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We were visiting friends yesterday and the discussion turned to a problem in today's workplace: workers spending time online all day arguing in forums instead of attending to their responsibilities - poor work ethic. Our friends said it's difficult to catch yet they know it's happening from the websites appearing on the company's server.

If this were going on in your Anabaptist fellowship, how would you address this problem of poor work ethic?

Like I am right now??

That situation of a poor work ethic would be more likely to appear in other forms among workers in our fellowship since not many of us work in computer environments. As a youth, I saw it on construction sites when a newly converted foreman wanted to talk to the Old Order workers about his new found convictions. Talking about hunting or last night's youth activities would also be more common. However, most of us have been taught from a young age that any form of personal activity on company time is theft so I don't think it should be a common problem in our fellowships.

(I work for my own business and don't charge out my time when I am doing this.)

I think as a whole, the generation that is graduating high school and entering the workforce has fewer and fewer good workers. It used to be that young guys that grew up on a farm were almost always solid. Now that fewer are growing up that way, we the pool of good workers is getting very shallow.

I work in a warehouse environment and we are constantly hiring. There's just no work ethics anymore.

I've been hearing of this problem more and more: some call it internet addiction. I also agree that the person is stealing time from his employer and that it's therefore theft. Are there solutions to this?

Hats Off wrote:(I work for my own business and don't charge out my time when I am doing this.)

I'm self employed too, and obviously don't charge for this time. Of course, that doesn't mean it's always the wisest use of my time ...

I have always been a quiet person. I'm ashamed of this now, but I remember once on the school bus a girl asked me why I never said anything. I don't have anything to say, I answered. During my Bible College era, for several summers I worked in an electro-plating shop. I think one of the things the boss liked about me was that I hardly ever talked to anyone, just worked. But later on some hippies that worked there became interested in Jesus, and started asking me questions. It was difficult to control that, and I was once told off for talking too much. Now, like some others here, I am self-employed, and because my business is based on the Amish church guidelines, we often get into spiritual discussions. I always subtract time for that (not charge), but I'm taking the business owner's time as well. But since that is his choice as well, that doesn't bother me as much as when it is with an employee. On the one hand, this is closest thing to a 'ministry' that I have now, and I still grieve the loss of our tribal ministry (I don't mean that I think we did the wrong thing in coming back to the States, but just that I still feel the weight of that loss.), but on the other hand I don't want to create a negative impression of, or resentment toward, spiritual matters.