Dealing with Lazy People
The craving of a sluggard will be the
death of him, because his hands refuse to work. – Proverbs 21:25
He is lazy. His bosses know it. His co-workers know
it. And, yet, there he is impressed with himself and unable to understand why
he got demoted and why no one respects him.
Have you ever worked with someone like that? Do you
know someone like that? We notice it most it seems when it’s a co-worker but
there are lazy people everywhere you turn.
Some folks just want to sit back, draw a paycheck (and
I’m not talking about welfare here) and bark orders at others. They’ve managed
to slide into a position, either through politics, friendship or luck, and they
don’t plan to do anything but laze the days away.
I recently listened to a woman complain about mowing
her grass. I was amazed that an adult had never mowed grass before. I guess she
always had a husband or child to do it for her. She was highly offended that
her only choices were to do it herself or pay someone to do it. She didn’t like
either option. All I could do was laugh.
We see it everywhere. There are parents who refuse to
go to their kids’ ballgames and do all they can to foist transportation and
extras on to someone else. There are friends or relatives who forever show up
at the potluck with nothing in their hands. They are takers who expect others
to do their part along with their own share.
We see it when it comes to elder care. There always
seems to be one person who steps up and others who just don’t have the time or
money to lend a hand. They are quick to criticize, just don’t ask them to
actually show up and do anything. And especially don’t ask or expect them to
use vacation to tend to an elderly parent. Oh my! That will highly offend them.
They are simply too lazy to make that sacrifice.
Of course, sometimes we think someone is lazy because
we simply don’t understand what they do. A farm is a full-time job but I know
so many farmers who get frustrated with ugly comments from people. They
consider farmers to be too lazy to get a “real” job. The truth is that most
farmers work way more hours, doing much harder work, than the average person. They
work from daylight to dusk and beyond as they plant, tend and harvest crops.
And they get far less pay than people realize.
It’s frustrating to be around people who refuse to do
their share of the work. It’s exasperating to listen to their excuses and then,
when backed into a corner, hear them blame you or someone else. They spend way
more energy and effort to get out of work than it would take for them to
actually do the work.
The sad truth is that we can’t make people want to
work. We can’t make people do what they should. We can only pray for patience
and wisdom, for the ability to offer grace and mercy, because God loves them
just like He loves us.
