Photo by myself of a pedicab driver in Central Park.
Mark thought I've been posting too many pedicab drivers. But I love these guys. They seem Old World to me, like the gondola drivers in Venice.
My boyfriend Mark expects to be working again Monday night until 3 am (!).
I'm sure it varies according to where you live, but New Yorkers tend to work a lot.
My first job in New York was with a large office, where we worked routinely until 9 or 10 every night.
There were social pressures to stay late, even if there wasn't an immediate emergency. One coworker had tickets to a Knicks playoffs game and had to come into the office after the game was over.
I'd forget to pay my credit card balances. I'd forget to get my hair cut. I'd get to the office, work through dinner, catch a cab home, and do it again the next day. It was awful. I never went to the gym, and I was too tired to socialize.
After a few months, I left that job. It was time to start living.
Related posts: How's About A Ride?, Kicking Back on Firm Ground, and Blah Blah Blah, Work, Blah Blah Blah.
9 comments:
les célèbres taxis jaunes, même les pedicab sont jaunes ;o)
the famous yellow taxis, even the yellow Pedicab ;o)
With freelancing, I can kind of justify working crazy hours, especially if the work is cyclical; you always know that you'll have a few days or weeks to run errands, do laundry, and chill. But a full-time job that demands that many hours? I couldn't do it. The off-hours are where I get my best ideas - so if I'm never off, things grow stale. (I like the pedi-cab pics!)
lol Olivier, I didn't think of the color connection!
Hi Spandrel!
I agree that a lot of it is mental - willing yourself through the tough times because you know it's temporary.
I agree, too, that your brain needs a rest to be at its best. I was useless during that period!
These guys (have you seen any female pedicab drivers?) are all over the Village, especially on the weekends.
As for spending time at the office . . . if I spent that much time at my vocation, I'd have no time for my avocations - and thus be a pretty unhappy and boring person.
This must be such hard work. I'd be fascinated too! Lovely shot.
My husband works usually 2 am till noon 5 days a week so he sleeps during the day. It kinda sucks that we don't get to spend much time together.
As a typical workaholic New Yorker, I think New York has to re-think the whole time off thing. I notice most people are more productive when they are refreshed. Besides it's wise to work smarter instead of harder, if you are able too that is.
Good for you!
You get the work-lurkers here in academia too though. People who only stay late to make a point really - the minute everyone else has gone they wait till they are out of sight and go as well.
Mostly it is not the case that you get more done for staying late anyway.
Luckily I work in an environment where I can go home after my 8 hours in the office. However as I work in universities, I have to travel a lot every day to get to work, so I spend over 3 hours a day travelling, which is quite tiring and that soon adds up to an almost 12 hour day.
I'm away from home from 8am to 8pm, and I feel exhausted every night and the weekends are never long enough to recover.
I totally agree, you have to have downtime to be productive when you ARE working. I think I would get much more done in 6 hours than in 8 because my mind would be rested and I would have more concentration.
New Yorkers definitely seem like a very har-working bunch, just make sure you also have lots of fun and not just work !!
Andrea x
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