Think about all of the things that are necessities in your life. Food, your house, running water, maybe your car. A lot of people would agree that your job is a necessity. You need an income to live, right?

A lot of people see going to work every day and working a 9-5 job as just a part of the daily grind, something they have to do to survive. And that may be true, you may need a job to survive and get along in the world, but I believe that a job is not a necessity. I believe a job is a luxury. Your job is not something you should ever take for granted or feel entitled to. Especially in the world we live in, where there are thousands if not millions of people all over this Earth who would gladly take your job, and your entire life, off your hands every day because it’s better than any of the opportunities they will ever see.

So I got really, really mad today when I heard people complaining about their jobs at work. Because there is never a reason to complain when you have chosen to take your job and show up every day, and in return, you get a paycheck and food on your table, and you are able to pay your rent. There are so many people that do not have those basic necessities that come from the luxury of working a 9-5 job each day. I cannot stand it when I hear people complaining about their commute, or that they are over-qualified, or that they have to work with other people. Get over it. Do you work in a sweatshop? No. The only thing people should ever complain about at work is if they are a female battling a crippling wage gap or if their working conditions are making them unsafe somehow.

I, among many other New Yorkers, commute for at least 45 minutes, even an hour each day to and from my job. Multiple people have told me here that it is normal to hear New Yorkers complain about their commute. Well, I don’t think that’s okay. You have chosen to live in one of the greatest cities in the world and you are going to complain? People tell me that it is a Northeastern cultural eccentricity to complain about commuting and never having enough money. No, it's not. It’s a privilege and entitlement culture.

I was taught that someone will always have more than you and someone will always have less than you. So stop complaining that you are a person who fills society's requirements of education and visual conformity that therefore receives money to live off of just by showing up each day and getting by. And I bet that there’s a good chance that your current job is a reflection of the opportunities you were given growing up based on the socioeconomic class you were born into in America.

Especially in the teaching profession, I will always have to deal with a world of crap. For the rest of my career, I will have people treat me poorly, sucky working conditions at times and, as of right now, I can only see a future of low pay. But when I go to work each day, I put on my blinders, I block everything else out, and I focus on the kids and doing my job, my passion. Then people ask me, “did you have a good day at work?” and it doesn’t matter what happened, I can always give an overarching “yes” because I did my job and I made even a small difference or impact on someone else’s life.

Maybe that is people’s problem, they aren’t doing what they love. I once had an old man laugh at my face when I told him I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up but I knew I just wanted to love my job every day. I don’t understand people’s problem with this idea, either, but maybe if we worked to make loving our jobs a necessity and not a luxury too, people would generally be less miserable.

So, if you are complaining about your job, stop it right now, because complaining is going to do nothing. Suck it up and figure out a way to change things. Or give your job to someone who needs it, like one of the tens of thousands of homeless people in New York City alone who sit on sidewalks holding signs that read “need work.” Or maybe just quit and save us all the misery of your negative energy all day. At least don’t complain around me, because I can’t take it anymore.