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So the other day i thought of a question inspired by something that happened to me at work. I'm curious about what a purely objective standpoint is, because, while I claim to know a good amount about it, I am not intimately familiar with all aspects of it.

I was on my break and went to one of my usual spots, a table outside. I have been going out there more often because it is now warming up enough to enjoy being outside. This table is fairly out of place; it is in a corner in the parking lot, with 2 high walls surrounding 2 sides. It also has a trash can nearby. It's a nice little place.

Anyways, I work at a grocery store, and this table is part of its property. While I am glad that I at least have a job, I don't care much for it, it is surely not my life's calling. More specifically I work in the deli, which is the most underpaid dept., even though my deli is the busiest section of the busiest store in the entire chain. There is a lot of pressure with anything you do, you are the medium between food and the customer, and it is a high class area, so there are some picky people. There are issues I have with the company, but overall it's not a bad place to work. I just don't particularly care that much.

More often than not there is some trash lying on the table, from when someone else ate there. While there are employees whose sole task is to clean up, I am not one of them. However, as an employee, I am sure the company wants me to pick up any starkly noticeable trash. So there are two choices, throw the trash away, or don't.

What does it mean if I choose not to throw it away? One view is that I am tired of people being ridiculously lazy and neglectful. I mean, there is a trash can RIGHT THERE, and there is a bag with some food in it in the middle of the table. It's a bad reflection of their character, I am messy, but hell, I don't think I an that neglectful; I at least clean up after myself. Yeah there will be someone to pick it up and I am sure they most likely know that (or don't care one way or the other), but i'm not going to pay for your negligence. It isn't that much effort and it at least shows some respect, and removes the possibility of speculation (I know speculation is irrational, but I am basing possibilities around the people who shop at my store). I am sure that is not every case, maybe they were in a hurry, but it happens often enough to where I think I can say that not everyone is in a hurry.

What about if I do? Yeah whatever, it's just a piece of trash, and I work there, so what? Nothin' too big, I'm paid to do this anyways. It will save a small amount of time off of my co-workers hands (who I don't know that well) and i am here anyways.


I am just curious about how Objectivism works on small everyday things like this. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this, and even post little everyday things of your own.

In terms of morality, it really doesn't matter if you pick it up or not. It does constitute a sacrifice on your part to stay in a job you dislike, are you looking for something else? There's no reason you should stay in a situation where you are unhappy. Are you going to school at night, what do you see yourself doing in a year; 5 years; 10? I think there are larger issues at hand than some trash left on a table, (and I think you really wanted to talk about that, the trash is just a medium). There's lots of ways to become successful even if you don't go to college or inherit a ton of money, or a family business, etc. All of them require that you value yourself enough to pursue them, however. What do you enjoy doing the most in life? What gives you that happy feeling of accomplishment and a job well done? Do you know anyone who owns a business? Maybe your parents, or one of your friends does?

Not saying you should walk into work tomorrow and punch your boss in the nose and storm out. Definitely start exploring other possibilities, however, and don't shortchange yourself. Don't worry about what other people will think of you; if there's something you know you can do well, or at least learn to do well if you apply yourself, go for it. Don't place limits on your own potential earning power. Your work (not just labor, but mental effort as well) is worth whatever someone will pay for it. The same effort applied to a supermarket job will net less value than that effort applied to selling real estate, for example. (Which is also a career that is very accessible, you can get a realtor's license by taking a short class and a test at any community college). Didn't answer your question about the trash because it really doesn't matter. What matters is that you're unhappy, and needlessly so.

I don't know, right now im kinda of stuck in a rut, so to speak. I have been going to school on and off for 2 years, not really sure about what to do. I have changed my mind about what to major in more times that I can count, so far I have just done pre reqs. I haven't been looking for any other jobs for a little while because the last I heard I was going to get a promotion. That was ~2 months ago, and nothing. So I am about ready to just leave for something else.

I think my main problem is my fear of being alone. I grew up alone for a long time, and while I made good friends, I became attached to a few people when I finally stopped moving around. Those times were like a constant duet, we would spend as much time together as we could, doing whatever, and I became very close to them in different ways. But due to the different situations, I ended up hurting them without intending to; whether it was directly my fault or not, I was the prime factor. It wasn't necessarily just hurting their feelings or something, most of them were pretty life shattering things. I guess I still haven't come to terms with all of what has happened.

While I have no doubts about my abilities and what I am able to become, I think i am afraid of hurting someone like that again. I know I am being vague, but the reason why these events happened were the result of me trying to learn how to live, to find a philosophy that works and makes sense, and the mistakes involved in the journey of discovering it. And while I am much better than I was before I discovered Ayn Rand.. I feel very out of place compared to most people. I only wish I had found out about her earlier in my life; even though I eventually came to many conclusions on my own that she did, I wasn't sure if I was the only sane person on the planet or not.


I have just recently been entertaining the idea of becoming a school counselor. I know many of the pains of growing up, how difficult it can be. I hate seeing such an apathetic youth, uneducated and stupid, dull. I know it's not all like that, but with the education system declining I can't see it getting much better. I don't believe that line of work would be sacrifice, because I care very much for the future, even if I may not see it. I strongly believe that this world needs to be morally correct, because it can be and therefore should be morally correct and should not be any other way; there are too many absurdities and too much suffering when the world isn't as it should be. I do hate absurdities, I hate needless pain, and I hate absurdities. I want to set things right where they should be, and the teen years are an extremely important part of anyone's life. No I don't believe in giving up for a greater good, I want to build this world as I see fit because it is Fing ridiculous how it is now, and there is no good reason why it should be like it is. I want my life to have meaning, but I will be the judge of that.

Yeah it's not all bad, but it's only going down the drain right now. The hell I will stand by.

And money isn't much of an object, I at least want to be able to live comfortably without having to go from paycheck to paycheck; I am not that frivolous with spending. Oh I do enjoy money, but I want my real reward to be mental, the satisfaction of knowing that I can make things right, that I can enhance mine and someone else's quality of life so that they won't make the same mistakes I made.

Hope you don't mind me being so open, I don't get much of a chance to explain things. Well, explain things to like minded people. I find it much easier to act when I can at least share ideas with people who can at least understand.

The most I can say is, "do something."

Everything I experience is more knowledge. It enhances what I know, or brings something new. Then this new knowledge has to fit with all my other knowledge. That is, I have to integrate all of it to make it logically sound. Constantly flexing this process, I believe, will eventually open the doors to new ideas and new things to pursue.

Now being a school councilor will be a drag getting through college to do. The education department, from what I can tell, is very corrupt at most schools. But if you think its worth it, I think you could suffer through it to get to do what you want

But keep doing things. If you don't know what, just read. Reading is the surest way of coming in contact with new things.

But I'm not a councilor so I don't want to say much more than that. Maybe Petyr could say more.. hell, I was just gonna answer your basic question .



The basic question:

I'd say that if you really cared about your store doing well, then maybe you should clean it up for that. Or if you don't want to sit at the table with it on the table. Personally, I'd probably just ignore it unless it bothered me.