Solo Cleaning Vending Machine

 I used to be such a sucker for the vending machine. My weakness was the potato chips, peanut butter crackers, and always Fritos! The vending machine is an interesting machine. It's simple. You choose what you want, check the price, insert your payment, push the corresponding button, and your treat spirals out of its holder to the slot below. You now own your treat and can enjoy it.

 There are some anomalies. Sometimes, the spirals delivering your treat jam and the bag of chips stops just short of releasing into the bin below. What do most people do when that happens? They feel robbed and go NFL linebacker on the vending machine by punching it, shaking it, or hitting it with their shoulders. Some people are more calm and either ask an attendant to get it for them, while others leave it alone and say, "oh well." Which are you?

Another anomaly is the double treasure. This happens because someone left their lost treat alone. When you pay for your bag of chips, two come out. Do you get excited and take the 2 treats? Do you leave one for the next person as a pay-it-forward reward? Do you go tell an attendant?

Whichever or however you answered these questions is more of a self-check on your heart and attitude. That's not the main point of this episode. I just wanted to ground my lesson to the vending machine.

A job is like a vending machine. You see available job postings, select the one that makes you happiest, apply for a position by pushing the button, and get the job. Once you show up for work, you put hours in and get money out every time. The bag of chips that you wanted comes out EVERY time. But what if it doesn't? What if the bag gets stuck? This can happen when the company fires you or lets you go. I say 'when' not 'if' because you will not make money at that company forever. They fire, downsize, lay-off, sell the company, merge, offer early retirement, etc. Some will last for longer than others, but all will eventually see their bag of chips get stuck. What will you do? Will you try to tackle the job vending machine, shake it, or punch it to get it to work again for you? I hope not.

How about the other scenario. Do you ever get two bags of chips coming out at your job? I guess this is conceivable if you work an hourly skilled job that pays time-and-a-half and double-time. My dad worked a job like this for years. He would work 40 hours regular pay and always seemed to get 20+ hours of overtime. The overtime was awesome because it could triple his paycheck. What other scenario can you think of with two bags of chips? I can think of the professional world where employees have company-matched 401(k), pensions, and stock options. These definitely can pump out multiple bags of chips from the job vending machine. However, you don't get these multiple bags right away. You have to put in your time, develop your value to the company, and prove that you're worth their long-term investment.

In most cases, a job is very simple. You get out what you put in and the output is expected. If you don't get out what you put in, you feel robbed and cheated. This mentality of trading time for money is what is commonly called 'Job Mentality'. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. This country needs hard-working people to do the jobs of industry. If you are listening to this and have a job, I want to say thank you for turning the gears of industry and keeping all of us alive! Job mentality is simply this. I get money back for every hour I put in.


Read the rest of this article at the Smart Cleaning School website