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A Viral Tweet About Working Weekends Incurs the Wrath of Twitter

Working on a Saturday? In this economy?!?

By Jun 13th, 2021, 3:14 pm
gary cole

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Beware the tweet that begins with the caveat “Unpopular opinion:”. Usually, the phrase is used to couch an offbeat take on culture, i.e. “Thor: The Dark World is the great movie” or “caramel apples don’t taste as good as they smell.” But every once in a while, someone shares an “unpopular opinion” that rankles us to our very core. The tweet in question comes from one venture capitalist Jordan Kong, who chose violence and wrote “Unpopular opinion: the best thing young people can do early in their careers is to work on the weekends.”

As you can imagine, this tweet quickly set off everyone on Twitter who has ever held a job. And it couldn’t come at a worse time: as offices and workplaces reopen, Americans are quitting in droves, leaving employers desperately rushing to hire new workers. In April, the share of American workers quitting was 2.7%. A year earlier, it was 1.6%.

Republicans blame the labor shortage on pandemic unemployment benefits, with politicians like Mitch McConnell accusing people of refusing to work to keep their benefits. But the facts simply don’t bear that out: a guaranteed income allows people to be more productive, seek better jobs, and breaks the cycle of poverty.

The labor shortage is also a long overdue rebuke of stagnant wages and poor working conditions, and people have had enough. As we come to the collective conclusion that late stage capitalism is a losing game for all but the wealthiest among us, is it any wonder that the workforce is burned out and unwilling to sacrifice their weekends at the altar of rise and grind culture? These work shortages also seem to disappear when companies offer $15 an hour, to no one’s surprise.

There are no silver linings to be found in the pandemic, but there has been a resetting of priorities. Working from home allows people to spend more hours with their families and loved ones. Long commutes and office culture have been replaced with self-scheduling and more time to accomplish tasks. And now we’re supposed to not only rush back to the office, but do so on the 2 paltry days we have off? No thank you.

Many took to Twitter to call out Kong’s tweet and meme-ify the message:

A+ work, everyone. Enjoy your weekends!

(via Twitter, image: 20th Century Fox)

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Author
Chelsea Steiner
Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.
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