling your body to shut up, even if what it has to say is very important.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

It is natural outcome of a lot of US products being produced in places like China and other cheap and sometimes slave labor places. US workers in grpwing number of sectors are competing with cheap labor abroad. This cuts costs/maximizes profits for companies but adds downward pressure on job security/pay for US workers and even people in adavanced skills services linked to those sectors. The world is being "flattened" at a greater pace in last decade. Exit of wealth from US to pockets of profiteers from foreign adventures and currupt foreign governments adds to the pressures on common people mostly.

 

[Anti Federalist]

It masks pain. It doesn't heal. If you are sore or hurting, your body is trying to tell you something, and taking aspirin or other pain killers is like telling your body to shut up, even if what it has to say is very important.

Well, yah, pretty much...

"Hello brain, yeah, this is the lower back...yeah he did it again."

"Lower back, this is brain...look, I've been told to stfu, OK...I'd love to help, but I can't, he's being a dumb ass again."

"Brain, this is lower back...god damn it."

 

[James Madison]

So you're calling occasionally having to carry an amp on stage hard labor? I did this early on in college and helped set up and break down the entire set--never once did I consider it "hard labor." And that's just once or 3x a week, max. People who work truly difficult jobs are there practically 24/7--and you compare your bullshit to genuine hard work?

Seriously? I have a pretty tiara for you, princess.

You are warped and mushy.

Now, now, Amy. Go soft on the Collins. It isn't easy to carry an amp on stage when the amp is bigger than you are.

 

[Matt Collins]

Now, now, Amy. Go soft on the Collins. It isn't easy to carry an amp on stage when the amp is bigger than you are.

I know you were being funny, ha ha, but there is some truth to that. And seriously therein lies part of the problem. I can't manhandle the gear like a lot of the other guys can.