If it weren’t for my judgemental nature, I doubt I’d have much fodder for this column.

That, along with my complaining about the irritations of life, have kept me going for a number of years.  Add that to my countless stories about teaching, parenting, and a basic disdain for the many flaws of humanity, I’m good for several more decades.  

I feel like I’m self-deprecating enough that it all balances out.

My only fear is that I will repeat myself, which I know I’ve already done. It might be a fun newspaper contest to see how many column titles have been reruns.

Unintentional, of course.

OK, so I’ll get to the point.  

Earlier this summer, I entered the world of part-time employment and volunteering, and since then, I’ve come in contact with the daily schedules of not just the people I directly work with, but also other folks who I cross paths with each day. I’ve also had the time to pass judgment on a number of occupations.  

Now, I’ve always thought teachers work harder than most, and I stand by that claim. Teachers can run circles around most folks. Teachers make far more decisions and get far more things done than a lot of people. I don’t have absolute proof about the day in, day out specifics of everyone’s jobs, but  much of my research shows I am right most of the time.

Some of the people I’ve observed in the past few months work their tails off, too. The people I work closely with are those people. They end their days wondering how they didn’t get something done or making a list of things they need to pick up and finish tomorrow. 

They are driven to do the best jobs they can.

Even though I no longer teach, I still feel like I might need to take something home to work on. I am envious and still getting used to a job that doesn’t require homework.  

Most of the time, anyway.

But (and this is a big but) I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I feel many jobs are much easier than people let on. There is a glaring lack of time management. I’m amazed at people who chit chat or piddle around much of the day, getting a little something here done and a little something there done.  Just enough to appear that tasks are being attempted.

Furthermore, I’m puzzled by the amount of people who talk about how little time they have to complete work during the day, yet the tasks they are tasked with should be completed in a short amount of time.  Sometimes, after emailing or texting someone about an insurance question, service or product question, I’m left wondering why everything needs to take such a long time.  

I’ll admit it, I become impatient. And then I start remembering my age and harkening back to the days I worked retail, wondering why the older set was so pressed for time, it seemed.  Back then, I was impatient with those who were impatient and didn’t understand what the big hurry was for the old folks.

Now look at me.

But really, I think we have become such a spoiled, entitled and somewhat lazy society. Some people have a little book, I’m convinced, with a list of excuses why they can’t get their job done.  

And then there’s the thing with communication. Why do we wait and wait for texts and emails to be answered, when a quick phone call can solve problems much more efficiently? Most of the time, people you reach on the phone will have answers at their fingertips. Trust me, I’ve had hands-on experience with it the last few months.

We spend a lot of time talking about how hard our jobs are. It’s my contention we’ve lost the ability to manage time. We’ve also lost the ability, in most cases, to manage time so that it includes self-care.   I know there must be people whose occupation is to go into workplaces and show people how to do it.

Maybe that’s my next part-time career.  

I wonder if anyone would hire a crabby old know-it-all who thinks he knows everything?