Wednesday 15 October 2008

Different breed, different reaction

Regular AZAIG readers will know I once blogged about how modern slaves have morphed into different species. And just to recap the main characteristics of the respective breed…

The True Slaves Generation --- Aged 35 and above… heavily infected with the I-must-work-hard-and-die-for-the-company virus… hard work is the only way to success… work is life… never dare to say no to the bosses / company.

The Transitional Generation --- aged 24 – 34… stuck in between the need to work hard to support a lifestyle and the need not to work hard to have lifestyle… constantly complain about the bosses / company and vow to resign but will never get around doing it… severely suffering from the I-have-no-choice syndrome…

The New Breed --- mainly offspring of successful urbanites… salary means additional pocket money… overtime is not in their vocabulary… teach them the meaning of overtime and they will teach you how to break the world record for the quickest resignation in the company.

The gap between these 3 generations of slaves is getting more apparent judging by their reaction to certain things. Let me tell you a real-life scenario…

The company gives out a small promotion gift...

True Slaves – “Wahhh… so nice… so lovely. I really like it. Quick, go get yours”
Transitional Generation – “What??? Such a big company and give us this!! So damn cheapskate lah this company!”
New Breed – [no comment available, did not collect the gift]

Really, the reaction can be quite hilarious. Particularly when a Transitional Generation has to respond to the excessive happiness shown by the True Slaves, who most likely are the bosses.

In the light of the current economic turmoil, would the reactions from the respective breed be like this?

In response to the company’s announcement that the company is strong and doing extremely well despite the current bad patch…

True Slaves – “See… I told you right… our company very strong wan. No need to worry la”. Proceed to another individual and repeat the same thing. Then proceed to another… and another… and another…
Transitional Generation – “Yeah right. You think I am stupid ah? I read the news ok!” Continue complaining…
New Breed – “What economic turmoil? What’s going on at the moment ah?”

In response to the company’s announcement that there might not be bonus at the end of the year…

True Slaves – “We should be happy that we still have job”
Transitional Generation – “What the !&*!@%!$@^%$!@^%!. Surely the big boss took all the bonus lah”
New Breed – “Daddy, where are we going for our year end holiday?”

Indeed, we have morphed well…

21 comments:

myop101 said...

hehe... surely there must be an exception for the likes of me...afterall, i am hopping a lot more than the usual transitional generation....hahaha....

Anonymous said...

Nothing to do with breed. One's outlook at things, be it one's job, one's family, one's life... all boils down to one's sense of responsibility and integrity.

CK said...

haha... u got a companion here myop101

Aphrodite said...

very well said ....im stuck somewhere between transition and new breed.. :(

Huei said...

hahhahhahhah how very true!
inspiring indeed! but at the age of 25 i'm already inbetween transitional generation n true slave..how?? work for 3yrs liao still no bonus #*$&^#&*$^*^ ahahahhha

when i was a new breed no additional pocket money lah..to me it was work or starve! then spend the snoozing time on my clock deciding whether i should go to work or not! hahaha

Anonymous said...

hahah!

like huei, think I'm between true slaves and transitional generation hmm... but leaning slightly toward transitional type. whenever I complain about how 'sien' work life is, mom always remind me that I should be happy that I have a job. bleh.

good one Zewt. =)

zewt said...

myop101 - you would fall under the the 'dll' category... dan lain lain lagi.

suituapui - partly true. still have to remember that the transitional breed also have families and commitments, just that they have begun to see the light.

ck - hmmm.. how so?

aphrodite - i think i am somewhat the same too... hahaha... bad for slave masters.

huei - hehehe... so you're heading the true slave part... oh no... the dark side. keep snoozing.

_butt - your mom, is she working? retired? she is true slaves to the blood :P

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

thats damn true..initially i thought i was in the bottom category..but lo n behold i have almost survived 3 years..i have seen ppl ciaoing in months and staying for a year is like a miracle!

Anonymous said...

i'm d transitional gen but i still act like a new breed....hahaha
"lou kung, where r we going for our year-end vacation hah??"

Eileen said...

Hahaha once again nicely written. Damn....

H.C. Tan said...

lol. im in the currently baru masuk "transitional generation"...sigh no comment...

Johnson Tee said...

very true zewt, i'm having that "stuck in between the need to work hard to support a lifestyle and the need not to work hard to have lifestyle" problem as well

this is commonly known as the quarterlife crisis

zewt said...

constant craver joe - looks like we will move from one breed to another. very dangerous. i really down to end up like a true slave.

jacss - if lou kung is true slave, i have a feeling u will get a trip.

Eileen - hehe... very true eh?

HC Tan - sure got comment wan.

Johnson Tee - if that is the quarterlife crisis you're having, i believe it's a mild one... hehe...

Angie Tan said...

Brilliant!!

This really sums up the 3 generations of folks I have in my company as well. :P

Kekeke...

Anonymous said...

Hahaha... Somehow I feel that I belong to New Breed. Do OT rm80/hr ah? No thanks. Go home get a good rest, sleep is very essential. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Based on the 'syndromes', I am more like a transitional generation.

princessladyjane said...

I think im stuck in between Transitional Generation and New Breed... LOL LOL LOL...

sÞ¡ηηєє said...

omg. u've described the generation i'm in is perfectly spot on! SCARY!!!!

zewt said...

Angie Tan - and the majority...?

littlepolaris - eh... doctor different league ok...

jam - so are most of us.

princessladyjane - stay in the light... stay in the light... stay in the new breed!

sÞ¡ηηєє - hehe... that's me!

Grace said...

at the moment, I'm stuck between The Transitional Generation and The New Breed. I take my job seriously even though I don't need a job.

zewt said...

Geace - hello there. that's a good thing... i think that is the best balance :)