Worth More Than A Nickel

February 28, 2023

M. Rae, Canadian Not So Newswire

Quiet quitting refers to employees putting no more effort into their jobs than absolutely necessary. No more staying late. No more going above and beyond. Just do the bare minimum of what the job requires then go home and call it a day.

Formerly known as work to rule, quiet quitting became popular after the Covid-19 pandemic when presumably, workers began realizing there was more to life than their jobs.

I spoke to one such young worker last week at Ottawa's Toothsome Cafe, Luc-Phillipe Castor, who goes by Lucky P:

All my life, I was raised to believe in the value of hard work. It was more than virtue, it was a way of life. My father worked 'till the day he died as did his father and his father's father before him. My mom was no different.

And I started working when I was young. Very young. My life was pretty much work, eat, sleep, repeat. I didn't know there was anything wrong with that at first, you know, because when it's all you've ever known...

My first love is music. I know, it seems strange, but it's true. I fell in love with rap when I was a kit. It's tough to explain, but there was something in the beat, the booming base. It filled me with an excitement I never knew before. I was hooked!

I remember Dad was furious with me, the first time he caught me spitting rhymes. He demanded to know where I'd learned such horrible noise. You see, we, our kind, we keep to ourselves. Outside influences are frowned upon, especially when they interfere with our work.

In time, he sort of got used to it. I can't say he ever liked or understood it, but he accepted it, grudgingly. Lucky P. is my stage name. I've played in lodges all over the east coast as well as in Quebec and Ontario.

I love it! When I'm doing my music thing, nothing else seems to matter. My looks, the fact that I have huge buck teeth, my stature, none of it matters, it's just me, the mic and the crowd.

Soon, I found work less and less enjoyable. I mean, I know it's called work and not play, but devoting over half my life to the hard slog, lifting, lugging, yes sir, no, ma'm for nothing more than twigs? For what? To drop dead later, tired, old and used up?

There had to be more to life than that.

I'll tell you the truth, I felt very alone in the beginning, like there was noone else on earth that felt the way I did. Dad threatened to clip my tail but good if I ever said anything so foolish in his presence.

I kind of get where he's coming from. He's a proud guy, we're a proud bunch. It's our work ethic that has seen us through all these years, millenia even. Wherever we go, our name is synonomous with hard work and industriousness. I'm not joking, we're sort of like an international symbol for it.

But here's the thing, I'm not a symbol. I'm an individual. I don't want to be an example of anything except myself.

When the Pandemic happened, my music career took a huge hit. Lodges weren't hosting gigs, as I'm sure you know. All work, generally slowed down to a trickle, aside from whatever had to be done in and around the homefront.

My wife, Belinda and I, and our close frieds suddenly had all this time on our hands. And you know what? It was nice. It was nice to be able to spend time with those closest to us. It was nice to endulge in my hobbies, woodworking and, of course, music.

More than that, it was an eye opener. I learned that other young folks felt just like me. We were all coming to the same conclusion, that there was more to life than working our tails off without any appreciation.

Life is wonderful. There's family, friendship, fun. There's community and nature, lakes, rivers, blue skies and green grass.

There's a balance out there. Well, both out there and inside, if you look for it, if you allow it to manifest.

Work is obviously a part of that balance. It's necessary, we have to eat and have a roof over our heads. But it can't be the way it was. It can't be all there is.

We demand more now. We won't, I won't accept giving my entire life. over to "the company" for a lousy nickel. I don't care if you put my picture on it, I'm not doing that anymore.

I don't call it quiet qutting, I call it living life out loud and I'm totally here for it!

You can catch Lucky P. and special guests The Disgruntled Beavers at Tailsend Lodge Thursday and Friday nights starting at 8:00 pm. Advanced tickets can be purchased at www.tailsendlodge-riverbank.ca.