Title : Eight stages in my circle of life and we're all players
William Shakespeare said a person goes through 'seven ages of life'. The immortal bard was close, but I'll go one better with my eight stages of modern life.
Stage one : The Intern
Arrives late. Explains that he got lost. Told to make coffee. Makes undrinkable black gunge. Sits in on meetings at which he realizes - with horror - that he knows nothing about anything being discussed. Spends most of the day feeling useless. Asks inane questions such as, 'Please, sir, do we have to ask before we go to the toilet?'. At midday, eats packed lunch from home.
Stage two : The Short-Contract Worker
Arrives early. Waits outside until a staff member arrives with a key. Devotes all his energy to volunteering for assignments because he is desperate to get hired full-time.
At lunch, he eats sandwiches at his desk while doing everyone else's work. He leaves the office last, at 9 pm, but still arrives the next morning before the rest of us.
Stage three : The New Hire
Arrives slightly before other staff. First to take his seat at meetings. Talks constantly about 'our vision'. Starry eyed and enthuasiastic. Does much of the work that gets done, although he is constantly interrupted by older staff wandering into his room to sit on his desk and spout rubbish. Leaves at 8 pm.
Stage four : The Experienced Executive
Arrives at exactly 9 am, not a minute early or late. Has a lot of work to do, but spends most of his time transferring it to other people. Occasionally buys lunch at the wine bar for people at stages one, two and three, because he enjoys the way they worship him. Leaves at 7 pm.
Stage five : The Senior Manager
Strolls into the office at 9.40 am. Cannot avoid work completely, but does the bare minimum. Lunches at private club, practising his 'vice president' look of worldliness and ennui, so as to be ready for the next stage. Sneaks out of the office on the dot of 6 pm.
Stage six : Vice President
Languidly ambles into the office around 11 am. Finds work a total bore, so he gets people at stages one, two, three and four to do all of his work for him. Spends most of the day sitting on the desks of the new hires to give them the benefits of his wisdom. Leaves the office at 5 pm, pretending to be on the way to a client meeting.
Stage seven : Chief Executive Officer
Comes into the office at noon, and then goes straight out again for a long lunch at his club, which takes him until 3 pm. No longer even pretends to do any work. Leaves at 4 pm for a quick round of golf.
Stage eight : Chairman
Arrives late. Explains that he got lost because his memory is not what it was. Serves coffee from private percolator. Turns out to be undrinkable black gunge. Sits in on meetings at which he realizes - with horror - that he no longer knows anything about what is being discussed. Spends most of the day feeling terrifyingly useless. Asks inane questions all the time, such as, 'Shall we open some overseas offices, or have we already done that sort of thing?' Before leaving at 3 pm, he eats packed lunch from home, because he can't eat anything without bran.
It's the circle of life.
Remember the law of backward-bending Labor Supply Curve? This jokes is exactly relating to the law.
In the law of backward-bending Labor Supply Curve, it is assumed that when the wage level is relatively low, worker will supply his labor at low level. As the wage level is increasing, the level of labor supplied will increase as well. And it will reach a point (=wage level) where the level of labor supplied will fall as the wage increases further.
From point 0 to turning point, Substitution Effect is dominating Income Effect. From turning point onwards, Income Effect is dominating Substitution Effect. In a contemporary languange, the last two sentences says :
When income is low, you will work more as income increases. But when your income is high enough, you will supply less amount of labor as you prefer to use your time for leisure activities.
Economics is interesting right? [Economics offers you view of how the world works].
No comments:
Post a Comment