Name Name
Paper #4

Why Would Anyone Want to Work


	Chances are you could come up with several things you would rather do then work, things like spending time with family and friends, or if it’s a nice day, spending it outside.  But if there are so many things we’d rather do than work, why do we work.  There are the obvious reasons for working like the need to support yourself or a family, but there are also hidden values such as teaching new values and work ethics to a teenager.
	The reason I began working when I did was for the same reason as just about every other teenager, I needed money.  I needed money to be able to go out to the movies or get something to eat with friends, I needed money for gas to be able to get to places, and I needed money to put back for when I was in college.  Money was a lifeline for me.  Up front, the purpose of work to me was to make money, but if you take a deeper look into it, the real purpose of work is to provide some kind of product or service to people, in my case working at a restaurant; I was helping to provide dinner for people.  At the same time that I was earning money for my self, I was also learning things like the value of hard work, and the value of a dollar.  These things that I learn will be a major part of why I will work during my life.
	Work will be a necessity for me when I get out of college.  If I want to live an independent and successful life I will need a job.  The purpose of work for me will be similar to what it was to me before college; however the reasons I need money will be slightly different.  Of course I will still need money for gas, but the money I would spend on going to the movies, or for putting back for college, will instead be spent on paying for a mortgage, insurance, and various bills.  The purpose of working will no longer be focused so heavily on me as it will be towards my family.  At this point work will have almost the same meaning and purpose as it did for my parents while I was living with them.  Just as my parents worked to support them and me, I will have to work to support myself and a family.  And at this point I will not be learning new values from working as I did while I was working a part time job as I did when I was a teenager, but instead I will be using the values that I learned back then.  
	These reasons however, are not the same for everyone.  Teenagers of wealthier families may not see the idea of work in the same way.  For a teenager from a wealthy family in which their money has always come from their parents, they make expect the money to continually come from them.  They may not have developed a very strong work ethic and may not see the value of working.  Working to them may just mean doing something they do not want to do for money which they can get for free from their parents.  For a teenager from a poorer family, their views would be the opposite.  For them they would have always had to work for what they have, and this leads them to have a real sense for the meaning of work.  To them, what they have is what they have earned.
	Every individual has a different view on work.  For some it seems like something they don’t really need to bother with, and to others, it is their lifeline.  Whether work is a big issue or not in someone’s life, everyone still shares many common feelings towards it.  Almost everyone that works does it for the money, just for some of them there are hidden values and meanings to it.