Scientists need to produce is a vaccine that activates the workaholic gene. It’s recessive in some people, and dominate in others.

Let’s see how many rush to take that.

Workaholic: if you are one, you know exactly what it means. Skip this definition: “A workaholic is a person who works compulsively. The person works at the cost of their sleep, and social functions such as meeting friends or family. While the term doesn’t necessarily imply that the person enjoys their work, it can imply that they simply feel compelled to do it.” Workaholics work late and/or take work home often and unnecessarily, check messages at home, maybe even in the middle of the night, work or continually check messages on holidays. For workaholics, time and relationships with others are compromised. They can have lack of sleep or poor sleep.

They’re defined by their work.

Workaholics are what keeps this country going. I never realized how true that was until the government began offering hundreds of dollars a week for not working.

While some people had no choice but to stop work and go home, others demanded to be laid off because they wanted to accept an all-expenses paid vacation complete with enough financial padding to make one very happy.

While I’m sure workaholics were in that first group, there are none in the second group. Guaranteed.

A workaholic would never demand to be laid off. It’s not in our DNA to not work.

FYI, we had one – and only one – of those here at the Standard.

While that person will never admit it publically, they repeatedly asked to be laid off so they could collect the extra $600 a week for as long as it lasted. That’s exactly what happened.

I’ll be honest here, I voiced a desire for that individual to not return. For those of us who continued to work, it was a slap in the face. Dedicated staff kept the doors open and we did it because a community without a newspaper is bad news. We provide a valuable service to the community. Sadly, some people don’t realize just how important the Southern Standard is. I hope to never see the day when it's gone.

Now that the money train has come to an end, businesses across the United States are having a very difficult time finding employees.

There are several reasons tossed out there as to why the lack of workers, such as fear of contracting COVID-19 or its variant. I’m not buying that excuse for everyone. I believe that some of those do not want to return to making less money. Hence, businesses having to offer $15, or more, an hour.

The United States government created this situation. They ruined the work-life balance in America.

Now, we’re in a crisis that will probably last longer than the pandemic: recovering from a sense of entitlement, a condition workaholics do not have.

Standard reporter Lisa Hobbs can be reached at 473-2191.