Green Grass Tinted Glasses

I’ve recently had two strangers complain to me about how much better someone else’s job is. One man spoke to me in the waiting room of the Doctor’s Surgery, complaining that General Practitioners earn so much money, then explaining that he’d bumped into his GP in a shop and found them looking around the ‘bargain bin’. “They earn so much, she shouldn’t have been looking around there. And have you seen the car she drives”… He told me how much he earned 10 years ago working at the local power station. So I informed him that his GP would have earned a similar amount at a similar time. He then stated that he did over time to earn that amount. It seemed to me he did a poor evaluation of a GP’s job. GPs often do overtime, work late and have studied for years to do their job.

A parent at my child’s school was complaining about all the school holidays that teachers get. I pointed out that teachers are working during some of those holidays and that they really need a break to be able to do what they do. I admitted that I couldn’t handle 20 – 30 kids at a time, manage their behaviour and teach them something new, 6 hours a day!

It’s easy to think the grass is greener on the other side. If you or someone you know has job envy – do something about it. Find a careers test to see how you might fit with that particular job area. And look up job guide to see how much study is involved, what the job actually involves and what the training requirements are in your state. You can also visit job outlook to find out employment rates, average pay rates, vacancies by state, and job prospects. And who knows, those green grass tinted glasses might just turn rosy!