So I was having a discussion earlier today with a couple of people in the toy section that had to do with the growing number of people who're able to use class or work time for other/personal shit, especially as it related to the internet.

I mean from my experience, even in the few classes where I was allowed to have a computer or phone with me, there was never time to go on forums or otherwise do my own shit without falling behind & ultimately screwing myself in the process, and it's not like I was ever in anything heavy. I guess Drafting was an exception to the free time thing, but even the spare time we had (which really only happened if you worked ahead) was better served taking a look at future drawings & things anyway, especially ones involving bonus work that you pretty much needed to submit in order to avoid getting a low mark at the end. I guess this was my instructor's way of encouraging us not to screw around if we didn't need the whole hour or whatever.

Now, this isn't to say that I never had time for other things (I usually did my Physics homework during my Interior Design class because our teacher was a dolt & figured it would take us multiple classes to look through magazines), but it still amazes me how so many people seem to have so much time during class for things other than school work these days. It's kinda the same thing with work too, which has also puzzled me a great deal, and I figured it had the potential for some amusing discussion. I guess the latter point has more to do with the job you have & the sort of supervision (I've never worked in a place where you could afford not to be busy close to 100% of the time which I know isn't the case for everyone), but yeah.

Also, how many people reading this thread are doing so during class or working hours? Don't worry. Contrary to my avatar, I'm not actually a rat.  

 

well actually some school dsitricts give teachers as part of their 10 sick days that 3 of those days can be "no tell" days meaning you don't have to tell why you are gone and go do whatever you want. I don't really see the difference just call in sick anyways really.

 

I'm at work. My job consists of 9-5 monitoring so I really have nothing to do a lot of the time. As long as I keep on top of stuff nobody cares what I do in the off time.

 

I should probably have written that OP better, but I'm talking more so about people who have time during class (while in the class) to play games on their computer/phones/whatever, and people who can get away with screwing around like that without getting in shit from their boss/hated by coworkers.

For example, The Office would be a pretty good example of this, haha.

 

I'm at work. Part of my job is help desk, so I have a bit of browsing time between calls and when I'm waiting for things to process.

 

I'm not trying to criticize you or anything (especially if you're getting your shit taken care of), but isn't consistently having nothing to do sort of a fault on your employer's part, at least in the sense of productivity?

Yeah, being on the phone can definitely open the door to this, especially when you're on hold or something & literally can't leave to do anything else.

 

Not really, because monitoring IS the job. As long as I'm keeping stuff running and no one is complaining there's no other productivity to worry about.

I'M certainly not complaining about it. It's a pretty sweet setup.

 

What they said. Surfing or texting at work doesn't necessarily mean cheating or taking time away from your job; sometimes there genuinely isn't anything else to do. You can only tidy up your desk and refill the paper in the printers so many times... I'm not saying anything about my own habits in case Big Brother is watching, but I honestly don't care what my coworkers do as long as they've pulled their weight at the end of the day. My opinion is that if it negatively affects the people around you (coworkers or customers), you need to be called out on it. If it's not causing harm, no biggie.

School is probably a little different, since you're supposed to be paying attention the whole time. But I was out of school by the time everyone had a cell, so I don't know much about that.  

 

Heh, when I was in school the internet wasn't even a concern. All you had to worry about was if you could successfully hide your Playboy inside your mathbook and what else the school was going to ban after banning students wearing Beavis & Butthead and Big Johnson t-shirts.

 

Haha, not to mention, pogs, fingerboards, trenchcoats, cap guns, pokemon cards, blocks of wood, and of course breadclips. Yep, my elementary school actually had to ban wood & breadclips at one point. This could probably lead into it's own topic at some point, but I still find that hilarious.

Also, I think the stuff about pulling our weight is a real key for anything, as that's really what we're being paid to do, especially when it comes to different jobs carrying different natures. I still think people watching Beavis & Butthead during class is ******ed, but its all good.  

 

As a teacher I go by the term bell to bell instruction. My students are busy busy busy from the time the bell rings to sit down until the time the bell rings to leave. I even have backup things for students to do in case they finish early.
Idle hands are the devils toys.
If I see or hear a students cell phone it's MINE. Then it is the office's where the parents have to pick it up.
Hopefully I got what you meant?

 

Sometimes at lunch, during my free period and I think even once in a class I was on the boards.

 

I sometimes sneak a bit of surfing during class, but I try my best to refrain from doing so. To enforce this, I usually sit at the front of lecture halls.

Work on the other hand, is a bit different. Because I work at a café that serves a performing arts center, we get a lot of idle time in between (except lunch period, where it's a constant workload). We're actually encouraged by our supervisors to sit down and take time out in such cases. I guess it depends on the nature of the job, like the OP said.

Perhaps when I get to a proper job, I can elaborate more on the work part.

 

I'm too afraid of getting caught to do things other than what I'm supposed to.

 

I work at a grocery store, and one of our artists is about to find himself fired. our head manager caught him doing art for his band while on the clock. and the dude isn't all that great anyway at what he does, and even said to me when I first met him that he's lazy.

work is work. you do what you're paid for or go the hell home.

 

I own my own business so I more or less do whatever the hell I want. Like on very hot days I was buying slushies from the corner bodega and adding me own little bit of booze. I also spend a great deal of the day painting pictures.

 

I will occasionally browse my email or Facebook chat w/ someone during long class lectures, if only to keep myself from completely falling asleep. I usually don't have my laptop open unless I'm following lecture slides the professor posts online and taking notes.

 

AN interesting fact, I'm at school right now.

 

Me - because I'm bored.

 

At work I get one 15 min break in the morning, another in the afternoon, and 30 minutes for lunch. It's company policy that we're allowed to use the internet for personal use only during these times - social networking, filesharing (Photobucket etc) and blogging sites are all blocked though.

The last place I worked at had a similar policy but I must have been in the minority in actually sticking to it. I used to see people using Hotmail to chat with friends during the entire working day, getting absolutely no work done, and nothing was done to stop them. That sort of thing really boils my piss.