Do I get a “mulligan” for being a flake at twenty-years old?

I confess to struggling as of late to stay motivated career-wise. I won’t belabor that fact but will also include that I never miss a day of work because of it. I’m fortunate to have good health and am not lazy by nature so I like to believe mixing that with responsibilty creates a strong work ethic that gets me over the bumps.

The constant I generally hear from businesses is the lack of employable people in a tight labor pool and those that do show up don’t want to work. The demographic is stated as millennial which for people of my generation is anyone younger than them when in reality three age groups are lumped together: Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z. Generation Y is agreed to be “Millennials,” and get the brunt of the negativity. So anyone that doesn’t work is a millennial and the best workers were the “Greatest Generation” which leaves “boomers” like me in the middle.

My office struggles like all businesses with finding and keeping good people. It reminds me of the question, which came first; the chicken of the egg? In this case you can’t pay for the position you need to fill until they prove their worth, but no-one can afford to wait, so the position stays vacant. It does appear some people that take the job for the pay offered are doing it only to show the state they are trying or their significant other is sick of them loitering around the house. We have one of those and he is no millennial, just someone that doesn’t like to work. The company has given him the chance over and over but the only thing that has accomplished is his excuses grow more elaborate and contrived. I feel for his children if he is their only male role. I hope they see through it and aspire for more.

My point to this I suppose is a confession. At twenty I was no better than the guy I mentioned. For six-months I had a good job with potential and gave the owner no option but to fire me. He gave me every opportunity and I failed to show up or offered nothing but lame and ridicules excuses. I lost what little I had and started over. I didn’t have enough debt to file bankruptcy and I wouldn’t have-I may have been a flake but I did have a sense of honor I suppose… Time and experience was kind to me and I found my calling but I haven’t forgotten the lesson. I decided not to waste any opportunity given me. A career was out there but I would never know if I didn’t apply myself. I quickly discovered that it is more rewarding to be given a chance through hard-work rather than simpathy. Be empathetic and try not to be too judgmental, it is a hard world we live in and some just need a little more understanding than others.